How Old Is ‘Old’?
When do we say we are old? Is it when we look for our glasses for half an hour only to find out that they’ve been on our head all the time? Is it when we are no longer able to bend down and tie our shoelaces? Is it when we start to get sags? Is it when we start feeling embarrassed running naked across the street? Or is it when we stop deciding by means of “bato-bato-pik” and “eeny-meeny-miney-mo”?
My grandfather, a farmer and fisherman, died at 83. But it was not his gray hair nor his thick eyeglasses that I remember about him at his age. It was not his shaky hands nor his weak knees nor his wrinkled face. What I remember was his smile whenever he sees his five children and thirteen grandchildren, and his hearty laughter whenever he spends early morning coffee and exchanges stories with his friends.
My grandfather didn’t have a college diploma. He finished only 4th grade. But he knew how to read and he was a voracious reader. Many years ago, newspapers would reach their remote town only a week after it was printed. Pero matiyaga niyang binabasa ang dyaryo, page by page, from first page to last page. He was a learned man even without finishing school. He knew so much about politics even without being a politician. He was able to help his hometown have some concrete cemented roads after he bravely went up the stage and asked permission to talk with the Philippine president at the time. It happened in the 60′s. He loved his hometown and his people so much that even days before his death he was trying to help out some kababayan.
My grandfather did not fear having many years in his life. He embraced it. He loved and enjoyed it. He was in fact looking forward to seeing more grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He enjoyed the antics of his grandchildren and would even joined them in poking jokes. On his last trip to Manila, in 1989, we took him to Rizal Park. We giggled as he jokingly hugged all the dinosaur statues while asking us to take pictures of him.
Was my grandfather old at 83? He wasn’t old for me. Except for the gray hair, the thick eyeglasses, the weak knees, and the wrinkled face, he was all along everything I remember when I got to know him for the first time in my life: a jolly, caring, hardworking, and principled man.
So to answer the question “How old is ‘old’?” I’d say that ‘old’ is when we stop laughing and caring and loving. ‘Old’ is when we stop feeding our minds. ‘Old’ is when we stop seeing things with a child’s sense of wonder. ‘Old’ is when we stop living life and enjoying every minute of it. As George Bernard Shaw (or was it Benjamin Franklin?) put it, we do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
****This is a response to a tag from Emarene. Although my previous post is somewhat related to the tag’s topic, I simply cannot refuse the tagger who sometimes inflates my ego with her comments 
. I later found out that this tag is also a contest. You can visit this link so you can also join. Cash prize and ad spaces await for you. I’m not joining though because the criteria says the post has to be in 50 words. This post is already way over the limit 
and this post will be counted as one of my favorites…
i can only stare at the pictures of my two lolos…i was too young (4 or 5) when my lolo died… as to my other lolo, he died when my father was only 6… so sad…
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nortehanon Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Thanks, hab. You also often inflate my ego hehehe
How I wish you had the chance to spend time with your lolos, tulad ko.
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another heartwarming post Ms. N:D
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nortehanon Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Salamat, Deth!
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Ang ganda po Ms N. Tamang-tama sa akin ito. Gusto ko ring maging healthy para ma-enjoy ko ng matagal ang mga magiging kong apo. Para maisulat din nila ako sa blog nila…hehe tagal pa yata nun ah.
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Teary eyed ako. I miss my great grandma. She’s almost the same as your Lolo… full of wisdom and joy. She passed away 4 years ago.
http://awefullworld.com/?p=314
You never fail to touch my heart. Naks!
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I almost cried a tear. You remind me well of my lolo he died at the age of 94 he was born 1900. I love his stories of the war, heroism and how they fought at that time. He would call me “bot” and hand over a penny to let me buy candies…
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lahat naman tayo tumatanda sa ayw man natin at sa hindi…. pero ang pagiging bata ay nasa puso natin..
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i remember the first time you visited my blog was when i posted about my pens, and you were busy with your “pens of hope” in your blog too. when I visit your page, i was surprise to see allen samar, the place where i was born. and now, my entry in my blog is just an answer to your post how old is “old.”
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. ~Henry Ford~
i dont know why, but somehow, everything connects..
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i enjoyed reading this post. but in seconds i had to stop to hold back my tears. my grandpa brought me up. he was even my father on my bc. i talked about him in my blog too, but not about his death last nov. he’s 81. i guess i still couldnt accept it until now.
just like your lolo, mine was also a farmer, a fisherman, never stepped college, a hard working man yet also a voracious reader. i got that from him. helped a lot of people when he became the first captain of our little town and even after that.
he lived by his principles and he always say he’s old but never too old to learn. this was my last post about him before he died http://cathara22.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-am-i-here.html
thank you very much for writing about this. (and i only said at least 50 words, not exactly lol:P)
i hope you wont mind if i put a link to your blog on my whos hot list so i could check your posts once and a while:)
thank you again:)
btw, youre from samar? ive been there. its where my fathers family lives.
-catea
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I knew you will come up with something beautiful! Bow!
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how old is old? it’s when you reach that point in your life when you start living in the past and there’s nothing to look forward to anymore except retirement.
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according to my favorite confessor, Fr. Nunez, SJ, it’s not the what, it’s the who… what defines one’s age is not what one has achieved… but who one has become.
his post. it pierces through the heart. it moved me to text my grannies. just told them, how i love and miss them.
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jun-g Reply:
September 18th, 2009 at 7:39 am
erratum: “his post”… dapat ” thank you for this post…
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kalabaw lang daw ang tumatanda…hehehe
ganda!
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old age..is a matter of perspective…it is not about age and physical incapacity…it is about embracing life to the fullest..
kakainspire namin itong post tungkol sa granpa mo…..
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hmmm. I envy you.. I wish I met my lolo’s and lola’s, too.
Namatay na daw sila, bago pa maisip ng mga magulang ko na gusto nila ng anak na babae.
Ayos daw mga lolo at lola ko, mababait at ang daming gustong ituro.. Kaya lang ayun,.. matanda na sila kaya kinuha na sila ni papa God..
I always look up to LOLO’s and LOLA’s out there..
Meron akong kilala… SABI NIYA..
EVERYDAY IS A LEARNING PROCESS FOR HER.. AYUN..
NAINSPIRE AKO SA KANYA..
nice post.. kaka inspire..
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gusto ko sumali sa contest.. hahaha. adik lang si ako…
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very insightful post, nortehanon…i will link you up to my site…hop over to mine more often, okay? God’s blessings…
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awww..namiss ko tuloy ung tunog ng baston ni lolo na sinasayawan namin ng mga pinsan ko nun..
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your lolo would love to read this, for sure.
i had fun reading it.
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What a beautiful post and well written, Ms. N. I have not seen both my lolos, but I had fond memories of my papa (RIP 55) He was only a 7th grader from Silliman Institute, but was a voracious reader, and had great entrepreneur skills. I would picture myself in my twilight years, on a rocking chair, with crochet hook and yarns making afghans…
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I agree withyou, Ms N… We are old when we stop playing… To me, I lift up my life to the fullest so that I won’t bother being old someday..
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how i wish na hindi namatay agad sila tatang at inang ko. i’m not sure if everything would have been better kung buhay pa sila hanggang ngayon pero probably, it will be more fun. nakakainggit tuloy ang mga batang may lolo’t lola pa. pero ok lng naman ako. haha. hi ms. n
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//What I remember was his smile whenever he sees his five children and thirteen grandchildren, and his hearty laughter whenever he spends early morning coffee and exchanges stories with his friends.// AWWWWW === namiss ko tuloy lolo ko…
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