70...the 8th decade

It was hard for me when my mother turned 70, two years ago. Even though her parents lived till their mid 90s, I still felt depressed about the change from her being in her 60s, versus beginning her 70s.

It's hard to explain why I felt that way, since I'm not sure myself. I imagine it was because I'm so used to the reality that the average life span for us IS somewhere in the 70s. Though I know women tend to live a bit past that, I couldn't help feeling like 70 marked, in a way, the beginning of the last phase, or decade, of my mother's life. Maybe it will and maybe it won't. I don't want to find out.

I've felt a little less anxious since then, but still feel sad when I see obituary pages, and their columns and columns of men and women who've died, as the averages say, in their 70s.