
 |
|
May 13, 2013
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct. 31, 2006
/ 9 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767
On turning 60
By
Pat Sajak
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I turned 60 years old the other day, or, as everyone seems to enjoy calling it, The Big Six-Oh. A lot of my early baby boomer contemporaries have also been celebrating birthdays lately, so I've been spending time at the Hallmark Store, where I've discovered how difficult it is to buy a birthday card for a 60-year-old that doesn't feature some reference to flatulence, varicose veins or impotence. It's as if we need to joke about it to cover our abject terror at the thought of having been on earth for three score years.
Well, call me crazy, but I'm not terrified. I'm also not ashamed or embarrassed. I'm rather proud and pleased about having survived the rampant childhood diseases of the pre-Salk vaccine 40s and 50s, the Cold War, a stint in Vietnam, the scourges of the so-called sexual revolution, the temptations of the drug culture, and the million other potential pitfalls of life, from crossing the street, to getting in and out of the shower, to driving on busy freeways. Heck, viewed from that perspective, making it to 60 in relatively good shape seems to me to be a pretty impressive accomplishment.
It also seems to me we have developed a very strange view of aging. Instead of looking at it as a natural and inevitable part of life (which, of course, it is) we have begun to see it as some kind of disease to be treated, stalled or even reversed (which, of course, it isn't). Beyond that, a kind of aversion to aging has developed. It's one thing to take care of yourself so the ravages of time can be postponed as long as possible, allowing you to continue to enjoy life as much as you can; however, it's another to try to pretend be younger to cover up the "crime" of getting older.
I'm not arguing there is no melancholy side to moving closer to the end than the beginning, and I'm not discounting the difficulties age can produce, but it's a boat in which we all sail. Nature hasn't singled some of us out to experience the aging process; it affects every single living organism. But there is no running from it. Wearing clothing made for 20-year-olds, pretending you enjoy hip-hop music, having doctors pull your skin back as tightly as possible or trying to emulate teenage jargon won't change a thing. There are still 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, and, if your lucky, somewhere around a hundred of those years to hang around.
Ironically, I work in a business that may be more responsible than any other for making people feel there is something wrong with them for getting older. In fact, the entertainment industry could be the last one in this country legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of age. How often is a TV executive quoted as gloating over big numbers in the "most desirable demographics" (read that as: "young adults")? Talk about a class-action suit ready to happen!
I'm not being a Pollyanna about this. Would I rather be younger? I suppose so, but that's really not an option. When you've been 59 for a year, you have two choices: turn 60 or die. I'm still here at 60. I like that.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on Pat Sajak's column by clicking here.
JWR contributor Pat Sajak is the recipient of three Emmys, a Peoples’ Choice Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's currently the host of Wheel of Fortune.
Archives
© 2006, Pat Sajak
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|