And then there's Will Crump, making exquisite grandfather clocks in his eighties. Clearly, it has little to do with the number of your years and a lot to do with the quality of the life you lead. Most people now in their post-retirement decades have figured out that if you go on learning and trying and changing, age is beside the point. What has made all this continuing vigor possible, of course, is the accelerating pace of discovery in medical procedures and medications that turn life threatening conditions into mere episodes to be weathered and left behind. By-pass surgery, hip and knee replacement, and cataract removal have become commonplace.
People get sick but they get better.
They know how to keep chronic conditions like arthritis and hypertension under control and get on with life. America has discovered fitness. Lots of people watch their cholesterol and exercise regularly. The media has been saturated with information about health and wellness for years, and folks are paying attention. In Delaware, that need was answered first in 1960, when a Methodist clergyman from Wilmington created the Methodist Country House.