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A disadvantage to making it this far is you'll be roughly 2 inches shorter. But keep the big picture in mind: If you stay strong and sharp and avoid falls, you'll have a rich life that extends beyond your 80s.
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Appearance: People are roughly 2 inches shorter in their 80s than during middle age.
Sights and sounds: An 80-year-old will need about three times more light than a young adult to read a book. About half of people over 85 have hearing loss.
Outliving cancer: The incidence of many cancers levels off after 80.
The mind: Nearly half of people over 85 have Alzheimer's disease, up from one in 10 at 65.
Suicide: White men over 85 have the highest suicide rate in the nation - more than five times the national average.
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Living quarters: Eighteen percent of Americans 85 and older are in nursing homes.
Life expectancy is 80.7 years for a female born in Washington in 2001, 4.5 years longer than a male and slightly longer than the national average.
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Good cheer adds years: One study shows the older people get, the more frequently they report positive emotions such as cheerfulness and happiness. Perhaps that's connected to a finding from a separate study: Happy people live longer.
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Congratulations! You've dodged the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and outrun average life expectancy.
If you're 80, your new "average" life expectancy is nearly 89. If you're 90, on average you'll get to 94.8. Compare that to your average 50-year-olds: According to those same statistics, they're only going to make it a bit beyond 80!
Obviously, you're tougher than most. You already knew that. Clearly, you're doing something right already. So how to keep going strong? First, forget worrying. Not only is stress a killer itself, you're probably worrying about the wrong things. For example, while cancer is one of the top two killers for younger old folks, it drops to third for women 85 and older. Instead, get a flu shot and be screened for diabetes.
To stay strong, think of your thigh muscles with affection; they're the ones that will get you out of the chair, steady you as you walk down stairs and keep you out of a wheelchair. Use them at every opportunity as you focus on living well, whether that means playing golf, making a pie or playing bridge and drinking a glass of wine - red, please - with buddies. "Use it or lose it" is your watchword. Or, as comedian George Burns once said: "How can I die? I'm booked!"
- Carol M. Ostrom, Seattle Times staff
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'When young, you tend to forget you
are mortal. When old, you remember
life is short.' |
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Photographed on Sept. 25, 2003 by Harley Soltes,
Seattle Times staff |
Stimson Bullitt, 84
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Residence: Seattle
Occupation: lawyer (semi-retired), writer
Personal: divorced but has a live-in companion. Has four daughters and one surviving son.
Bullitt is a member of the founding family of Seattle's KING Broadcasting. He has packed much into 84 years: father, lawyer, writer, judge, professor, civil-rights advocate, magazine founder, boxing champion, Purple Heart recipient, television executive and rock climber. One of his cherished honors was making President Nixon's "Enemies List" in 1972 for editorializing against expansion of the Vietnam War.
Spider-Man senior: Bullitt is an accomplished rock climber and says he's helped by flexibility, agility and relatively low body weight - attributes many seniors retain longer than reflexes, stamina or speed. Though he climbs regularly, he admits, "After a couple of hours of climbing, I'm ready to go home and lie down."
Is wealth an advantage? Yes and no. "My family's assets and position certainly have opened doors for me and given me advantages, but I can't discern a connection between that and staying vigorous and alive in old age."
Perks of old age: Bullitt accepts the latitude people tend to give older folks. Memory lapses are readily excused. Sleeping in is tolerated, not deemed lazy. "People hold you to lower expectations. And you are less bound by social conventions." On the other hand, being 84 means even minor stomachaches can seem ominous: "You rarely forget that at any moment, some aspect of your health may collapse."
Losses and regrets: A life that spans nine decades has its share of adversity. Bullitt was 12 when his father died. His son, Benjamin, disappeared at 24 in a likely accidental drowning. A literary man who struggled with being a slow reader, Bullitt carried lifelong shame about having only a high-school diploma. He attended Yale but left before graduating. Consequently, he had to study law at the University of Washington as a non-degree candidate.
- Kyung M. Song, Seattle Times staff
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