Mulligan tags along. The truth is, age creeps up on you, and it's happening to more Minnesotans than ever before. After the state's median age stuck in the 20s for most of the last century, it has leaped past 35 for the first time, rising to 35.4, according to 2000 census figures released today. In neighboring Wisconsin, the number is even higher, 36.0. The numbers are perhaps the single strongest signal yet of the middle-aging of America.
Spirituality is a topic raised over lunch.
Fitness clubs are thriving, and the buzz on a row of treadmills is anti-wrinkle cream, vitamins and Viagra. Those shifts reflect the proliferation of middle age, when one's outlook tends to change, gerontologists say. Most midlifers recognize they have more past than future and want to make the most of what future they've got. The St. Paul couple drive older cars and take modest family vacations so they can save for retirement. Those lower-impact choices represent an investment in his future, too.