Recently, Tonic told you about a New Year’s Eve bash for the elderly in Boston. Though it’s certainly impressive to read about old folks — like 100 years old, old — getting down on the dance floor, it kind of pales in comparison to some of the folks featured on the front page of Thursday’s New York Times.
Writer Kirk Johnson opens our eyes to a whole group of gutsy grandmas and grandpas. Aged folks, in their 70s, 80s, and beyond are trying daredevil maneuvers many people half their age wouldn’t even consider. They’re proving without a doubt that being old and acting old are two very different things.
Consider Tom Lackey, an 89-year-old retired builder in England, who just completed his 20th wing walk — this last one across the English Channel. Not familiar with wing-walking? It involves strapping one’s feet to a plane (in his case a single-engine biplane) and remaining erect as the pilot flies through the air at upwards of 160 miles an hour while the “walker” wears nothing more than goggles and layers of protective clothing! (I am cowering under my chair just thinking about doing this — and I am almost 60 years younger than this brave dude.)
“My family thinks I’m mad. I probably am,” Lackey told the Times, and revealed that for his 90th birthday next May he’s planning to be the first person of any age to wing-walk both directions across the English Channel.
It’s doubtful that Lackey is mad. On the contrary, it seems that stunts like these are becoming increasingly normal for the AARP set. For example, Exploritas, the nonprofit travel company formerly known as Elderhostel, has seen a 27 percent increase since 2004 in people over 75 choosing adventure tour options. The sharpest increase? In the over-85 set, which has seen a 70 percent spike.
Amazing tales abound of elderly folks who trekked to the North and South Poles, walked nearly all the way up Mount Everest, para-sailed for the first time post-retirement and more.
It’s often said that youth is wasted on the young, but it’s truly inspiring to see that these older folks are proving that youth is not the sole dominion of the young. Who knows? Maybe in 60 years I’ll be ready for some wing walking? It could take me that long just to screw up the courage!
Photo courtesy of itropical via stock.xchang.