“I feel like I have more loved ones who have died than are still alive.”
There are many beautiful things about aging, but there are also many difficult parts, too.
Here are some of the hardest things to accept about aging:
1.
In my youth, more than once, I left everything behind to pursue a new opportunity.
“Remembering people you have hurt and realizing there is no way to make amends or even apologize.”
Anonymous
3.
“Not being able to see the world like I wanted to weighs on my mind.
I’ve only just stepped into middle age, but I’ve never been abroad.
Every time I’ve started to plan and save for travel, I encounter financial roadblocks.
Just when I finally thought I could pay for it, I got laid off.
And now, the cost of living has jacked up so much.
I hope inflation doesn’t ruin my chances of ever achieving my biggest dream.”
“I just turned 80, but people think I’m in my 60s.
What I find hard is that I used to be very pretty.
It’s difficult now to look in the mirror.
I don’t feel old, but my body tells me different.”
sandyd2
5.“Loneliness!
At 90, I’m not confident about driving, so I pretty much just stay at home.
My old friends are gone, and both of my daughters work.
“Becoming an orphan.
It doesn’t matter how old you are.
Once both parents have passed way, you feel adrift.
Your whole sense of security and where you fit in the family completely changes.”
clumsycan581
7.
I have to hire someone to get everything done now.
I’m a 66-year-old man.
I drove my body hard in my younger years; I played football and was into long-distance running.
Now, osteoarthritis has completely taken over every joint in my body.
Stefan, 77
9.
People and agencies treat you like a child.”
“No one ever tells you that your fingers get numb, weak, or bent.
Oh, I have a lovely blouse with buttons on them?
Well, I can’t button them up.
I can only wear pullover sweaters, t-shirts, or cardigans with large buttons.
Not only that, but my fingers can’t pull up zippers either.
It’s just so demoralizing!
Alas, it’s the smallest things that can get you down.”
cornywolf61
11.
“I regret not committing our family stories to paper.
Now that my parents and grandparents are all gone, so is a lot of information.
I wish there were someone to whom I could ask questions.
No one ever looks at them.
The scrapbooks I made specifically for her are at my house, not her’s.
She’s not married, and there aren’t any grandkids to leave them to.
“Watching and caring for aging and increasingly frail parents.”
cooljaguar81
13.
Now, they are nothing more than stories seemingly aggravating to other generations.
At 81, I feel like one of the old dusty books that line my bookshelf.”
“Feeling invisible most of the time.
I love her so much.
I want to be here to be a part of all of her firsts.
16.Lastly: “Losing so many people that you love over the years.
I feel like I have more loved ones who have died than are still alive.”
luckyangel30
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
