I want to live to be as old as possible. Don’t we all?

But we all know this life ends.

Let’s always be thankful for old age.

For so many years that so many never get.

But don’t be fooled though.

Eighty-nine is old.

I asked my father how old Ben had been. “Eighty- nine,” he said. I said, “Eighty- nine. That’s old. That’s almost a hundred.” “It sounds old,” said Renee, “but when you reach our age, it suddenly does not sound so old anymore.” My father, who was staring out the window, said, “Bullshit. Eighty- nine is old.”

–Rich Cohen, Sweet and Low