living life to the full
lMoya Henry (63), from Belfast, worked full-time promoting arts programmes at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast, but when she left that job the mum of two grown-up children decided she wasn't ready to slow down. She says:
"I was always organising dance workshops for other people but last year I decided to take one myself and joined Elderflowers dance theatre company. It's great fun, good exercise and brilliant for the memory. I still work part-time as a personal management coach and help look after my grandchildren but I feel I have more time now to myself and to do what I enjoy doing.
"I think it's the people who are becoming old that are creating the opportunities for themselves. When we were young we had to make things happen for ourselves and it's the same now. It really gets to me when the TV portrays older people as grey-haired women at tea dances. My mother would have done that but I'm still out enjoying life and wearing my jeans!"
lMichael Tobin (63), from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, retired from teaching and took up mountain biking. He says:
"Since retiring I've taken on mountain biking and learned to ski. I've always been into the outdoors and I regularly go climbing, but it's only since retiring that I've been able to give real time to it. Last October I did a 10-day cycle with friends in the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain.
"I think if you have your health there's no reason to slow down. This year I'm hoping to climb the Matterhorn."
lIn 2008 Gabriel (79) and Bernadette Peelo (75), from Templeogue, Dublin, went to Mexico and learned to horse ride. Gabriel says:
"We couldn't go gallivanting around when our 11 children were growing up and didn't get much beyond Waterford for holidays, but now we've reached a time where we've the mortgage paid off, no major expenses and we can use our savings to enjoy ourselves.
"Our holiday to Mexico was incredible, riding horses in rough terrain miles away from anywhere and climbing around on pyramids -- I felt like a 20-year-old! After that we went on a cruise but it felt really staid by comparison."
lWhen the new year was toasted in, Lorraine Breen (57), from Downpatrick, Co Down, was at the top of the Mourne Mountains with her new Nordic Walking club. She says:
"I saw an advert for a walking group in a local paper last year and decided to give it a go. My two sons are grown up and while I still work during the day, there's no point sitting in the house on my own at night. I took a four-week course in Nordic Walking and loved it!
"My group goes up the mountains once a week and if it's dark we wear head torches. It's something completely different and I've made new friends and feel fit which also helps me run around after my granddaughter who I look after once a week.
"There's no reason why getting older should stop you from trying something new, I just wish I'd started sooner."
lDad-of-three Brian Kennedy (55), from Dublin, didn't want to feel out of touch with his children and grandchildren so he spent a year learning the latest technology.
He says:
"I remember when I worked in the music business in my 20s I thought the 50- and 60-year-olds I met were so out of touch that I wouldn't even have wanted to have been in their company. That's why I'm so determined to be as up to date as I possibly can.
"I realised everything in the future is going to be online and if I didn't get up to speed I was going to be left behind so I took a year studying computers and got my CompTIA. I run a concierge service and as part of it I help teach older people how to use computers.
"I've also spent the past year learning Italian and I want to go over and work in Italy to improve my language and I've plans to launch a helpline website for people suffering from stress through financial pressures. I'm busy and happier now than I've ever been.
"I think if you're not busy, you die and really, if you're not going to do anything, what's the point in being around?"
Irish Independent
