Years ago a young daughter came into the living room belting out the Tina Turner song "What's love got to do with it.... got do with it..." We laughed at her imitation to the song and dance. It was one of those memorable family experiences. Recently thoughts have come to mind that aging is rapidly changing into more a personal thing than a standard pattern. So I thought "What's age got to do with it... got to do with it?"

Science now lists various types of aging. One type is chronological, based upon the date of birth. It is now considered one of the least reliable measures. Some people seem to be old at 30 but wait to be buried until they are 80. Some people in the "Third Age" run marathons at 70 and 80 or even higher. Some recent studies even suggest that reaching 100 years old is more due to how you live after 50 than before that birth day. Evidently, none of us age the same and no portions of a person age the same. I guess that means that one kidney may be older than another, the heart younger than the liver, as an examples. Besides, scientists say, aging comes in spurts rather than in a regular progression. Remember those growth spurts during teenage years? Well, they seem to be setting a pattern for the same changes in aging throughout life.

Besides, maybe dating age from birth is a mistake. At least the Koreans think so. They measure a person's age from conception, not from birth. And they also have another interesting quirk: Every one becomes a year older on January 1st, rather than on a date during the year (birth date or conception date).

Biological aging seems to have more to do with illnesses than aging. Gerontology suggests that, if some aging you experienced  did not happen to everyone in the world your same age, it is not normal biological aging. This means that most of what we think is aging is, instead, an accumulation of illness or injury. If you had never been sick or injured, according to this viewpoint, you might live to the "Life Span" of man, estimated to be 125 years old, and then drop dead rather quickly instead of the gradual decline most people experience over time.

There is also functional aging. This is not tied with a birth date, but with any functional limitations that may come any time during life. Those limitations may be a decrease in mind or body or may be something quite different. New homes built today seem to have upgrades from earlier homes. When there was no television, who could have guessed that cables should be run through the walls of a new home. Prior to the invention of the internet, how could the builder know that, some day, people would want special wiring to link computers together? Sometimes technological advances leave some people "behind the times." I still cannot set my VCR to record a show and now my children laugh at me for still having a VCR. What on earth is "Blue Ray?" 

Of course there is also social aging. This is the "Act Your Age" type of aging. No matter the stage of life, the community expects people to act in ways becoming to their age. With so many people entering the "Third Age" now, it begs the question of how to act at age 70, 80, 90, or even over 100. Are all people over 65 supposed to act the same? That does not make sense since there is nearly 40 years difference from the youngest old (65) and the oldest old (perhaps over 100). Although the community may not recognize it, scientists suggest that everyone belongs to a unique "age cohort." Those are the people born five years older than you through 5 years younger than you (you being the exact center). Your life has been lived in a certain part of history and has been impacted by that history not only socially, but also psychological and biologically. Why should you be exactly like and act exactly like someone 20 years older or younger?

Psychological aging is, of course, yet another area to explore. For many of us, that person in the mirror seems strange. It is said that most people continue to think they are young and in the summer of life even though the outside covering may appear to others as in the winter of life. Perhaps a "senior moment" comes along from time to time to help us understand that we really are no longer that young person in the 20s or 30s, or even 70s. Some of those senior moments have been revelations as I have tried to wrestle with my adult son only to find that I have to cheat and pray for mercy to even begin to hold my own now. Isn't this my kid? How could he possibly be stronger than me? 

Some scientists also consider "family aging," "emotional aging," and "financial aging" besides the ones already listed above. This leads one to consider an important statement: "You grow more unique as you age." There really is no one else like you (even identical twins are different in some aging aspects). If every snow flake is unique, then why is it hard to believe that you are unique? So the question is asked again:

"What's age got to do with it,,, got to do with it?"