...from alumni who are older and wiser, and who responded to the question, "What do you wish you had known sooner about getting older?"

..."Keep the ol' bod in good condition."
-Ann Merrow Burghardt '53

..."Avoid lecturing anyone."
-Ken Young '57

..."Most of the things you worry about in life never come to pass."
-Hershel Pesner '48

..."Avoid risky behavior (you know what that is)."
-Dick Bolduc '53

..."I wish I had talked to my parents and grandparents while they were alive about their life growing up, and life's experiences."
-Dick Calef '56

..."Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. (Kierkegaard)"
-Ann Witherell Hobbs '59

..."Teeth DO wear out."
-Elizabeth West Pease '48

..."If we had known we were going to have so much fun during retirement, we would have done it sooner!"
-Virginia Quinn Merrion '50

..."I am reminded of the old saying 'We get too soon old and too late smart.' If I had been 'smarter' before I got so 'old,' I would have said 'I love you' a lot more to a lot more people."
-Beverly Fay '60

..."Don't let on to your children and grandchildren how much money you have saved!"
-Pat Walker Hollarn '56

..."Keep in touch with your friends, as they have a habit of dying when you least expect it."
-Trish Foster Kelley '59

..."At 60 or 70, you still feel like you are only 40 or 50."
-Cindy Pollard Rand '58 and Garth Rand '58

..."There is no utopia. It's just that some places are better than others."
-Warren "Sandy" Brainerd '47

..."With old age comes serenity."
-Ann Miller Morin '46

..."A good life requires the same intense responses from the aged as it does from the young."
-Barbara L. Joslin '48

..."Your creativity doesn't have to bail out just because some of your hair does!"
-Joann Snow Duncanson '52

..."Gain knowledge, show kindness to others, care for those close to you, work hard to keep your indepedence, and foster friendships."
-Herbert C. Stearns '49, '81G

..."Take foreign trips before 75 if you plan to rent a car."
-Bill Bergeron '50

..."Don't waste opportunities. They usually don't occur again."
-Clarence Murphy '55


Karen Tongue Hammond '64 is a writer in South Bristol, Maine.
For more alumni tips, see www.alumni.unh.edu/aging_tips.