Getting On; Media

<v Speaker>[music] We're getting on in years. We're getting on just fine. <v Speaker>[music] We're getting on with the beautiful business of living. We're gonna do new things. We're gonna view new skies. We're gonna rise to the billion surprises of living. We're <v Speaker>free to see what we never had time to see. Free to learn. Free to grow. <v Speaker>[music] Free to be ourselves and build on what we know. <v Speaker>[music] We're getting on in age. We're getting on the ball by getting old and we can from the wonder of living. <v Speaker>[music] We know what's good. We know it's fine. It's a new road we're getting on.

<v Speaker>I'm Alice Brophy and this is a new TV series, for and about older people. <v Speaker>And I'm Paul O'Dwyer. We'll be bringing you some remarkable folks who are getting <v Speaker>on and well worth knowing. <v Speaker>On this series will let older people speak for themselves. <v Speaker>And since Paul and I are getting on as well, we'll add a thought or two occasionally <v Speaker>also. It's a pleasure to introduce some of the unsung <v Speaker>but fascinating older people who have a gift for living. <v Speaker>You'll be surprised to see that none of them are famous. <v Speaker>Most of them have very limi-limited incomes, but all of them <v Speaker>have an undiminished talent for getting on.

<v Speaker>Ya know, Paul, one of the things that uh happens in retirement <v Speaker>is people see it as the end of a-of a portion of your life. <v Speaker>Rather, that it's the beginning of a whole new way of life. <v Speaker>And I think one of the big problems is how do you work it out so that you use time <v Speaker>successfully rather than kill time? <v Speaker>I think they've got to prepare for it, Alice. <v Speaker>I think they've got to recognize that there are a lot of things that they couldn't get <v Speaker>around to doing before. <v Speaker>Now they have an opportunity of sort of filling in and doing the things that they wish to <v Speaker>do previously. There must be many, many things in everybody's life <v Speaker>that they would like to get into, and we're not given the opportunity for doing <v Speaker>it. <v Speaker>Yeah, I think we all have, you know, our little lists set aside that when we have time, <v Speaker>the books we're gonna read and the symphonies we're going to hear and the courses we're <v Speaker>gonna take. But I also think it requires a lot of very good planning and <v Speaker>a lot of discipline and a lot of order in our lives, because <v Speaker>uh if uh we don't, then uh then you do, as I say, kill time.

<v Speaker>If you're a confirmed ci-city dweller, by choice or by necessity, one of the <v Speaker>best ways of getting on is to use the many resources the city offers. <v Speaker>We met a man who converted a lifetime affection for the zoo into <v Speaker>a meaningful volunteer experience. <v Speaker>When I retired from the Department of Parks, I know that <v Speaker>I had to find some activity to keep me busy. <v Speaker>Something that would be interesting and I'd always been interested in the zoo. <v Speaker>And when I found out that they did have a volunteer program, I was very <v Speaker>much interested in joining up. <v Speaker>These wolves live used to live here in Manhattan Island. <v Speaker>But they don't live here anymore and they don't live in practically any <v Speaker>place in New York state. <v Speaker>They're gradually being pushed out of all the places where they used to live.

<v Speaker>Now, what do you think wolves lived on? <v Speaker>Trees? Meat! Food. Oh, everybody lives on food, so don't answer food. <v Speaker>Meat. Where do you think the meat came from? <v Speaker>Other animals. They hunted for it. They hunted other animals. <v Speaker>What kind of animals? <v Speaker>Uh, rabbits, squirrels. Ooh I know, lambs! Little animals! Not lambs, but hold on to that, you hold on to that. <v Speaker>Rabbits. They ate rabbits and squirrels. <v Speaker>What big thing lives in the wood? <v Speaker>Deer! Mostly they lived on deer. And when they're gonna cut down the forest <v Speaker>in order to make more land for his cows. <v Speaker>What happened to deer? <v Speaker>They left. And after they left it di- the wolves had to leave also, didn't they? <v Speaker>Now, if they didn't find - As a volunteer at the zoo, I <v Speaker>come in on Friday mornings and more frequently if it's necessary and <v Speaker>give to-uh tours that I really consider lessons <v Speaker>uh I don't uh show them here at the lions, here the tigers, there the elephants.

<v Speaker>We have tours that on various subjects. <v Speaker>One of them is endangered species, which I have given the kids today. <v Speaker>Another is on adaptations that third might be on reptiles. <v Speaker>All of these tours are lessons, really, which I try to get from <v Speaker>the kids to various subjects that we're discussing for the day. <v Speaker>Now, wait a minute, everybody quiet down. <v Speaker>Let's get a little attention here. <v Speaker>Now where do the polar bears live? <v Speaker>In Alaska. Not only in the Alaska but all around the north pole none of them live in the <v Speaker>south pole. They're all around the top of the globe where there's ice and snow. <v Speaker>And what do you think they live on? <v Speaker>UM, ice. They live ON the ice, but what kind of food do they eat? <v Speaker> Fish! <v Speaker>Fish in the water. Um, seals. And seals. Both. <v Speaker>They're hunters and they catch fish and seals. <v Speaker>If their question is wrong.

<v Speaker>I don't say that's wrong. <v Speaker>I try to continue the questioning 'til the kid'll give me a correct answer. <v Speaker>It's a give and take and I try to get everything out of them by questioning. <v Speaker>I don't try to lecture, every once in a while I will try t- I find myself <v Speaker>going into a lecture about animals, which I know is uh not the right thing to do. <v Speaker>I want to get it out of them. They know all the answers and they just have to think about <v Speaker>it and get it out of themselves. <v Speaker>These are not living on deer. <v Speaker>Their-their habitat is still the same as it was. <v Speaker>They live on fish and seals. <v Speaker>Now, why do you think they're endangered? <v Speaker>There's another good reason. Because, um, when they live in Alaska, <v Speaker>the-the hunters over there need-need the skin of the-the polar bears to <v Speaker>keep themselves warm. <v Speaker>What hunters? Eskimos. Yeah, the Eskimos. <v Speaker>How many thousands of years do you think Eskimos have been killing polar bears <v Speaker>for fur? Tens of thousands. <v Speaker>So they're really no danger to the polar bears. <v Speaker>They only take what they need.

<v Speaker>They never kill 'em too much. <v Speaker>Now what other countries would be there for the polar bears and for what <v Speaker>reason? <v Speaker>Bear hunters. Just to get the skin for a rug or put their head up on a shelf <v Speaker>or something. They went out and killed them by the thousands. <v Speaker>They shouldn't kill the polar bears they should wait 'til they die. They shouldn't just kill 'em for the sport. That's right. <v Speaker>They shouldn't kill 'em for sport because that's what's making them <v Speaker>endangered. What would happen- We-uh live in a very, <v Speaker>very small world. <v Speaker>And one of the most endangered species of all is man. <v Speaker>And uh it's - kids should know that unless pollution <v Speaker>is controlled and uh environmental uh <v Speaker>destruction of habitats and the landmasses and the oceans. <v Speaker>One of the animal is gonna be extinct before we t- is man himself <v Speaker>therefore if they have an idea or know that animals are endangered, have

<v Speaker>to be protected, someplace along the line I try to bring that <v Speaker>in. I don't know whether I'm always successful. <v Speaker>That man is an endangered species that we have to think about this problem. <v Speaker>My earliest recrea-uh recollection of the Bronx Zoo has been when I was 3 or 4 <v Speaker>years old about 60 years ago, coming with my big brother and <v Speaker>riding on his shoulders and him pointing out the animals to me. <v Speaker>But uh this is my favorite place in the city, I imagine. <v Speaker>I used to come here two, three, four times a week, all during elementary school and high <v Speaker>school just to wander around, see the animals over and over again, and never became <v Speaker>boring. There's always something new to see new animals available. <v Speaker>They used to come here and pick blackberries before they develop the parking <v Speaker>lot over near the Bronx River. <v Speaker>And so that I always had an interest in nature and animals. <v Speaker>When I was a youngster, I was told, the legend that this <v Speaker>rolling stone could be moved if you found a proper place to push it with two

<v Speaker>fingers. Of course, being very young and very naive. <v Speaker>I spent hours every time I visited the zoo trying to find <v Speaker>a spot uh where you could push the stone over <v Speaker>with two fingers. <v Speaker>Of course, I never found it, and I still think it can be done. <v Speaker>I only find the right place. <v Speaker>Though each time I come, even now, I visit the world <v Speaker>of darkness which is just behind us. <v Speaker>I will walk over here and very quietly give it a little shove and <v Speaker>see what I'm doing and uh but I still haven't moved it. <v Speaker>Very little water. If you look out here, there's only three horses in this little place. <v Speaker>Ya see what they're doing to the grass? <v Speaker>They're eating it all up. And once the grass disappear what's going to happen? <v Speaker>They're gonna die out. No, but what happens to the soil?

<v Speaker>It gets by. <v Speaker>If it uh gets washed away by the rain and gradually all <v Speaker>the plant life would die, the trees would die, and you would have a desert. <v Speaker>So it's necessary to maintain the balance. <v Speaker>And then they would die. It's necessary to maintain the balance of nature by having <v Speaker>the predators. <v Speaker>I feel a definite responsibility. When I took the course one of the things that they told <v Speaker>me before I started was that they expected me to give them at least a <v Speaker>year of touring as a tour guide. <v Speaker>And I did that. I mean, of course I said I would. <v Speaker>And it doesn't make any difference whether I'm on a paid job, but I have a sense of <v Speaker>responsibility. So it's important. <v Speaker>I think it's important to uh continue. <v Speaker>You can't just watch television or read all the time. <v Speaker>You have to have some active activity to get into. <v Speaker>Bye, Mr. Goodman. Bye! <v Speaker>As this series was developed, we looked for the most effective ways to make a point

<v Speaker>and features that would be fun to do. <v Speaker>On the theory that laughter is the best persuader, we started several comedy <v Speaker>workshops in the senior centers around the city. <v Speaker>These workshops are a very popular activity. <v Speaker>Many seniors who had never performed before find a lot of pleasure <v Speaker>in improvising and developing skits. <v Speaker>Some of the workshop members will appear in this series from time to time <v Speaker>in sketches that show some of the issues and ironies involved in <v Speaker>getting on. <v Speaker>Good morning. Good morning. Can I help you? <v Speaker>I have a complaint to make. I hope I've come to the right place. <v Speaker>This is the right place, yes. I have some pills here that I'm taking for a long, long <v Speaker>time. <v Speaker>Yeah. Now, they don't seem to work anymore. <v Speaker>They don't help you anymore, huh? No. <v Speaker>I see. <v Speaker>So uh you're Mrs. Finsterwald, right? <v Speaker>No, that's not my name.

<v Speaker>Well you've got pills here that says Finster- Well, the garbage man gave me that. What?! I told him my uh com-what I-uf - Just how I feel! <v Speaker>And he gave you? And he gave me 'em and says his wife takes them. <v Speaker>He's not a doctor. <v Speaker>You can't take other people's pills. You see, this is only for Mrs. Finsterwald. <v Speaker>You see? Did you have any other pills there? <v Speaker>Yes, I have. Ya can't take other people's pills for an ailment. <v Speaker>You have to get your own. Yeah, it says here, Mrs. O'Brien. <v Speaker>Now that's you know, right? No, that's not me either. <v Speaker>You're not O'Brien? The mail man's wife. Oh, co-lady. <v Speaker>Listen, you can't do that. You can't take other people's pills. <v Speaker>I don't care if they have the same complaint or not. <v Speaker>You're a different person. You have a different kind of a system. <v Speaker>You can't take other people- <v Speaker>I can help, I-I'm living on a fixed income and I can't afford to buy pills. <v Speaker>You're gonna die on a fixed income if you keep doing this. <v Speaker>You must go to your own doctor. Even if you go to a clinic, you've got to get your own. <v Speaker>Look, do you have any more pills in there? Let's take a look at your pills, because this <v Speaker>is ridiculous. I have alot. <v Speaker>Okay. Let's have the pills you got. <v Speaker>Okay. You got these pills here. <v Speaker>Uh-huh, Gonzalez. That's not you either, right? No, that's not me. <v Speaker>No? What's this? <v Speaker>Fairfax-Forbes. That's not you?

<v Speaker>That's not me. No, no. <v Speaker>None of these is you? No. All of these pills and none? <v Speaker>No. You got all these pills? Uh-huh. <v Speaker>But you borrow these? <v Speaker>They said they were good for me. <v Speaker>I didn't buy the bad - no. <v Speaker>Ya can't go to friends and neighbors and mailmen and garbage men and a delivery boy. <v Speaker>And the man sells the newspapers. You have to have your own pills. <v Speaker>You can't - you can't take other people's pills. <v Speaker>It's not good for you may even harm you instead of helping you. <v Speaker>So remember that you've got - you've got to - if there's one rule you follow, don't take <v Speaker>other people's pills! <v Speaker>Gee whiz. Ya got me so upset now I'm getting a headache. <v Speaker>Poor, poor soul. Take one of my pills. One of these? Yeah, it's Aspirin. <v Speaker>Good. I'll just take one of these, make me feel a little better, okay? <v Speaker>Huh-uh-uh, Don't take other people's pills. <v Speaker>Okay. Here's the book. Now everything's in there. <v Speaker>Any question you can't answer you find in the book, okay? <v Speaker>Are you sure it's in there? Yeah, I'm pretty sure everything's in there. <v Speaker>Okay. Nothing to worry about. I'll be just across the street having a hamburger. <v Speaker>Yes, sir. Can I help you? <v Speaker>Yes, uh, I'm retired. I just turned 65. <v Speaker>I need a little help. Yeah, I know. It can be hard.

<v Speaker>I was working for the same company for 40 years, as soon as I turned 65 they forced <v Speaker>me out. Mandatory retirement. I have social security and a small <v Speaker>pension. Also a gold watch. <v Speaker>I bet you need a hobby to get involved with. <v Speaker>No, that's not quite it uh- how about some recreation? <v Speaker>Meet new friends. No, no, miss. <v Speaker>Well, I know what you need, you need the address of a good senior citizens club. <v Speaker>No, no, no. That's not quite it either. <v Speaker>Well, what do you need? I need a job. <v Speaker>Well, gee, there's only one job here and I already got it. <v Speaker>I'm what they call professional volunteer. <v Speaker>What's a professional volunteer? <v Speaker>Somebody smart enough to do the job but dumb enough not to get paid. <v Speaker>Sounds like my old company. You need a partner? <v Speaker>Sure. <v Speaker>I'm often asked, if I had a choice, would I like to live amongst my peers? <v Speaker>You know, all the people are young people. <v Speaker>And uh truthfully speaking, I feel where young people are stimulating, <v Speaker>and it's quite exciting, different than my peers,

<v Speaker>uh where we would find it stimulating and they tolerate us. <v Speaker>I don't think that even though they say they would like to live with us, whether they're <v Speaker>sincere about it. <v Speaker>And personally, I feel that um someplace <v Speaker>in the corner of me, I feel that I'd be exploiting them. <v Speaker>They say they gain more from us than we gain from them, but I feel it's only <v Speaker>lip service. <v Speaker>And I'm often asked that question and I would like to hear other- You know, that <v Speaker>comes up in every single meeting we have in the United States or England <v Speaker>or anywhere else. There's other older people who live just with older people <v Speaker>or with younger people as well. <v Speaker>And I think there's no single answer to this. <v Speaker>Let's-let's face that one. <v Speaker>In the first place, there has to be some matter of choice and understanding and <v Speaker>so forth and the situation which creates this. <v Speaker>We've gone through this in planning housing all over the country for older people. <v Speaker>And I was with a woman the other day, well, probably around 50, a very

<v Speaker>able gal who says I would never want to live in a place just with older people. <v Speaker>I said, well, I wish I had lived long enough to know you when you were 80, <v Speaker>because you might change your mind at that point where there are certain <v Speaker>things that are common to your pattern of living, your background, your <v Speaker>relationships and so forth that make it comfortable, not that you don't <v Speaker>associate with younger people, but you may not have them under your feet. <v Speaker>Uh, when I was out in San Francisco and we built a place where we had families with <v Speaker>children and older people there and we looked at what was happening. <v Speaker>And the older people said, well, it's awful nice to know they're there. <v Speaker>But it's awful when you fall over 'em in the elevator. <v Speaker>So the whole point was to set the organizational structure <v Speaker>in such a way that they can get together if and when, but not under each other's feet. <v Speaker>But I think that there's no answer to this, I think each of us is different in this- <v Speaker>in our whole background.

<v Speaker>I've been in housing since 1925, built the first housing for the older people in the <v Speaker>whole United States right here in New York. <v Speaker>And we've been at it ever since. <v Speaker>And now your whole question there is <v Speaker>whether this suits the individual. <v Speaker>Right. <v Speaker>This is this is primary as to whether this is an answer to <v Speaker>the individual's living situation and his social relationships, <v Speaker>not just the house in which you live, and you have <v Speaker>to recognize that your community where the housing is makes <v Speaker>a tremendous difference. <v Speaker>I lived in Harlem since 1928 and I <v Speaker>lived practically in the same little area. <v Speaker>And um as I -what means so much to me is <v Speaker>when I go out of my house up and down the street <v Speaker>all- to any of the stores, I'm always coming encounter <v Speaker>with the people whom I know.

<v Speaker>And uh they say hello to me and I say hello to them and we'll discuss <v Speaker>little things. And this really to me is most important. <v Speaker>I would regret very much leaving that neighborhood, which is not <v Speaker>the finest, but nevertheless, it means more to me than any <v Speaker>other neighborhood I can go in to. <v Speaker>And the people are to me are nice there. <v Speaker>They're nice to me. You know, in every neighborhood, some people might <v Speaker>find fault of some of the people there. <v Speaker>But then if you conduct yourself properly, respects them <v Speaker>and you down right with them. <v Speaker>Everybody learns to love you and like you. <v Speaker>And they look out for you and they care about you. <v Speaker>And that's what has happened in this little neighborhood in which I <v Speaker>live. Right. <v Speaker>I think it's the whole neighbor- and you realize that New York City is nothing but a <v Speaker>collection neighborhoods anyhow? Mm-hm, yes.

<v Speaker>As a city, it doesn't do things except in a neighborhood comple and I think we have <v Speaker>to recognize that. <v Speaker>And I'd like to say again here that we come to <v Speaker>elder people. I love elder people. <v Speaker>I love younger people. <v Speaker>If it hadn't been for younger people, I will say I doubt <v Speaker>that I would look as young today as I do at the age of 72. <v Speaker>You're doing all right. <v Speaker>And uh it's all because I had youngsters around me. <v Speaker>I've always taken interest in the youngsters. <v Speaker>Now, do- these people whom I have taken interest in is <v Speaker>in their late 40s and they keep me happy all the time. <v Speaker>They're calling me. They have their own home. <v Speaker>They tell me you've come out for the weekend. <v Speaker>They just can't do enough for me. <v Speaker>And uh I-I go swimming if I go to the beach. <v Speaker>I haven't stopped swimming yet. I haven't stopped riding the bicycle yet. <v Speaker>If I want to. And I just contribute that being with these young people <v Speaker>is really who has kept me.

<v Speaker>Well, I think part you are emphasizing is the things that are important to every older <v Speaker>person, that he has a sense of belonging where <v Speaker>he or she is, whether it's in the housing or in the neighborhood, out of the family. <v Speaker>That you belong <v Speaker>and you have a you have a right to be there as an individual, that you have a person, a <v Speaker>personality, and you count for something. <v Speaker>I think this is what. No, I get it. <v Speaker>In my neighborhood, the same thing. I go out. <v Speaker>They all called me by name and so forth. It's great. <v Speaker>I've been there for 30 years and so forth. <v Speaker>So they know you and I think this is very important to you as a person. <v Speaker>And so many older people are deprived of this. <v Speaker>Is really important to every single person, I think is the matter of their <v Speaker>right to earn a living. <v Speaker>At any age that they can do it if they want to do it, and we do not <v Speaker>have that right in this country, we are required to leave their <v Speaker>job. <v Speaker>And uh if they don't leave their jobs, if somehow they manage to get a job

<v Speaker>after they're 65, they are penalized and punished for it by having their Social <v Speaker>Security taken away from them. <v Speaker>I learned about this when I was 72 and I went out to get a job and I got <v Speaker>the job without any trouble. But I learned from that job how hard <v Speaker>it is for older people who get jobs. <v Speaker>And so that's what brought me into this thing. I hadn't realized that I was getting old <v Speaker>until that time. And then I realized because even though it was hard for other people <v Speaker>this time to do something about it. So I had been working on that ever since I had the <v Speaker>bill that has passed the assembly of the state at the present time to eliminate <v Speaker>mandatory retirement. That's right. And we're still working on the Senate bill. <v Speaker>They haven't uh passed it yet, but that's one thing we have to uh -pardon? <v Speaker>Can I ask you a question? Do you think that uh you're talking about the right to an <v Speaker>income, really? <v Speaker>I do think there's uh - the right to earn it! <v Speaker>Earn it and uh do you think there's a relationship between what they you know, they so <v Speaker>glibly speak of as senility and not having the means to make

<v Speaker>it? Exactly. <v Speaker>You think there's a relationship? Don't have the job that they feel is important. <v Speaker>Companionship they've grown up with the job they know. <v Speaker>The place that they have in society. <v Speaker>All those things, are taken away from them at 65. <v Speaker>And that is the worst possible thing. <v Speaker>And I think that that's very important. <v Speaker>I've worked on the Senate Committee of the United States -all of the members <v Speaker>of the Senate committee. <v Speaker>As soon as I retired from my job and I retired not because I wanted to, but because of my <v Speaker>eyes I couldn't continue with it. <v Speaker>And so I got to work at that. And then I got to work on the uh legislature. <v Speaker>And that's why we have the bill. It's gotten that far. <v Speaker>But we've got to get the rest of the way. <v Speaker>Then if people want to retire, fine. <v Speaker>But they shouldn't be penalized if they want to go on working. <v Speaker>I think that not everybody wants to work. <v Speaker>I know that when I hit 65, I threw my hat on and run. <v Speaker>I couldn't get out fast enough and uh 'cause I figured I'm willing to trade- <v Speaker>but you want the choice- Sure. <v Speaker>I'm-I'm willing to trade, say um for a leisure, I'll trade, you know, <v Speaker>cut down on my desires.

<v Speaker>You know, you can cut-the main thing is leisure. <v Speaker>So first of all, now I'm in a position where the boss can't fire me. <v Speaker>Nobody can threaten me when I when I say certain kinda things. <v Speaker>I can say all the rotten mean things. I can write- I can write the snotty letters and all <v Speaker>those kinda things. I do all the dir- I can do all the dirty work I want to do now. <v Speaker>Nobody can fire me. They can't hurt me. <v Speaker>There's no way in the world they can hurt me. Right? <v Speaker>When ya think. No, that's uh -that's an awful big leverage. <v Speaker>We fought there, World War 1 through for them. <v Speaker>We fought World War 2 through for them. <v Speaker>Right? Working for peanut wages. <v Speaker>We pulled them out of the depression. We fought the depression. <v Speaker>We paid into the Social Security Act. <v Speaker>We paid into it. We have an earned right. <v Speaker>We have an earned right for income. And because the crowd coming up, they're going to get <v Speaker>old. This is a social contract. <v Speaker>Young people -how- they're gonna get old and we work for the others who <v Speaker>they had to work for us. This is every industrialized nation in the world has an <v Speaker>obligation. So I think it's great that I could get out of the rat race.

<v Speaker>I-I just want to emphasize it. I'm sorry I couldn't get out at 55. <v Speaker>You know, Paul, as I listened to that wonderful discussion, I wondered how we ever called <v Speaker>old people the invisible, silent minority. <v Speaker>I mean, now now they know what their options are and they know where they want to go. <v Speaker>And I think it's going to change more, don't you? <v Speaker>Oh, I think it has to. We just can't let this great resources, <v Speaker>stored up wisdom, and experience sort of dissipate without at least having an opportunity <v Speaker>of spreading it on onto our society so that others can pick up and <v Speaker>become the beneficiaries of it. <v Speaker>You know, the people talking uh in this group uh not only <v Speaker>uh know how decisions are made, they know how to pick options, they <v Speaker>know how through their vote they can uh change <v Speaker>some decisions both nationally and locally. <v Speaker>And I think that uh with this knowledge, we're going to see in the next decade or two

<v Speaker>decades a different world for older people. <v Speaker>And I think it's gonna be a good world. And if I'm not there to benefit by it, maybe <v Speaker>my kids and your kids or our grand children will have some of the opportunities <v Speaker>we're gonna miss. <v Speaker>You know, Alice, we had uh one thing that we probably have overlooked, <v Speaker>and that is that when we gave the vote to the youth, they didn't take <v Speaker>advantage of it. But the older people are voting and they're organized and they will <v Speaker>present a really tough, hard group of people for politicians <v Speaker>to deal with. And I'm speaking as one of those latter. <v Speaker>I know. And I think that they are aware of it, too. <v Speaker>The experience of growing older offers a great deal for all of us to think about. <v Speaker>As we've just seen, this series is about older people who are being very <v Speaker>inventive during the later years of their lives. <v Speaker>They are the stars of getting on and they have much to say to all <v Speaker>of us, whatever our age.

<v Speaker>If, as the saying has it, youth is a gift of nature, but <v Speaker>age is a work of art. <v Speaker>And we hope you'll want to join us. <v Speaker>Alice Brophy and Paul O'Dwyer next time to getting on.