The U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced last month that our average life expectancy rose to 78.7 years in 2010, up from 78.6 years in 2009. As with any average, of course, that means plenty of people are hanging around a lot longer than that before they shuffle off this mortal coil.
One sign of the times is to be found in the greeting-card display at your local supermarket, pharmacy or gift shop. When I picked up a birthday card the other day, I was amazed to see that there are greetings specifically designed for what might be called senior seniors. Tucked in among the cards for one-year-old-tykes, two-year-old brats, and 21-year-old know-it-alls was a display marked “90th birthday," as well as cards for folks who are even older.
What really got me was that the store was sold out of cards for 90 year olds! Apparently there are more nonagenarians out there than I realized. The 100th-birthday cards were well-stocked, though, presumably because the odds of celebrating a three-digit birthday remain a bit long. After all, we haven’t quite conquered mortality just yet.
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