Turning Sixty

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My son and I shared a birthday last week; I turned 60 and he became 18.

There’s a wonderful symmetry in the fact I am entering what some call the “third age” while he is graduating to the second and becoming an adult.

Of course, those traditional demarcations aren’t what they used to be.

People no longer retire in their early 60s. Many live longer and healthier and some – like my Dad – even waterski in their 80s. At the same time, young adults often take longer to launch.

Sixty is a weird age. I’ve never felt more capable mentally or more enthusiastic. We live in a modern age of Gutenberg where I can use sites like this to publish my thoughts and connect with thousands of people.

And yet, it’s hard not to look ahead at this point and see limitations looming. You worry that they could arrive suddenly in the form of a stroke or other physical calamity.

Sooner or later everyone has a Taj Mahal moment, that time when because of health or mobility issues you can no longer make the journey to India. Your bucket list gradually shrinks to accommodate what can be done.

My father is 98 and still healthy, so based on that I may have at least another 38 years. Or maybe not.

One thing I think a lot about these days is the limits to communication.

My son isn't interested in what I’m doing. Just like at his age, I wasn’t interested in what my parents were up to. By the time I became a dad and had questions, my parents were taking bike trips around the world.

It makes it hard to share perspectives across the generations.

Dad recently told me that one regret he had was not taking more risk. He said, for example, that he probably should have bought beachfront instead of a summer home a block from the shore. Back in the day, prices weren’t much different. Now, there is an ocean between them.

I was surprised to hear him say that. He used to argue that buying a block away from the water would protect you from storm damage. It was a calculation to avoid risk that I admired.

Now, here he was, at 98, telling me at 60 that we should all be bolder.

You shouldn't ignore advice from someone who remembers every major event in the past century from the Great Depression to Covid.

It reminded me that there are so many people I still want to meet and so many places I need to visit, including India.

BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

BE LIKE KEN: We should all be like Ken.

VIBE CODING: Vibe coding has arrived.

SHOULD BE A NETFLIX SHOW: Love the intro here.

HOW DO YOU VIEW MANUFACTURING? : It seems like it depends on how you ask the question.

WEED: There’s a weed dealer in Harlem who has set up a table and little enclosure and he operates out of that daily. Good example of grit.

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