I may have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast, but I vividly recall some of the things I did when I was very young. One very strong memory is of a time I walked over the crest of a hill and saw my future home in the valley below. My sister had taken me for a walk to have a look at it before we moved house.Both my older sister and I remember this incident very well indeed, and I was just five years old.

However the other day when I mentioned another childhood memory   to a nurse  she pooh poohred the idea,told me it was impossible for any senior to remember childhood details. I ignored her comment because I know what she said was not true.

 But it got me thinking,I wonder how many seniors have had a similar experience?
I wonder how many other seniors have felt intimidated because they have had someone sneer at them when the recounted childhood memories? I don't think this is right, in my views it is a form of discrimination to imply that older citizens can only have memory lapses not memory recalls.

 Actually remembering past incidents is a fun thing to do. Isn't it fun to discuss childhood , schoolday memories with brothers,sisters and long term friends?

In my view the more time you spend talking about childhood times the more you will remember, can be quite surprising. Also in my view it is an excellent idea to write down your memories if only so you can have your experiences madew available to your children and your children's children.

regards

Andy

 Any male reader having prostate problems? Must be a lot of us,it is almost obligatory these days for senior males to have prostate problems.

So awhile ago,when I had some pain with my plumbing I knew I was a fully fledged senior male. I went to see a doctor who gave me pills for six months which did not work. When I complained he gave me two choices: stronger medication or surgery, the usual options.

I asked about possible side effects.There was along pause,then he told me the drugs were female hormones, so I might grow breasts or end up with a soprano voice.I was actually a lead soprano in a church choir years ago,but I didn't think they would want me to do this again,so I declined.

The likely effect of surgery was a minus level sex drive.Somehow this was also unappealing,so I decided to go elsewhere,the M.D. was not happy.

My wife found me another doctor who agreed to no hormones,no surgery.He put me on a herbal remedy which handled the problem completely, no more pain,interrupted nights and no side effects.

In my opinion,doctors in the main are dedicated to helping us but for some reason, sometimes they can be reluctant to advise what the full side effects of treatments can be.

And we have a right to know,we are entitled to the best health care available,and this should include being told of all  risks encompassed in any medical treatment.

 regards

Andy

Personally, I think elders are entitled to more dignity and respect. We all deserve a medal. Why? Well, all of us seniors have survived longer than these kids aged forty or younger.

 We all got through tough times and survived. In the 30's, Depression didn't mean ' I feel miserable,please look after me.'

It meant the Economy is bad, you probably had no job or had fears of losing one. You had trouble getting enough food to go on the table.Some of us had to exist on bread,dripping,stewed tea leaves. The good thing is, we didn't have to worry about Losing weight or hiring dieticians.Anyone who survived this time deserves a medal.

 We had to survive long working hours and short shopping times.

We had to learn how to protect ourselves.Some of us  got beaten by bullies and  it hurt, but we learned to run or hide or fight back.

 When we were punished mostly we realized we had deserved it.

We won and we lost and  sometimes we learned from our mistakes and tried to do better next time. We didn't have to blame someone else.

 And we knew that we had to work hard and look after our kids and we did not usually expect  repayment apart from the joy of raising them and seeing them do well.

 Aren't these the attributes of heroes? Too right.

 So we deserve recognition. We deserve to be able to forget that we forget,sometimes.

 We deserve to be able to ignore the fact we can't race across pedestrian crossings.

  We deserve a medal for all we have done.Making it to our Age is an achievement,an amazing achievement.

We all deserve a medal! Don't you agree?

I stopped to talk to a little lady last week.She was in her eighties,had a big,big  smile but it was her eyes that attracted me, they were blue and they were bright.

We got to talking,I asked her why she was so happy.The bright eyes were telling,she was obviously enjoying herself.

She told me she was widowed,lived alone in her own unit,had been independant for forty years.She got up when she was ready, ate what she liked,helped other people because she liked doing so.

 I asked her if she would rather live with her daughters, wouldn't it be better to have someone care for her? She suddenly went sad.She told me she loved visiting her grandchildren and her daughters.Even so, she sighed with relief  when she returned to her own home.

'Why so?' I asked. Her answer was emphatic.

'If I lived with my daughter I would lose my freedom.I don't want that to happen. I don't want my daughter telling me what I can do and when and where I can go.

If I want to play or do something different, I don't want to have to get her permission.'

 This conversation made me wonder. How many of us are like this sweet lady?In our senior years how many of us are afraid of losing our freedoms our basic right to live as we choose?'

How easy is it when we get a bit frail, a bit forgetful,a bit sick,how easy is it for our family members,doctors,even friends, with the best of intentions to take away our right to make our own choices?

How many of us are in a situation where we have to ask.

'Daughter,can I go out to play?

 I don't pretend to have any special answers, but maybe maintaining Freedom of Choice for seniors is a subject that needs further discussion.

Andy Youngman

He has silver hair,wrinkles and he is a candidate for a top managerial job.

But the word is that he was a POW, had cancer,forgets things getting weaker, slower. But the other candidate for this job is younger,intelligent and funny.

The word is,The old bloke is over the hill,he is too old for the job.

Probably heard this refrain before. It is occurring again,this time because the Republican candidate Mr McCain for the job of  President of the USA is 72 years old.

Well this line of attack is just Discrimination akin to Racism Bigotry.Sexism.

 Not acceptable. McCain has already shown he is tough enough to handle this challenging job. He has the right to be judged on his vision,his message,his leadership. His age is irrelevant.

Andy Youngman

I heard the horn blast and wondered what was going on. I looked down the road,saw an elderly lady struggling to negotiate a pedestrian crossing. The lights had just gone red and someone was blasting his horn. The lady puffed and panted as she tried to speed up.

. Made me think how  hard it is to get across these pedestrian crossings,you have to walk quickly to make it in the short time allowed.

 Also really undignified. Why is it that the Roads and Traffic Authority can't allow seniors and the disabled the time to get across these crossings at a comfortable pace?

Actually this violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Article 1. " All human beings are born freeand equal in dignity and rights. "

Strange that the government we elect to protect our rights, breaks them don't  you think?

Andy Youngman 

Hello,my name is Andy Youngman and I am your new guest blogger. I would like to say hello and tell you a little about myself.

Mostly what I like to do is help people.

 Example,after leaving school one of my first jobs was as a fruit picker in Tasmania. I  was hitchhiking and got a lift from a raspberry farmer in desperate need of pickers. I was happy to help him out. Wasn't too bad,most of the raspberrries went into the bin, but a lot fed the birds.

Afterwards, landed in Melbourne, got a fill in job and for exercise took up boxing in a local gym.One of the volunteer supervisors told me he wanted to manage professional boxers and he asked me to join his group. I did this to help out and I agreed to a fight in the Melbourne stadium . Fortunately  the ref stopped the fight in the second round because my opponent was exhausted from hitting me. That ended my boxing career.

 Then I  got into something I was good at, Human Rights campaigning. Did some good things.e.g. I helped some Muslims get an okay to build their mosque.Helped get some involuntary patients out of a hospital because they did not need to be there.Got some repressive laws changed. That sort of thing.

 So that's  what I used to do. However as I am now a senior  I retired recently and am now interested in doing something for other seniors subjected to abuses of their human rights. If you know of any such instance please contact me. 

Andy