r/OverSeventy

I'm 75; my husband is a few years older & most of our friends are in this age group. I just realized that when we see our friends, the main subject of conversation centers around our health, who died or went into long term care, falls, hospitalizations, medications, and Dr appointments.

In the last few days among my friends is a woman who has fallen recently cracking ribs, another who drove his car too close to the ditch & the car flipped. He's heading to a nursing home/rehab. Another is recovering from a broken jaw due to a fall. My husband's best friend had a stroke & died a few days later and now his wife may have a heart problem.

This is getting scary.

There’s only so much interesting things you can manage to do after a certain age, and most of them are not anything hugely exciting anyway, but some grandparents are in demand amongst their family and friends, while others cant get their phone calla picked up. So, what do they do differently?

The generation that raised us has been called the “The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw and others. They came of age during the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They would repeat words of wisdom for us to live by. A couple things my mother used to repeat:

Be thankful for what you have.

If you don’t have anything good to say about somebody, don’t say anything.

What words of wisdom did you hear growing up?

75 GWM here - been married to a wonderful man for 18 years 15 of which have been sexless. When we met I recovering from a radical robotic prostatectomy, he was no help in participating in my recovery. I had been a top, surgery made me a bottom, he’s a total top and hung. He has not had a erection for some 12 + years. So, was looking for hookups on silverdaddies - not much there as no one can get hard. Met a 42 year old yesterday it was going nicely. He then said I have changed my life I am now a Master with one slave, so was put on back burner. Agreed to be a lave on a trial basis, was working out okay, he decided 2 slaves was too much, was put on back burner again and came back as a FWB, we played around a lot and enjoyed it. Finally got fucked for the first in 15 years!!! Also met another guy on silverdaddies about 2 years ago happened to suck him off in the car - both happy. He and his hubby are part year residents. This winter we tried meeting up. He invited me over to his place, we talked in his back yard, met his husband and room mate. Got to be time to leave and man did he kiss me out front, gave me the vapors LOL. His hubby asked him if we fucked, he said no, hubby said well I gave you permission to! Another missed opportunity. When they return this fall he will fuck me and often I hope!. These opportunities have made me soooo damn horny all the time, is the only thing I think about… Don’t know where all this will wind up. All of us are married, only one husband is aware…

What say you all?
Similar situations?
Is this a late life crisis?

I have laughed at age my first 69 years. Although I am acutely aware of those that pass young, still, age was a concept, just another trip around the sun.

Now that I am in my 7th decade, I seem to reflect more on what I've done and where I've been. A birthday is still another orbit but now I see each day more clearly. I smile more at strangers. I enjoy the conversations with those my age. Although time goes by faster, I see and hear more. I am excited about my time left and what lies in store for me. There is so much left to do and explore!

A while back I went through a series of months where I really struggled to use my phone, my tablet, my kindle, and just about everything with a touchscreen, including the check-out screens at the bank and the grocery store. Have you experienced this frustration?

After a while, my problem just disappeared.

Warmer weather brought my hands back to life. During the winter, I often need to use a stylus, because my hands are both cold and dry, and simply don't have the electrical conductivity to trigger touchscreens.

It's a problem that many seniors experience. Now when a gen-whatever rolls their eyes at me, I sometimes let them know, yeah, it really IS because I'm old that I'm so slow at some computer tasks, but not for the reason they think.

I also learned that keeping my hands moisturized really improves my touchscreen use in the winter. There's a good article about this at Medium: Touch screens don’t work for everyone!

Oh yeah, and seniors have more trouble triggering those bathroom sink sensors too. Maybe we really do become invisible!

(This is for the redditor who thought this sub was depressing.)

Last night I was all snuggled into bed, thinking how nice it was to be back to back with a warm body. So comfy!

Then my dog moved to the foot of the bed.

This podcast reflects on Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell.

I remember not appreciating this song as a teenager. I thought it was a trite campfire song.

At my age now it just hits differently.

Both sides now. I'm more seasoned, more grizzled. I've been through the fire and back.

I've seen Both Sides Now. And I wouldn't trade the good and the bad for anything in this world.

This reminds me of the earliest days of Covid--such confusion and misinformation...

Now that you're in your golden plus years, how many hours are you working or volunteering per week?

What are the reasons why you continue to put in the hours?

If you're not yet seventy but retired from your main career, feel free to share your age, hours, and reasons for continuing on.

I also don’t want to pay a lot. Any drugstore recommendations? SPF 50 or more is highly desirable.

I just realized that I find these older person subreddits rather depressing a lot of the time . Reading the feeds they frequently sound like a misery party 🤷‍♂️. Anyone else get the same vibe ?? I’m 72 male with quite a few problems but you know it’s also nice to enjoy positivity and humor. Just saying …

Hi Over 70! Hope you don’t mind me joining in your fun to ask for your wisdom.

My brother is getting married soon, and my mom (75) really wants to feel beautiful for the wedding. It’s the first big event she’ll be celebrating, as I, her daughter, chose a more unconventional life.

I’m trying to help her gently and thoughtfully, and I’d love advice from people who may have experience with beauty/self-esteem, or low-maintenance glow-ups.

My mom is one of the kindest people I know. She sacrificed everything for her kids and still never really buys anything for herself. Growing up, I almost never saw her prioritize herself in any way.
When I was around 9, she survived a brain aneurysm. It left her with visible scarring on her skull, years of medical trauma, and I think it deeply affected both her confidence and her relationship with her appearance. She spent a long time in and out of hospitals, and now she absolutely hates doctors, hospitals, and honestly even being touched by strangers. She bruises easily and has very sensitive skin.

She’s also never really been a “girly girl,” so a lot of self-care feels intimidating or unfamiliar to her. She box dyes her own hair because the faff of salons make her uncomfortable, but it’s made her hair very brittle over the years. She does her own nails because she assumes she wouldn’t like getting them done professionally. Her makeup is kind of frozen in the 90s. She doesn’t really have a skincare routine. And lately she’s been talking about facelifts because she feels she looks “so old,” which honestly breaks my heart because knowing how much she hates hospitals and how many allergies she has means she’s really desperate to feel beautiful again.

She’s tiny (about 4’10” and 120 lbs), so lots of mainstream clothes are honestly just too big for her. She deserves to feel special and cared for.

I would really love ideas for ways to help her feel confident and radiant for the wedding without overwhelming her.

Especially looking for:
low-pressure beauty/self-care ideas for someone touch-sensitive

gentle hair solutions for brittle box-dyed hair

makeup updates for older skin that still feel “like her”

subtle things that make older women feel elegant/confident

ways to approach this emotionally without making her feel “fixed”

I think what she really wants is to feel seen and beautiful again. She’s located in Brooklyn, NY if anyone knows any fabulous and gentle aestheticians there!

Any advice would mean a lot.

I have been struggling with trying to find optimism with the constant barrage of news surrounding AI, the war(s?), climate, the rosing lack of empathy and the blatant disregard of human life that is now considered as a business gold standard (Data centres, etc)

Was life when you were young ever so bleak especially during the rise of technology like computers or even the internet. I’m 29 and i constantly wonder how did my parents or grandparents fare when they were my age? What made them want to bring kids into the world?

Sometimes I watch movie set in the 80s ir 90s and i do catch people crib about economy and jobs and prices just like today, but somehow the sense of impending doom feels something unique to this age?

I wanted to ask to actually know your experiences and figure if its social media or just hyper aware masses having access to the world at their fingers which amplifies everything.

Since retiring two years ago, I filled up my calendar with volunteer gigs, such as driving military veterans to medical appointments and church committee membership. Decades ago I was a downhill skier and avid fisherman. There was nothing like the rush of completing a difficult ski run or landing a nice fish. I’d love to find a hobby
or new sport that can offer something similar for an old dude. I have no interest in golf or pickleball 😁. What do you enjoy and why?

Once I retired, I realized what a strain it had been getting up and going to work every day, doing stuff that was often boring, and having to commute. For the first few years I was great. Now I gradually am becoming unable to do anything requiring willpower. I rarely go out, only to the same few places. At home, I am letting friendships fade away, failing to clean, not even doing hobbies I used to like. I'm not bored, just scared of the walls closing in eventually. There are still some things I like to do, like eat and sleeping, watching TV and scrolling. Does anyone else find that willpower eroding is the biggest downside of aging?

I am proud of my 71yo friend who jumped off the Strat yesterday. High winds cancelled her first 2 attempts but she made it on the third. I was talking to a couple of the employees and they told me their oldest jumper was 91!

Spent the rest of the afternoon teaching her how to play Dragon Link and she had a ball there too. She told me she had such a good time she is coming back. She did not think the jump was particularly dangerous. I think her regular life is pretty boring so I am glad she had some fun.

At around 71, my skin turned on me. Until then I guess I had been very fortunate. I developed rosacea, it seemed based on ring around the tub my sebum was off the chart, and my naturally moist skin was getting drier.

Since you can’t smell yourself, I have no idea if I have developed any sort of old people’s smell, but have smelled it on others at the Independent Living Apartments where we live.

One other thing I use to try to get my scalp squeaky clean is a scalp massager that not only cleans my scalp, but stimulates the blood flow to the hair follicles keeping my hair thick. My hair is thicker now than when I was in my 50’s. I think scalp massages and Vitamin

To combat any risk of having any odor on my skin, I started using Azufre Sulfur medicated soap for my face and body. It reduces inflammation, medicates, softens & soothes skin with corn starch and locks in moisture with lanolin. It helps heal any micro scratches I get from my dogs’ toenails. I also bathe with persimmon soap to further combat any potential odor.

This combination of soaps has really helped my skin look and feel better, plus I feel like I am using the best possible products to smell the best I can as a senior adult.

Although Sulfur soap is recommended for acne, I discussed using it with my dermatologist who thought it was a good idea because it is an anti inflammatory.