Old News with guest blogger Vicki Crompton

So, Baby Boomers, here we are –on the brink of official old-agedom.  I consider myself slightly behind the leading edge – born in 1947 when peace was new, optimism ran high, and young men and women were breeding apace.  We are the product -the embodiment of their optimism, lobbed confidently into a future built on foundations of peace, antibiotics, plastics, refrigerators, two car garages, and cheap mortgages. 

Fast-forward a lifetime.  We have been a force to be reckoned with. We have  worked for gender, sexual and ethnic equality, fueled the exploding world of communication technology and made a religion of recycling .  On the other hand, we have unraveled the peace, amassed monster debt, and compromised our environment.  As it turns out, we aren’t any better than anybody else. There are just more of us. Innovation has occurred in response to our numbers. Think of kindergarten, racquetball, and marketing strategies directed to our considerable buying power. 

So now we are peering around the corner, wondering how the world will respond to this next stage. We aren’t shiny and new any more. We’re losing hair and gaining weight. But we are entering an exciting stage of our lives – the perfect storm – when money, time, and health converge. I know we aren’t all rich, fit, layabouts, but if we’ve played our cards right, many will have some happy, productive years ahead. And those of us who live in Whistler have jumped the gun – we are in paradise already.

As we have always had an impact in the past, we now look to the future and hope our community will be able to respond to our needs.  As we have grown and evolved, so has Whistler. When it was young and raunchy – so were we.  Early on, old people left the community – it simply wasn’t practical to stay.  But now, many who have lived and worked here forever – who have brought up their families here - want to stay; to ‘age in place’.  Many who have had vacation homes in Whistler want to retire here. The good news is that changes to make Whistler a senior friendly community are already happening. The Mature Action Committee (MAC) has worked hard to establish cost controlled seniors housing.  A Seniors Needs Action Planner has been hired by Whistler Community Services to assess the needs of local seniors and respond to them.  We are on the cusp of change. Whistler seniors have a great opportunity to be part of creating a dynamic vision for our community.  The future looks bright – put on your shades!