Ticking Clock? Or Ticking Time Bomb?

“Death is a part of aging, of course,” the paragraph began—and hit me like a ton of bricks. Now, this statement wasn’t made in a medical journal. Nor was it written as part of a work of fiction (although, there is absolutely NO TRUTH WHATSOEVER to this claim). Rather, it was included in a celebrity profile printed in a publication that purports to celebrate the lives of adults 50 and over. OY.

I honestly don’t know what’s worse: the ridiculous claim that “death is a part of aging.” The statement’s end cap of “of course.” Or the fact that this publication is—once again—perpetuating ageist stereotypes with ZERO basis in fact. It. Is. MADDENING.

The truth is if you Google the question, “Can you die of old age?” you will find nearly 4.9 BILLION results—the vast majority of which agree, the answer is NO. In fact, many authorities on the subject draw the important distinction that people do not die OF old age; rather, they die AT old age. Some state that, like the term, “natural causes,” “old age” was used as a default cause of death when no other more specific cause of death could be found.

Regardless, it is long past time that society stop regarding old age as a disability, an infirmity, or an impairment. Do some people of older age live with disabilities, infirmities, and/or impairments? Yes. But we must not allow these individualized experiences to define older age for the masses. Older age looks and feels different for different people—even those in the same family or friend group. Some approach and embrace it better than others.

So no matter what aging may look and feel like to you once you’re in your 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and beyond, one thing’s for sure: death is most certainly NOT a part of it. On the contrary. If anything, death is a part of LIFE. And that ticking you hear? It’s a clock—not a time bomb.