Old, that is. I began to ask myself that question about 3 years ago. There was a pandemic, as I remember, so I had a lot of time to sit and cogitate about such things. At the age of 77, I knew I would be considered old by many elements of modern (and ancient) society. I also knew that there were those thoughtful, perhaps less informed souls who would insist that “No! Of course you’re not old, Flloyd!” I was – and still am – capable of walking and talking unaided, feeding and clothing myself, travelling around the countryside by bus and train. In other words, a more or less fully functioning human being, and in our modern western society that doesn’t fit with the world ‘old’. Old resonates with being broken down, pretty useless, ready for the scrap heap. And I’m not that. Not quite.
Three years later, I’ve passed the big 8-0h, and on the way picked up a ‘syndrome’ that attacks my hips and shoulders, meaning I’m in a fair to moderate amount of pain most of the time, and believe you me, there is nothing like constant pain to make you feel very old indeed. It’s not life threatening. By that I mean it won’t kill me. It will just annoy the socks off me until I pop of from whatever I do die of. Even if it’s just ‘natural degeneration’ as my mother’s doctor said to her at one of her annual checkups. She was in her early 90s at that point, and for the next 10 years she rejoiced in informing the world that she was degenerating. Naturally.
It hasn’t stopped me from doing the things I love – acting, writing, producing the podcast, travelling around the countryside, baby-sitting the grand-children. But boy oh boy it has slowed me down. I no longer leap up from a chair, or gambol around the park, and I certainly can’t push Raffi in a swing any longer.
So I accept the fact – and it is, indeed, a fact – that I am now actually old, and I am adapting to being in this brand new stage of my life. There is nothing to regret or resent about it. It just is. I made it!
You can check me out in a few sweet little adverts on the telly – the Arriva bus ad about the lad heading off to meet his new girlfriend, the ARLA B.O.B. milk advert, and KCOM’s new Power ad, currently playing on Instagram. “Am I Old Yet?” the podcast was a finalist in the fiction category of the Independent Podcast Awards 2024.
And we presented a live reading of a new episode at the AudioDramaHUBfest earlier this month in High Wycombe.
Flloyd, Karim Kronfli, Erika Sanderson and Andrea Richardson.
And my branch new podcast “Baked Off!” is currently in production, with a crowdfunding campaign in full flow. It would be wonderful if you could throw some pennies into our bucket, so that we can pay the actors – all 15 of them!
Baked Off! – live, laugh, loaves. A slice of life and laughter audio fiction comedy in 8 episodes, in which an Australian ‘War Baby’ (born in 1943), an English Gen X-er (1973) and a Scots Millennial (1993) meet on a Zoom cookery class, and discover that in spite of the difference in their ages and cultural backgrounds, they enjoy each other’s attitudes, sense of humour and philosophy of life.
Each week, they meet up on the Zoom class, but in the meantime, their lives take different twists and challenging turns. Like a sourdough starter, it’s not always as simple as it seems. But they do their best to keep feeding the starter and their friendship, in spite of generation gaps and cultural differences.
And that’s me again! Until next time, over and out.