Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

203 www.RetiringToSC.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.ReadMP.com senior living thrown away wealth and precious time in our last days of existence trying to invest in memory banks that are about to dissolve into nothingness forever. 3 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Grandma Sure, we can play around with language. We can get “older” but refuse to get “old.” We can tell ourselves that “age is just a number,” and “we’re only as old as we feel.” What’s the highest praise we hand out to our elders? Usually that they look or act younger than they are. Isn’t praising an octogenarian entrepreneur for being “youthful” like praising a female athlete for acting “masculine?” And what does “youthful” mean, anyway? If Grandma wants to dance the Macarena at the Cracker Barrel, is she really acting like any 16-year-old we’ve ever known? Maybe, instead, we can say she’s acting whimsically? If Grandma’s still running 5K races at 87, that doesn’t make her young at heart; it makes her physically active. Many 27-year-olds don’t run 5K races, so why compare Grandma to them? 4 - Avoiding the Monster Of course, if by “youthful,” we mean “energetic,” then it’s certainly understandable that we’d want to be where the action is – where the fun is. But the idea that an unlined face is prettier than a lined face; that a black beard is more attractive than a gray beard; that a Lolita figure – if that’s not a contradiction in terms – is somehow sexier than a woman’s more frankly feminine physique in middle age, this may spring from darker waters. Being around young people and “youthful” older people makes us feel younger ourselves, and as every day older is a day closer to death, feeling younger feels to most of us like being further from death. But perhaps death isn’t a monster to flee or even a merciless landlord in whose hand we defiantly slap our bucket lists at lease’s end. If death is only one end of this life’s continuum, then its gateway – old age – need be no more disturbing than toddlerhood. And we should pity the creaky walks of old men no more than we pity the toddler’s unsteady waddle. We watch toddlers and share their delight, rediscovering our own world through their eyes as they greet it with arms spread. The toddler’s “season of discovery” and “acquisition of ability” — despite its awkward social situations, sleepless nights and embarrassing odors, swirls with beauty and wonder. So, why would the “season of letting go,” designed by the same hands, promise anything less? C oastal odiatry, LLC Specialty Footcare and Reconstructive Surgery Coastal Podiatry, LLC 180 Wingo Way, #201 Mount Pleasant (843) 856-5337 At COASTAL PODIATRY we offer a full range of podiatric services including specialty footcare and reconstructive surgery to help relieve pain and restore your active lifestyle. Dr. Rahn Ravenell - In-office consultations, examinations, and reconstructive foot surgery. Dr. Tamika Ravenell - Treats patients at tri-county nursing homes and assisted living facilities.