OOPS #8 Now I Am Old: Adventures Without Ageism

Introduction

In our OOPS series, we often challenge assumptions about ageing—but sometimes the most powerful stories are the quiet, everyday ones that simply get it right. This guest reflection from WIGO member Margaret Turner, is a reminder of what it looks like when growing older is met not with limitation or patronising attitudes, but with thoughtfulness, respect and love. Like Margaret I’m deeply grateful for experiences like these—full of consideration, yet entirely free from ageism.

Guest reflection

“Without the least condescension, they take into account the limitations of an ageing body.”

I am writing not about WIGO, but NIAO—Now I Am Old!—and I want to express gratitude for experiences that are full of consideration, yet devoid of ageism, such as these below.

I am grateful that my children, now in their 50s, continue to plan adventures with and for me, as I did for them when they were young. Without the least condescension, they take into account the limitations of an ageing body.

For my 80th birthday, my son David and his partner Rachael took us to Wales so that we could all climb a favourite mountain, Cader Idris, together. It was wonderful: the views were amazing, wildflowers abounded, and we took our time so I could recover my breath—so we made it to the summit. What elation!

Then David gave me a poem he had written about our very first climb of this mountain, when he was about eight—reminding me that we had stumbled in the snow and watched a peregrine falcon.

I am now 86. I still love to walk, though I am no longer up for climbing. So for Mother’s Day this year, my daughter Cathy organised a hitherto unexplored riverside walk along the Dart, which was lovely.

Closing reflection

If this is what ageing can be—rich in connection, respect and possibility—then perhaps the problem is not age, but the assumptions we so often attach to it.