Here's Carol:
I am a fraud. I'm not 80, I'm only 50. In spite of the white hair and the crutch, I am doing what I did 30 years ago. The number of my years never bothered me but I did get a shock when we celebrated my daughter's 40th! Me? With a 40 year old daughter - that's when I started to think about "age" and growing older and decided that it didn't apply to me.
It is now only a question of transportation. I can't go out alone anymore. (A car hit me on my 75th A friend's mother used to say that should there be an earthquake, she wouldn't have to worry about us being under the rubble - we were always out! Instead of making the rounds of "visits" (Ladies of Charity) in the old town, I go to innumerable meetings and have become the "press room" writing the reports for the ones who do. My old workroom has become an office and since I have room for the AIWC filing cabinets, my address became the club address and I have also become a combination secretary, historian and cop-on-the-beat. birthday - I have a three year old knee and a brand new hip, simply bionic!).
My friends get younger and younger, my contemporaries fewer and fewer, and I am learning all sorts of new tricks. Actually, I do what I always did - differently. I now answer letters promptly, I read from two to four newspapers every day (skimming, obviously) and have the time of my life with this machine. I have three strategically placed telephones (the portable ones interfere with the rest of my machinery) and the line is always busy. I have learned to farm out errands and no matter if they're not done exactly the way I want it - I am most grateful for the help.
Sometimes I have more trouble remembering names but then I always did - my mother used to make fun of my eternal "lists", my account books, notes I wrote to myself and then never consulted (once written I remember, usually).
I have also discovered that I've been dyslexic with numbers, all my life - that's why my check books never balanced!
I live in a beautiful city where the majority of the population is over 65. The public health service is excellent and there are 9004 (please note the 4 - according to a reputable survey in 2005) lay and religious associations of volunteers in Liguria who can and do help. My own Ladies of Charity together with the Caritas and the city organizations (Celivo) work together to provide assistance - no limits. If we haven't the means, we know where to find them.
AIWC is doing very well with all the new young international members and is a constant source of interest and pleasure.
Am I or am I not a most fortunate creature!
Carol Bordoni, AIWC Genoa