When I grow up I want to be, and the list goes on and on. Did you answer a doctor, president of the Unites States, Pitcher for the Red Sox, or a famous artist, how about “When I Grow Up, I want to be Sixty?” Wendy Reid Crisp asked all of the women she knew over 60 to think of a word beginning with the letter “S” that described their feeling or desires at this stage of their life and from that she created a book titled “When I Grow Up I Want to be Sixty”. This book shows that as we age people are still individuals. Women over 60 can be sexy, strong, silly, scrappy, self assured, and yes even stubborn.

The Hallmark Channel created a seven minute film for “Naomi’s New Morning” an interview show hosted by Naomi Judd profiling 3 of the women in the book including Jill Mason,63, of Winooski. Mason has been a freelance book editor for 25 years, is a dancer who has studied jazz and modern dance and is now taking classes in West African Dance offered by the performing company Jeh Kula, and is a mentor to an eleven year old girl, Alissa.

Mason says in the book that women over 60 are the same as always. As Mason writes, “Until my Dad died at the age of eight-three, he often said that, inside, he still thought he was eighteen. The Buddhist say the body is merely a vehicle to allow us to reenter the world, to accomplish whatever it is we are going to accomplish here. Part of the reason aging is so shocking is because it’s so out of sync with our young, vibrant, interior selves.” Perhaps that is why Mason says that “aging is not for sissies.” It wasn’t until she was 50 that she was even aware that she was aging. This dancer did not start dancing until she was 36 but it has become her focus. She looks forward to her West African Dance class taught by Sidiki Sylla, for her it is a joyous dance.

Mason has structured her life around dance, working as a freelance book editor has giver her the freedom to continue to study the art of dance. However, in addition to dance Mason likes to be connected to her community and when the opportunity arose for her to be a mentor to a local girl she jumped at it. Alissa Is now 11 and together they have explored area haunts and learned to appreciate what each other can bring to their lives. Mason described Alissa as a grown up kid that at times makes her “feel like she is the one being mentored.”

Mason is proud to be an example of the new face of 60. Women over 60 are living active and vibrant lives according to Mason and she feels extremely lucky to have been born when she was. Mason states that her generation has had “an extended youth, lived a youthful lifestyle longer than previous generations. We have much more freedom to be so many different kinds of people.”

Sixty is not old anymore, for Mason she is enjoying each moment and looking forward to a future full of fun, excitement and love.

About the Book:
“When I Grow Up I Want to Be Sixty” by Wendy Reid Crisp. (Penguin Group, 2006), $15

On Television:
“Naomi’s New Morning” hosted by Naomi Judd on the Hallmark Channel
- July 31 at 7:00am
- August 5 at 11:00am

Sarah Lemnah writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.