Aging, another sign

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABack when I was much younger, I thoroughly enjoyed magazines. I loved the fashion rags with their fabulous clothes. They gave me dreams and fantasies and sometimes stole my paycheck.

I loved the home and garden magazines too. There were great for decorating or garden ideas. Some I could implement; others I admired.

The recipes were fun and interesting. You could pronounce them and the ingredients were familiar and probably in the pantry.

I would tear into each one as soon as they hit my mailbox. Rip out this or copy that. It was all good.

Some magazines I have been subscribing to for more than 45 years. That’s a long time — longer than many relationships!

Lately it hasn’t been so satisfying. I dropped a few and one stopped printing in the middle of my subscription (no there was no refund). I wasn’t feeling the love.

This week I tore through a magazine with glee. It was fabulous. There was an article on new medical breakthroughs. (Perhaps I should keep that one just in case.)

Another on a cost comparison of overseas surgery versus domestic. (That was an eye opener!)

Yet another on which superbugs are really a threat for us here in the US. (I doubt if anyone in my small burg is at risk for Ebola.)

Not all articles were medical. A few months ago I read about the best places to retire either in the states or overseas. There were costs and calculators. Most of the places were affordable and all had good health care facilities. (Ah yes, health care facilities. That’s a term I never used when I was younger!)

There are always articles about celebrities over 50. (Those are the ones I know! When I watch award shows and I keep saying, “who is that?”)

So what is this fabulous new magazine? I am embarrassed to admit it is AARP’s monthly.

I don’t know how I went from Seventeen to Glamour many years ago. How did I get to AARP? I don’t know how it happened.

Interests and needs change. It is a sad day when shoes and makeup take second place to the latest medical procedures.

One minute I am worried about my hair color and wrinkles. The next it’s all about great vacation places for the older crowd with nearby medical facilities.

The recipes are simple and healthy. (No high-calorie Christmas cookie recipes!)

The ads are about hearing aids and low-cost cell phone plans. I mean really low-cost plans that are tailored for people who are not always playing with their thumbs.

There are the bathtubs for less mobile people and buttons for those who fall and can’t get up.

I am starting to get interested in those cell phone plans and the hearing aids. Did you notice that people talk much softer these days or is that just me?

There are inspiring stories about people who change careers late in life. (It’s never too late.)

There are stories about living with illnesses. All are interesting and relevant in some way.

How did this happen?

I don’t really care. I am just so pleased that I found this new magazine that has stuff in it that is useful and interesting. I am not planning on any overseas surgery at the moment. (You can get dental work done abroad cheaply too.)

Maybe next month’s issue will have a review of wrinkle creams and makeup.

Disclaimer: I wasn’t paid or asked to review the magazine. I was overwhelmed that I found something remotely interesting. I had to share.

38 thoughts on “Aging, another sign”

  1. I read AARP from cover to cover… I do most of my magazine reading in a certain small room in the house (!)… been subscribing since the first day I was eligible and not ashamed to say I enjoy the magazine immensely!

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  3. I also enjoy AARP and it does shock me a bit to say it, but that’s where we’ve found our people, Kate! I can remember when I really enjoyed reading Cosmopolitan. I’m afraid whatever they’re peddling would be entirely wasted on me now. 🙂

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  5. Kate … I just cancelled a subscription to a magazine that I’d read for years. Why? Their photos and articles are geared toward women 50 and under, sometimes 60 and under. That excludes my age-group as readers looking for relevant information. I might check in on the AARP magazine. Thanks for the preview. 😉

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    • I agree. One of my magazines considered 50 to be old. Heck, that’s just about the time my boobs were developing….

      I especially love the face tips for 20-somethings. They don’t need anything. Their skin is wonderful the way it is. No need for Botox or lasers.

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  6. Isn’t it interesting how we go from interest to interest? I don’t know how many “stages” I’ve been through. The only magazine I get now is the Atlantic. I’m too easily distracted to have lots of magazines around the house. I still enjoy the women’s magazines when I go to the hairdresser. If they call me too fast, I’m disappointed . This month I’ve been spending lots of time thumbing through all the catalogs they send before Christmas. I ordered four T-shirts for myself last week.

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    • Magazines aren’t as costly as they used to be. You can get a subscription for $5. They do all kinds of deals to get subscribers because the young people aren’t using paper. AARP stands for something like the American Association of Retired People. Maybe it’s unique to the US. They promote and lobby for issues that affect people over 50.

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  8. Excellent post! I enjoy reading AARP also (yicks, did I say that out loud?). I’ve cancelled several magazines that I used to like. I just don’t have the time to read them and there is so much online (who needs a decorating magazine when there is Houzz… and I can search on my design style only?).

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  11. Most magazines are nothing more than fluff interspersed with ads. That’s why the subscription rates are so low ~ because ad prices depend on keeping the number of subscribers up . . . and that’s how magazines make the real money.

    This week, I got an offer from Family Circle ~ 2 years of Family Circle PLUS 2 years of Better Homes & Gardens PLUS a Cookbook for . . . $7.99. That’s less than $0.17 an issue.

    Glad you found one you enjoy.

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  12. I don’t take AARP…my fav magazine is still Real Simple. I enjoy it very much. My hub has also taken to it…it’s a winner in my nook.
    And I also enjoy looking around in Target better than most places aka Wally World.
    Good post, Kate…as always. You’re outstanding! Hugs!

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  13. Even at the hairstylist’s I opt for blogs on my phone than the mags. Occasionally I’ll check out one that is aimed at men just to see what the other half is reading. 8)

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  15. Personally, I hate AARP’s magazine. (All those happily white-haired people explaining how they saved $3 a month here and $4 a month there. It depresses me to think I’m even in the same age demographic, much less the upper end of it.) Love the post, though! 😀

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  16. Boy did this hit home! Yes, I’ve cruised the pages of AARP with interest, too. Yesterday while running some errands I ran into a woman from church who probably hasn’t crossed that threshold when I have for a long time. Her first words to me were, “Hi, I hardly recognized you, you’ve gotten so grey!” I amazed myself with some grace and said, “Oh, I let it go.” and internally grinned because I heard her daughter chide her with, “Mooommmm, you shouldn’t say that!.” I was barely recovering from a root canal two hours before so I smiled and went on, but felt a lot older standing in the checkout line. Oh, I forgot, you always feel older in the checkout line at Walmart because you do age there! Somehow I don’t feel as old when I go to Target.

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    • I rarely go to our local Walmart. It’s so big I feel I need to drop corn to find my way out. (Opps, today we just use a gps system!) At Target I can fit into the large size of the junior tee-shirts so I don’t feel old there. Of course that’s how I ended up with a Hello Kitty shirt! Gray hair happens at any age so it’s not a good indicator.

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