Entry One: When I Am Old, I Shall Wear Purple
The first thing I thought of when I considered the idea of aging issues was a poem by Jenny Joseph, who wrote Warning, the first lines of which are, “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/ With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me” (Sachteleben 2009). Joseph was born in 1932 in England composed this ode to being elderly in 1961. Although she grew up in a different generation, Joseph’s poem still resonates. In some ways, there is a certain freedom for the elderly. Many people spend their younger lives trying to do the right thing, ...
