Upon turning 50, Steven Petrow, an award-winning journalist and author best known for his articles in the Washington Post and New York Times, started a new project. Inspired by his 70-something year-old parents, he began assembling a list of “things I won’t do when I get old.” Although he was very close with his parents and meant no offense towards them, he often saw them do things
that he would consider doing differently as he got older, and he jotted them all down.
When the list, which kept growing longer and longer, got to about 100 items he thought to himself that perhaps there's something there. He saw recurring themes, including tough issues such as illness, mobility, disability, and then eventually death and dying. At the age of 64, Petrow published the list in his book, “Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old.” The book is in three sections.
“Stupid Things I Won't Do Today,” “Stupid Things I Won't Do Tomorrow,” and “Stupid Things I Won't Do at the End.”
Petrow’s hope was to provide a guide to talking about things that go along with getting older and using humor in real-life circumstances. He also hoped that the list would “address the fears, frustrations, and stereotypes that accompany aging.”
What’s on the List?
