With so many people working to reverse the aging process, Eileen Allen has accepted it and even embraced it.
At 92, she has written a book about growing old. “I Like Being Old,” which was written with Judith R. Starbuck and published about two years ago, is about Allen’s experiences in aging and how she has made the most of her later years.
She began thinking about aging from the time she was about 60 years old. Since then, Allen has made a few observations about older people, classifying them into three categories: grumpies who always have something to gripe about; coasters who just let things happen, not getting too upset or happy about anything; and seekers who actively look for new learning experiences.
Allen made a conscious decision about which type of person she wanted to be.
“I knew I didn’t want to be a grumpy,” she said. “I decided I would be a seeker.”
On Tuesday, the Seattle resident was at Emerald Heights in Redmond to share her thoughts as well as her book.
Allen’s talk was presented by the Northwest Center for Creative Aging (NWCCA), a nonprofit that helps older adults live up to their potential and enrich their lives with conversation, connections and education. Jan Frederick, executive director, said Allen has been doing talks for the center for about a year and people have always enjoyed them.
“They were just so taken by her message,” Frederick said. “She’s kind of become our poster child.”
Frederick learned about Allen from Pat Lewis, who was with Allen at Tuesday’s talk. Because of Allen’s failing eyesight, Lewis reads passages from “I Like Being Old” for her. Lewis is a trainer with Aging With Wisdom, an organization that offers classes, workshops, retreats and more, for older people as well as caregivers and professionals.
She told Tuesday’s audience that she was delighted to work with Allen as she is one of Lewis’s favorite models of aging.
A recurring theme in Allen’s talk was happiness and how it’s a person’s choice to be happy. And despite her poor eyesight and hearing, limited mobility and the fact that “all of (her) children are senior citizens,” Allen has done just that.
“If you really want to be happy, no one can stop you,” she said. “It’s a sin not to be happy…We have everything we need to be happy as long as we realize it’s an inside job.”
Sisters Patsy Rosenbach and Ann Baker attended Allen’s talk and said she is a lot like their father who had a number of health issues but never let that slow him down. They found her message inspirational.
“(Allen’s) legacy is her attitude and how she projects herself,” Rosenbach said. “Am I glad I came!”
Allen said aging is inevitable and it’s not easy. There will be challenges and obstacles. It’s how a person approaches the process that makes the difference.
“I am old. That’s not to be argued,” she said. “You can’t stay young forever.”
