To grow old is a wish for most people, yet many try to delay it for as long as they can. Whether you admit it or not, there has been a moment in your life in which time ceases to exist and you wish to be as you are forever. But then time starts up and life starts to move again and you’re back to subconsciously growing older and older and don’t really pay it another thought. Growing old isn’t something that should be looked down upon though. I know saying this when I’m young is different and all of you oldies (no offense) will probably disagree, but I really mean it when I say it isn’t something that I fear. And I feel that you shouldn’t either.
I thought I’d talk about getting old this week because it’s inevitable and I think we’d all like to get to that ripe age where we have experienced so much and have an entire library of wisdom in abundance that we can dash out to the young’uns at every opportunity. I know for most it’s a dream, and perhaps extremely distant right now, but acknowledging that you’re getting older doesn’t have to be a bad thing necessarily.
My neighbour turns 90 today. 90!!! How mad is that? 10 years away from a telegram from Liz! That means she was born in 1930. Mind you, she doesn’t look it at all, nor does she act it. She embodies your typical British nan - she loves her soaps and is always offering out a biscuit. Evenings on the telly are her favourite. She won’t miss Corrie, or Eastenders, or Strictly. (A trait I find that exists in both old and in young). Oh and she loves a Maccies!
It’s crazy when you think about it and think back to history and all that’s happened since. We brought her this really cool birthday card that states but a few of the important historical milestones and moments in the year she was born and it’s mad to see how much she’s actually lived through.
1930 - The year after the stock market crash and the Great Depression began.
1930 - The year Clint Eastwood was born.
1930 - The year Mickey Mouse first appeared in a comic strip.
1930 - The year Gandhi lead a 200-mile peaceful protest.
1930 - The year Snickers bars were invented – arguably the most important one.
What really got me though was the fact that the Second World War had not even began in the year she was born. I found that really hard to get my head around. Not because it’s miles away from where we are now, but it’s probably one of the biggest historical events in the world and she was at an age to remember what it was like when it began. Mad.
The birthday card had another section that addressed the average prices in 1930 and it completely blew my mind. Right so the average price of a house was £450. £450 bloody quid. Nowadays that’s not even a fraction of how much they cost. That’s not even rent. It absolutely baffled me. I think what got me was the fact that it was so affordable, like everyone would eventually be able to buy a house as the average salary was around £155/year. It’d take a few years of saving, but you’d be able to buy a home without being swamped in an enormous tidal wave of debt like we will have to be accustomed to. These days, you’d have to save for years and perhaps sell an organ or two to make up even the deposit of a house if you were to buy it, you know, if you weren’t a millionaire that is.
And the average price of a car was £295, and the petrol was around 1p/litre. Imagine! I suppose inflation and capitalism has come a long way since then though, but that’s a conversation for another time…
Turning 90 this year in particular though is quite bittersweet really. 90 – the age that deserves a celebration by all means. 2020 – the year that that celebration will not be able to be had. It seems an incredible injustice if at all unfair that someone who was born in 1930, who is just 10 years away from having lived an entire century, with all that she’s lived through and accomplished, cannot be given the celebration she deserves. I know that there is no control over the circumstances, but I suppose that’s just 2020 in a nutshell really.
Here’s hoping Miss Rona sods off for 2021.
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