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Elias S. Cohen, The Last 2000 Days: Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise. Shakespeare (King Lear), The Gerontologist, Volume 57, Issue 1, 1 February 2017, Pages 116–120, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw094
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Abstract
This essay is an exploration of an extended period of the last 2000 days of anticipated mortality from the perspective of an aging gerontologist. The last 2000 days come at the end of what has come to be referred to as the Third Age (Silva, L. R. (2008). [From old age to third age: The historical course of the identities linked to the process of ageing]. História, ciências, saúde–Manguinhos, 15, 155–168. doi:10.1590/S0104-59702008000100009). Life in the last 2000 days is a period in which the appreciation of finitude comes into new prominence, affecting a variety of elements that command attention—from individuals and from scholars. The significance of the last 2000 days is explored from two perspectives: First, the meaning, if any, of a more than half century career spent in gerontology on the personal experience of being old— how I think about my own old age, and second, an exploration of a variety of considerations that other older persons might be prompted to consider. The last 2000 days will be experienced in relatively good stages of “ability,” activity, and potential engagement. This rumination explores the personal meaning of this penultimate life stage, pre-dying. It suggests some systematic consideration of what recognition of these days may mean—perception of time, identity and role, status, risks and vulnerabilities, dealing with disability, winding up/winding down/giving up, legacies, and, of course, death and dying. These issues are personal. There is no set value scale that suggests “successful aging” or “failed aging.”
