We have a lot in common, supersal1. My mother is also 84. Physically she is fine; mentally it is hard to tell, because she has been a bit off for as long as I can remember. She is obsessed by her appearance and completely delusional about it, insisting that people mistake her for being in her 50s. It isn't for want of trying. She dyes her hair and uses every cream, lotion, device, and cosmetic known to woman. She will be coming for a visit soon. God help me. She is somewhat difficult to get along with. I have already accepted the fact that I am old, and am determined to enjoy it. Break out those senior citizen discounts!

My dad has an aunt that is 96½ years old (in 3 more days) and she moved into an assisted living faciliy almost two years ago, so she was nearing 95 at that point. She's still in very good health, and does forget things at this point, but still gets around very well. Outside of a cousin of my maternal grandfather's mother and my mom's maternal grandmother, no one else has reached age 95 in my family (the former was 101 and the latter 98).

I had an Uncle in England who was driving and delivering "Meals on Wheels" to elderly people. Strange thing was, he was older than most of the people he delivered to.

One of my aunts used to be a hospital visitor and was once asked if she would help an old lady get ready for the "stairs test" - in other words, would she help her with her exercises going up and down stairs after an operation for a broken hip. My aunt told me she'd been happy to help but the old lady was 74 and at the time my aunt was over 90! My sister broke her hip recently and had to have a new one - I wondered how old her stairs helper was as my sister is 91. That aunt was one of my mother's youngest sisters, she lived to be 102; the youngest made it to 104 as did my father's eldest sister. The genes may have it in for me from both sides!

One of my aunts decided to get a Las Vegas divorce and while waiting there for the residency requirement she met her fifth husband. She was 86 when she married a week after the divorce. They were married while riding elephants. She married twice more having outlived husbands five and six.

I just left a concert with mainly older folks attending. My spry father just went right down the steps and I went for the railing as I don't want to mess anything up. Grrr. He's thirty years older than I am. I'm glad he's doing so well though. Pushing ninety.

Although it's over twenty years since I divorced her son, I've always kept in touch with my former mother-in-law. I visit when I can, although we now live about two hundred miles apart.

An opportunity arose a couple of weeks ago, so I rang to make sure she'd be home if I went over. The conversation went a bit like this: 'Hello Mary, it's me'. 'Oh', she said, 'I didn't recognise your voice'. 'I'm ringing on my mobile - that's probably why', I replied. The response? 'No - it's so long since I heard it'. Talk about putting me in my place.

The point is - she's ninety-nine years old and will celebrate her century next June, all being well. She lives alone, in her own home, and is still sharp witted enough to come up with a quip like that.

I'll still get an invitation to the party next year!

I took early retirement in 2005 to care for my elderly mother, who at that time was close to her 90th birthday. It was suggested she might like to visit a day centre once or twice a week rather than spending so much time at home. Her reply was "No thank you, it will be full of old people!"

She was a month away from her 99th birthday when she passed away, and it was only during the last year or so, when dementia set in, that her spirit sadly diminished.

I used to help at a day care centre for 'the elderly' and was amazed at the mindset of some people there. We had some who would say 'I am 63 you know' then we had helpers in their 80s who had no intention of growing old and ceasing helping those less able than themselves. The youngest old person there was only 58, how can you be 58 and elderly?

Many of our members came for the company, some people just cannot cope with being on their own. For myself I welcome being on my own, it would drive me bonkers to have people around all the time.

My one grandmother who remarried each time after being widowed twice used to tell me, 'I've made a casserole for the old folks and we're taking it by there.' She was in her late eighties by then.

She remarried in her late fifties to a childhood friend who'd lost his wife already and then, he passed away and she remarried a few years later at the age of eighty three!

The last time I saw her she was driving on a rainy road near the Oregon coast to take us to a restaurant that had a good buffet and wouldn't let anyone else drive. Talk about white knuckle.

My dad is almost 93 and he still plays tennis, after a hip replacement and rapid recovery 4 years ago. He has trouble getting to the ball as his knees are not so good, but if he can get near it, he'll hit a winner. Tennis has been his obsession for most of his life, delivering him friends and fitness. And he's still got all his marbles and someone else's too! And until my mother's illness a few years ago, he was driving for Meals On Wheels, taking food to "the oldies". They presented him with a plaque for his service, which he still displays proudly to all.

After being a stay-at-home-mum most of her life, my grandmother took a job as a laundress in an aged care facility. She was older than most of the residents, although I don't remember her precise age. That was in the days when doing the laundry was hard physical work without the benefit of labour-saving machines.

I think she probably took the job so that she could have her own money to do with as she pleased without having to answer to my grandfather (grandma was a gambler).