What is this “I am NAWT old, gah” mindset that seems to permeate our parents’ social circles? It’s so segregating and unfriendly — and in most cases, simply false. I mean, I get the idea that an elder may feel they are more capable or mobile or self-sufficient than THAT old person over there, you know the OLD person your elder person is definitely NAWT. Gah. I also can understand how a person who feels very spry and young at heart might find nothing in common with a contemporary who drags an oxygen tank around or rents a scooter at Disney World. But let’s face it — that is so totally limiting, and that ain’t cool!

I can’t think of another time in my life heretofore that I’ve distinguished myself from peers as conscientiously as some of the geri-folks I know seem to do. Yes, during my 20s and 30s there were married people and divorced people and gals with young children and those with teenagers and moms who worked and those who stayed home. Along the way here have been sick peers and healthy peers, people who were allergic to weird stuff and weird people who refused to eat things I loved. Yet, I’ve never Heismaned them into another realm of existence — we’ve just lived amongst ourselves, next door to each other, down the street or across town, doing our own brand of weirdo, happily and so often together.

So why is it that when some people reach a certain age, they start sizing themselves up and drawing lines based on peers’ physical abilities, appearance or mental acuity? “I’d never live there, I don’t want to be around a bunch of old people.” Or how about getting all jacked up on fillers and Botox because you don’t want to have wrinkles, like “all those old people at the next table.” Or, coddling and little-girling a peer as if you are some 15-year-old maiden?

Age and stage means something when you’re 15 and someone else is 25, or even 17. But the older we get, none of that matters one stupid bit until the golden year approach when, suddenly — after all those many years — it’s a thing again for some folks.

I don’t want to think that way when I’m older. I want to stay focused on someone’s insides — not their outsides or abilities. Gah. #GrandPlans