Feeling Like a Dinosaur

I just returned from a four-day medical conference of the California Academy of Physician Assistants (CAPA) in Palm Springs. I had the pleasure of giving two lectures this year, both on Adolescent Medicine. There were 800 registered attendees, which was quite a change since this organization began 33 years ago. I know. I was there in the beginning. I was the founding father and first member of this organization.

Those who have been in clinical practice for over 25 years are affectionately termed the "Dinos". Since this is my 34th year of clinical practice, I am a bit more Jurassic than most. Although I am certainly not the oldest PA, as I looked out upon the audience of young faces, I felt old.

I was there to give a lecture about adolescent medicine. Thirty-eight years ago, I was an adolescent starting a very intensive medical program. Not only do I work with children and adolescents, I even have an adolescent granddaughter. Yep, I felt old.

All of the Dinos had little dinosaurs on their name badges, like we wouldn't have figured that out for ourselves. The Dinos tend to hang out together talking about the old days, or how it used to be. We watch the younger clinicians and students at receptions, and then check our watches to see if it is time for bed. Although I am only 56-years-old and can't really get a true senior discount anywhere, I still felt old.

You don't feel that old when you hang out with older folks. My older brother is retiring this year. Many of my friends have retired and still more have informed me that they will retire soon. I estimate that I still have another 9-10 years before I take down the shingle. My retired friends laugh as they head out to the golf course. For the next decade, I will have to live vicariously through them.

I met some friends for dinner. We went out to a nice restaurant at 5 o'clock - when old people eat. We were the Early Birders. We sat in our booths, eating old people food, looking around at other older people eating and/or taking their medicines. We had a great time. And, yes, we talked about the old days. My friends talked about where they were going to live when they retire (soon). We talked about food and cooking. We talked about traveling. We talked about our various health problems (I call this the "organ recital"). And, sadly, we talked about friends that have died.

Before I started my first teen lecture, I asked how many in the audience were under the age of 38. Over half of the hands rose. As the man behind the podium, I had been in clinical practice longer than most of the audience has been alive. I think next year, I will have to start giving lectures to geriatric conferences, filled with active seniors younger than myself.

Getting older is not for sissies, but it is a state of mind. If you act old, you feel old. If you let yourself decompose, you will fall apart. If you think younger, stay active, and stay away from mirrors, you may feel younger.

The real dinosaurs are extinct; older people are not. We may hang out with a different, white-haired crowd, or eat dinner at 5 PM. We may see our friends suffering from the ravages of time, or we may see vacancies at a table where we all once laughed and shared war stories. Year by year, time will take some of our friends away, but their memories will thrive in the aging hearts and minds of those of us who managed to survive another year.

I really look forward to seeing my Dino friends. We share a common history. If you ever want a real history lesson, be sure to ask someone that lived it. And, please, ask them before it is too late.

How many of us regret not spending more time with our grandparents? Or, wished they had written down all of those precious stories? Every day, entire languages are dying because there is no one left to speak them. Every day, a precious family story is lost because there is no one around to hear it, or no one took the time to write it down.

Yes, I feel old and it is not even my birthday. However, I am grateful that I woke up this morning, played with my dogs, watched the news, and looked out on a beautiful, fall day. I sat down at my computer and wrote a blog entry (although I couldn't post it right away because I have such a crappy satellite ISP!). My wife is in the next room making Halloween costumes for the grandkids. One costume is for our 14 year old granddaughter. This is the last year she will Trick or Treat with the kids. She is getting too old.

Myself? I don't have to work at the clinic today, so I think I will pretend, if only for a day, that I am retired.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Adolescent Specialists
• Baby Boomers: A New Way to Grow Old

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