we must look pretty rickety to them

Yes, but when they express that to me, I can tell them that when I was their age, I could hoist a 100lb bag of flour onto a shoulder and carry it up two long flights of stairs. Or would swim a mile daily. They've got it coming.

My mother fell in her sixties and broke her back. She's been on HRT for years, which destroys your bones. After that it was a march to the doctor for many medicines, and a stroke that robbed us of her in her early seventies. She'd always been careful to exercise every single day, and ate fairly well, although a bit too much alcohol passed her lips. I am extremely careful not to fall. Tai Chi is the most strenuous thing I do, and, as easy as it looks, let me tell you it is very difficult! For the mind especially. I highly recommend it! My classes are full of little old ladies like me who have been doing it for years. I'm coming up on my third anniversary, and am finally starting to be able to actually do it. It's anything but easy!!!