The other side of seventy…

… is just a few months away.

Other side of 70

When I was a kid, not yet a teen, I had figured out that I would be 48 just after the turn of the century.  I didn’t really think about anything past that point.  It was too far in the future.

Well, that turn-of-the-century point is soon to be 22 years in the past.  And, in just a few months, I’ll be on the other side of 70.

Time flies.

Well, not exactly.  The Y2K scare seems like ages ago. I retired 14 1/2 years ago and stopped contract work 3 3/4 years ago.

A lot of people didn’t make it this far.  Some didn’t even make it out of high school… others not to far past that.

I left to join the Navy only about 18 months after graduation and never really kept in touch with anyone.  Through social media and other online avenues, I’ve touched base with a few survivors and learned of a few others who have passed.  I’m sure there were others for all sort of reasons.  Many other people I’ve known, or their spouses, have gone along the way.

Too many, too young.

Life happens.

Until it doesn’t.

I guess I just vanished so far as any of my classmates knew.  One high school friend told me that she looked for my name on the Vietnam memorial but didn’t find it.  One classmate who supposedly was lost over there isn’t on the wall either.

I can’t say I was ever much of a risk taker.  Time has winnowed out some of those in my age group who were, I’m sure.

When I was considering the military, I just went to the Air Force and Navy recruiters.  With the war still in progress, becoming a marine or a soldier was just too risky.

So I ended up on a submarine and 15 1/2 months submerged over several deployments.

And working in nuclear power.

Being on a submarine was no more risky than any other type of ship, in my view.

Working in nuclear was as safe as any job – and much safer than many.

Sure, I have – and have had – my share of risk factors.  I was a smoker, but that was so long ago – it’ll be 40 years since I quit when I skip to the other side of 70 – that it has little or no bearing on my health today.  I had tried to quit multiple times for over a decade and then just quit cold turkey.

After I quit smoking, I gained weight and, except for a period in the first half of the 90s, have struggled with it since.  I take meds to deal with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes and had cataract surgery last summer.

Despite the weight, blood pressure, and pre-diabetes, I’m in fairly good shape compared to a lot of others my age. I try to keep active mentally – blogging, online researching, reading, etc. – and physically.  I averaged 3.8 miles a day walking in 2020.  This year I’m up to 4.3 miles a day.1 I’ve also got some outside projects that require physical effort.

I think I’m positioned reasonably well for the journey on the other side of 70.  Karen follows a few months behind me.  She has some different issues than mine, but I’m not going to go into those.  She is mentally active with her blog and social media and she is also averaging several miles a day.

We know there will be issues to deal with.

Life happens.


  1. After the gym closed in early March 2020, we bought a treadmill in June.  We’ve logged over 900 hours on the machine and over 2,150 miles, about the straight-line distance from San Francisco to Atlanta.
aging, fitness, health, life

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Ramana Rajgopaul Aug 22, 2021 Link

    Frankly, I never expected to live up to my current age of 78. In our tradition, two landmarks are when one is 60 and the other when one is 80. Both are celebrated with pomp but, I chose not to my 60th as I intend my 80th. That is if I live that long.

    Just yesterday, a very dear friend’s death came to my knowledge. I had spoken to him on the phone just four days ago and this news really shook me.

    Nothing is permanent and one’s death cannot be foretold.
    Ramana Rajgopaul recently posted…Onam Treats.My Profile

    • Mike Goad Sep 2, 2021 Link

      “Nothing is permanent and one’s death cannot be foretold.”

      I agree.

      One of my sisters is in the hospital with COVID, but improving. A brother-in-law’s mother is waiting in an emergency room for a bed to open up in the hospital — she doesn’t have COVID, but space in the hospital is taken up with COVID patients. She’s been in a senior care facility in declining health and has taken a turn for the worse. She probably doesn’t have long. A nephew’s friend has been on a ventilator with COVID for a couple of weeks and his organs are shutting down. He’s in his 20s with one child and another on the way.

      I’ve learned all of this in the last 2 days. I just get so frustrated with the COVIDiots.
      Mike Goad recently posted…Cave TourMy Profile

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