Adults 65 and Over
By Amy Courtney, COM '22
At 65 we stop being different
We are all old and
Even those whose profession it is to see
differences in people
Cannot.
And so-
Looking in the mirror
I see the lines between my eyes and
I know they are from laughter but
I feel fear
And so-
I tell my mother that she looks younger than
her age
She looks relieved, but
She has earned the dignity with which her body
Continues to convey her.
And-
As my mother approaches the age after which
She will no longer be defined
I see her
afraid that she will be
worthless
irrelevant
forgotten
old
And-
As my grandmother is long into the age of ambivalence
I see her become
Complacent, accepting
That all that she has done her entire life
is now inaccessible
not for her
not possible
She is old, now.
And-
The world doesn’t welcome old or age
Can someone age well? Or just age slowly?
All we can hope for is to close each
wrinkled eye
And hide from what they see.
Does a white coat make me a timekeeper?
Do I mark time until
65 years have passed and then-
Stop defining myself, too?
No.
How could life lose meaning with each year it is
lived?
People don’t stagnate like water in a glass
People don’t expire like wrinkled paper coupons
At 65
We must-
Stop being afraid
Stop feeling threatened that lives last
Stop treating 65 like the end of adulthood
And the beginning of quiet aging
Start appreciating the stages of life
beyond the maelstrom of youth and mid-life-
Starting with my first patient
And ending with myself
Read Student Doctor Amy Courtney's Submission: