Thursday, November 2, 2023

Seniors, Ageism, and Cozy Mysteries by Susan Van Kirk

 

I’ve been writing Death in a Ghostly Hue for several months now. The third book in my Art Center Mysteries, it brings forward a new group of “older characters” at the art center. Never mind that I’m a stellar member of that age group, having received my AARP invitation so long ago I can’t remember that milestone. When I thought about how I’d approach this fictional senior group, I began considering some of the events from my own life that have shaped, let’s say, the last twelve years since I turned sixty-five.


Realization about how our culture views my age began when I got a handicapped sticker for my car seven years ago. I have an underlying health condition that is helped by not having to walk long distances through parking lots in harsh weather. However, my gait is fine, and I’ve replaced nothing with titanium. At first, I was a bit sheepish about this sticker. Then the realization hit me: no one even questioned my status when they saw me leave my car in that handicapped spot. Quite a shock, indeed.


Shortly before the handicapped sticker came into my life, I had a frantic call from one of my children. Now mind you, I was in my late sixties on this day. She was worried, she said, that I hadn’t answered my phone when she called, and she wanted to make sure I wasn’t fulfilling the meme of the single senior, living alone (with or without cats), who died and wasn’t found for weeks. At the time of her call, I was at the dentist with my phone turned off. But it rattled me to think she worried that I might be alone, dead, and no one would find me. Seriously. I wasn’t that old, decrepit, or without friends to whom I spoke on most days. However, I appreciated her concern since all my children live clear across the country from me and wouldn’t be any help in an emergency. I’ve managed to toddle along for another ten years since then, and I’ve assured her that she doesn’t need to worry. I love my children, but I understand that at some point it hits them that their parents aren’t as young as they used to be.

However, I’m not as old as they think I am.

My brother passed the eighty-mark last year. When he went to a doctor’s appointment last week, the receptionist noticed he’d pre-registered. She asked him if someone had helped him do that. Wow. It’s good he isn’t a violent person. No, he explained. He’d registered on his computer, a laptop he uses to write novels. And at his age! (I might add when I asked him about his recent golf round, he said he’d shot a seventy-nine, a stroke less than his age. Shooting less than his age should become easier with time, right?)

I’ve not even noted the fact that I don’t recognize a lot of “celebrities” these days in social media, and I’m praying for the good health of Mick Jagger, Ronnie Woods, and Keith Richards since most of the other bands I knew in my youth are no longer with us.


Our local art center has a senior group named OFTA (Old Folks Talk Art.) It is an amazingly energetic group that volunteers for all kinds of activities at the art center. They meet regularly for programs about art, provide food for gallery openings, handle outreach to schools in the area, present an art appreciation program throughout the grade schools, and help with classes for kids with disabilities. Right now, they are helping with a huge capital campaign that has already raised over a million dollars in a Midwest, downstate, small town that isn’t exactly on the high end of the economy. (Seniors know everyone and are very persuasive.)

I’ve decided to use this local group as the inspiration for the senior group in my art center mystery. In my fictional world, they’ll be putting on a wonderful radio show based on the Oscar Wilde novella, The Canterville Ghost, complete with hand-made and recorded sound effects, period costumes, and backdrop. The local group is amazing, and their enthusiasm for all things defies the earlier incidents I mentioned about seniors. There will be no ageism or cultural disdain for seniors in my new book. I have a feeling they’d be a fun group to hang out with.

Some days are simply a win.

 

24 comments:

  1. Susan, the senior group sounds like a lot of fun! And I think it's sweet that your kids check up on you. I wouldn't get too concerned until they get you one of those Life Alert things. "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

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    1. I have that on my radar, Annette. I think I will decline.

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  2. I suspect because of advances in healthcare, many oldsters can do more than those a generation or two ago before replacement parts became readily available and cataract surgery became a one-day affair rather than a week in the hospital, several days of it attempting not to move at all.

    People aren't surprise when we oldsters act infirm -- because we are old. And yet I find fewer people acting surprised when we do something that requires a quick mind or able body. And that's progress.

    And for fiction writers, those old stereotypes can be useful if our older sleuth is underestimate by the bad guys.

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    1. The nice thing, Jim, is that my protagonist is young, so she is learning a lot from these oldsters.

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  3. I, too, am "a lady of a certain age." Best thing I ever did for both my lifestyle and my children's peace of mind was move to a vibrant senior community (I won't even say "retirement community," since a fair number of the residents work.) It's inspiring to hear people say things like, "Of course I'm going on the trip to Iceland; I'm only 82" and "Best summer I've seen in 60 years for pumpkins in my garden plot ."

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  4. I'm in my early 60's, and we just bought a house (being built) in a 55+ community in Colorado. I can tell you, the term "active adults" absolutely applies to them. They do more than I did in my 30's. But the "invisible" thing—I admit, I'm starting to notice it more and more. It's a fascinating psychological phenomenon.

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    1. So true, Lori, and I could write a whole post on the “invisible” thing. Sounds like you are in for a wonderful community experience!

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  5. Good for you for "aging" your mystery like a fine painting or a fine wine, Susan. Your group sounds wonderful.

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    1. Thanks, Molly. I think they are really active. The local art center is always filled with people and events.

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  6. The clinic receptionist may have been clueless -- a condition that knows no age limits -- but I am sure the other members of your brother's golf club or league celebrated bigly! Shooting at or under your age is a major feat! And I love how you are going to school on the groups around you, and using them to shift perceptions on age, on the page!

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    1. Thanks, Leslie, and thanks for sharing. I live in small-town midstate, Illinois, so we have a pretty large senior population. However, they keep very busy!

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  7. Sounds like a great premise and can't wait to read your book.

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  8. I often say my parents don't act their age...and that's a great thing. And they know technology as well as I do if not better in some cases.

    I hate some of the stereotypes about older characters in books. Yes, I get that some are like that. But I've found most aren't, and they often come across as lazy.

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    1. I agree, Mark. And I notice those stereotypes more and more, along with the attitudes of advertising, the media world, and print sources. Lots of ageism. Good for your parents! Because I worked well into the computer age, I'm good on technology as are my friends who are in their late 70s, early 80s.

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  9. That's a great concept! I'm on my way up there too, and suspect that my out-of-town children play the online game with me to make sure I'm still alive. They deny that, of course, the dears.

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    1. They have no idea how clever you are, Kaye!

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  10. Looking forward to reading this. I suspect that we are "of an age", Susan, and neither one of us are done. Like you, my tech skills are finely honed due to a long working life. I also hike, run, ski, and snowshoe, and do lots of the heavy lifting required by life in rural Maine. I'll take on these whippersnappers any day, and win. :).

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    1. Wow! You're the one I need to call in an emergency, Kait. It's pretty darn obvious that there are all kinds of "seniors." Mine are going to be funny, but in a way that would be true of people far younger.

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  11. Looking at the growing popularity of senior sleuths, I would say you have picked a good subject for your mystery.

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  12. I totally agree about hating the senior stereotypes. I've read books where an older character spends much of the story focusing on their knees. Then I know that the author hasn't done their research! If the author spoke to someone older, they'd find out a lot of more interesting stuff! :-)

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    1. You're so right, Judith. I see amazing seniors everyday, and I, too, am not happy reading about stereotypes.

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