My passage into eighties a few weeks ago gave me a moment's reflection and the thought that I should watch how others in this situation have been affected. After a while it seemed to me that the first 80 years are the hardest.
Once you reach 80, everyone wants to carry your baggage and help you up steps. If you forget your name or anybody else's name, or an appointment or your own telephone number, or promise to be three places at the same time, or you can't remember how many grandchildren you have, you need only explain that you are 80.
Being 80 is a lot better than being 70. At 70 people are mad at you for everything. At 80, you have a perfect excuse no matter what you do. If you act foolishly, it's your second childhood. Everybody is looking for symptoms of your failures of the brain.
Being 70 is not fun at all. At that age they expect you to retire to a house in Florida and complain about your arthritis( 关节炎) and you ask everybody to stop mumbling (咕哝) because you can't understand them. (Actually your hearing is about 50% gone.)
If you survive until you are 80, everybody is surprised that you are still alive. They treat you with respect just for having lived so long. Actually they seem surprised that you can walk and talk sensibly.
So please, folks, try to make it to 80. It's the best time of life. People forgive you for anything. In response to the question of what years were the most difficult, an 80-year-old responded "those between 10 and 70."
Life begins at 80.
