Life@70+

Life at age 70 is debilitating for some. My mother died at 72 and my father at 77. So I will use those 2 ages to write this post.

Female aged 72

1. Diabetes and insulin
2. Hypertension (HPT)
3. Thyroidectomy; thyroxine for life
4. Vitamin supplement
5. Always asked if she's doing fine healthwise
6. Very quiet. Didn't say much. Quiet most of the time. Lost in space
7. Would relate her dreams of her late mother coming to visit her and calling her to follow to don't know where. Her mother was in white robes
8. Ate normally but very little; took 1-2 tablespoonful of rice and a bit of fish and soup with vegetables
9. Could not take sour fruits; could take sweet papayas
10. Had full and very good dentition till death; didn't eat sweet, sweet stuff or chocolates, etc
11. Stuck to healthy menu British style.
12. Always felt hot (panas) and often took baths
13. Read books and magazine and knitted, her usual hobbies
14. Purchased blankets to keep her children warm (one for each child). Probably lost touch that this world is getting hotter and we don't need blankets.
15. Still cared for the children and grandchildren when they could take care of themselves and her
16. Could put up with hunger despite being diabetic but died of extreme hunger while travelling 250km without stopping to eat. The driver (my brother) didn't know my mother had heart problems. I didn't tell any of my sibs because it didn't cross my mind. My brother didn't stop for food and my mother never complained that she was hungry (being diabetic). She died 1 week after being on insulin.
17. She never complained of anything, rain or shine - she kept her mouth shut about everything. All her life stories, happiness and sorrows died with her.

Male aged 77

1. Excessive perspiration (hot weather in Penang)
2. Loose teeth, painful to eat hard food; only soft foods
3. Ate well but only a little, not as much as before
4. Drank sufficient water but still sweated a lot; adequately hydrated otherwise
5. Lived quietly like a hermit; some friends have died; didn't go out except for food for himself
6. Prayed at home cos he could not take the overhead bridge; too old to cross at the traffic lights cos the junction was too big and he could not cross the road in time before the lights turned red; too tiring to walk the distance to the mosque where he prayed all this while, while living in Penang since 1976; he lived in Leeds before 1976
7. In 2004, at the time of the Asian tsunami, the same year my mother died; he still liked fishing, his boyhood hobby, lifetime hobby. But it was fortunate that he did not go fishing that fateful day - his fishing rod line got entangled and he couldn't fix it in time to go fishing. Else the tsunami would have taken him alive.
8. Scanned all the old photos and compiled them in his Apple laptop.
9. Created a lot of snapshots of Ayat al-Quran to store in his pendrive
10. Browsed old photos and explained them at every opportunity (can be boring for some)
11. Not interested in world affairs or politics when he was previously in politics
12. Never said anything negative. Liked to tell his life stories, never ending stories.
13. Happy as things were; accepted the fact that he was old and going to die
14. Prepared to die happily since he had no property, no assets and no cash to give away; sifar harta
15. No debts cos he bought everything cash and only when he could afford them
16. Already booked the people to wash and prepare him for burial; also prepaid for his burial plot
17. Happy to leave Earth life and enter Barzakh life
18. Happy to die cos the wife already died 5 years prior
19. Not worried, very calm, knew he was going to die after all
20. Refused hospital treatment whatsoever; did not like hospital at all (he was a medic student anyway).