\n
Amy Bryant, Age 84<\/p>\n
As I reflect on the posts that I contributed to 70Candles, I realize how vain I was in my 70s. I was often mistaken for fifteen years younger than my actual age, and as my mother had done, I made younger friends, many of whom were having trouble keeping up with me.
A tennis accident required having a metal bar inserted in my wrist to keep my hand from falling off my arm, but that was no big deal. I was back on the courts in record time. And oh yes, a bout with cancer slowed me down for several months, but it was a form that does not return, so after an unwelcomed season, I was back on the streets of Safety Harbor, as well as entertainment venues, dancing in Flash Mobs. Coupled with two to three days a week on the tennis courts, three days of Zumba, three days at the gym, and five days in stretch class, I was invincible. Mindful not to overdo, I took Sundays off, hanging at the tiki bar and sunning myself poolside.
My firm belief in holistic health assured me that if you eat right and exercise diligently you will maintain your youthful physicality and bypass the \u201cageing process.\u201d
Wrong!
Soon after lightning 80 candles, I faced a semi-stroke-like brain episode that rearranged my sleep patterns, robbed me of the energy to pursue high-level aerobics, and my muscle tone went kaput. My body waged war on me and I lost the magical 15 years advantage. Holistic lifestyle betrayed me. Just like generations before me, I was turning old.
Indulging in self-pity I thought it was just me. As I looked at my sorority sisters on our Zoom meetings, they looked great from the crown of the head to the gentle curve of the shoulders. But as people began discussing their health more openly, I discovered that the Zoom portrait hid signs of ageing in my sisters as well. Talking with other friends who were lighting 80 candles, I learned that they, too, were experiencing unexpected, and certainly unwelcome signs of ageing. As we pondered together, we raised the question: how do we reconcile our generation\u2019s newly defined expectations of ageing when the unwelcome realities intrude in our lives?
Herein lies the dilemma . . .<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amy Bryant, Age 84 As I reflect on the posts that I contributed to 70Candles, I realize how vain I was in my 70s. I was often mistaken for fifteen years younger than my actual age, and as my mother had done, I made younger friends, many of whom were having trouble keeping up with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131334,110115,131335,110118,110119,131341,131336,131342,131337,102978,96771,131343,100692,131338,131339,110125,102984,131340,110128,131344],"tags":[110129,110136,7097,131345,131346,21124,8962,49781,131347,110133,15363,110135,131348],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-299362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-70-from-other-perspectives-looking-forward-and-looking-back","category-70candles","category-adaptations-and-accommodations-as-we-age","category-aging","category-attitudes-about-aging","category-elder-womens-choices","category-eol-this-end-of-life","category-functional-changes","category-goals-ahead","category-gratitude","category-health","category-health-and-fitness","category-looking-ahead","category-our-bodies","category-our-health","category-positive-aging","category-resilience","category-turning-80","category-women-and-aging","category-womens-aging-bodies","tag-70candles","tag-70candles-com","tag-aging","tag-elder-womens-choices","tag-functional-changes","tag-graduate","tag-gratitude","tag-health-and-fitness","tag-looking-ahead","tag-positive-aging","tag-resilience","tag-women-and-aging","tag-womens-aging-bodies"],"yoast_head":"\n
70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amy Bryant, Age 84 As I reflect on the posts that I contributed to 70Candles, I realize how vain I was in my 70s. I was often mistaken for fifteen years younger than my actual age, and as my mother had done, I made younger friends, many of whom were having trouble keeping up with […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\"},\"wordCount\":387,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"70candles\",\"70Candles.com\",\"Aging\",\"elder women's choices\",\"functional changes\",\"Graduate\",\"gratitude\",\"health and fitness\",\"looking ahead\",\"positive aging\",\"Resilience\",\"women and aging\",\"women's aging bodies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"70 from other perspectives: looking forward and looking back\",\"70candles\",\"Adaptations and accommodations as we age\",\"Aging\",\"Attitudes about aging\",\"elder women's choices\",\"EOL- This end of life\",\"functional changes\",\"Goals ahead\",\"gratitude\",\"Health\",\"health and fitness\",\"Looking Ahead\",\"Our bodies\",\"our health\",\"Positive aging\",\"resilience\",\"Turning 80\",\"Women and aging\",\"women's aging bodies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\",\"name\":\"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Amy Bryant, Age 84 As I reflect on the posts that I contributed to 70Candles, I realize how vain I was in my 70s. I was often mistaken for fifteen years younger than my actual age, and as my mother had done, I made younger friends, many of whom were having trouble keeping up with […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com","datePublished":"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362"},"wordCount":387,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["70candles","70Candles.com","Aging","elder women's choices","functional changes","Graduate","gratitude","health and fitness","looking ahead","positive aging","Resilience","women and aging","women's aging bodies"],"articleSection":["70 from other perspectives: looking forward and looking back","70candles","Adaptations and accommodations as we age","Aging","Attitudes about aging","elder women's choices","EOL- This end of life","functional changes","Goals ahead","gratitude","Health","health and fitness","Looking Ahead","Our bodies","our health","Positive aging","resilience","Turning 80","Women and aging","women's aging bodies"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362","name":"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-17T20:14:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=299362#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"70Candles Graduate | 70Candles.com"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=299362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=299362"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=299362"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=299362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}