You might think one would have got used to the idea of hitting 60, given how many years one has to think about it. But it does sound rather old, doesn't it?
I wish I could trot out that old cliché that I don't feel my age. But I can't because I have never been 60 before. But it's not bad at all. In fact, I feel much the same. Thanks to an armoury of anti-ageing weapons, including exercise, Botox, highlights and increasingly creative corsetry, 60 doesn't look like 60 any more. And in much the same way that my fifties proved to be a revelation, this new decade is following suit.
Dressing up for the event
On my 60th birthday, I wore a sleeveless print shirt with a single strand of huge pearls. My skirt was above the knee and my hair has been the same colour for ages (that won't be changing). My concession to my age was a pair of dark glasses and a chunky cardigan to cover my bingo wings.
But I cannot pretend that things have not changed. First, it isn't just me who is getting older. My daughter, nephews and nieces are now either at university or young professionals. So not only am I liberated from the management of a teenager but there's also a big bonus from letting go. I get great pleasure from hearing about their progress in their careers. Sometimes I'm even able to lob some ideas into their thinking.
Work-wise
And I don't envy them one jot. I adored my career but I have no desire to go back there. Work is still an issue for us ageing, swinging sixties. How long we want to go on working and how long we will be allowed to do so is a major obsession for us all. This has quite a lot to do with economics and our disappointing pensions — but few of us feel like retiring. I am outraged by the default retirement age, which forces so many into a retirement they aren't ready for.
Indeed, there is a long list of things that need to be improved for older people: The number of people who are forced to sell their homes to pay for care is increasing every year; the numbers being forced on to pension benefit because of the lack of tax breaks on interest from their savings is also rising. Add to this the battles fought daily by many old people who are caring for an even older relative. And due to the rampant ageism, some old people are terrified of a hospital admission for fear of dying of neglect.
I am excited to be part of a demographic that needs to implement a sea change in the way the old are treated in the UK. And if we want a decent, dignified old age, we need to get moving.
Swinging sixties
It's not all a battle, though. The delights of being 60 are numerous. Working from home is blissful. But the freedom I enjoy is not something I could have handled when I was younger. My health is good and there aren't many things I cannot do.
There are some things I refuse to do: These include flashing a bus pass, wearing my skirts below the knee and hanging my glasses on a rope around my neck. But if I am not cool enough, there is nothing I can be bothered to do about it. Lord, I am positively laid-back now. Perhaps that's the coolest thing of all.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2010
