Senescence

I am taking an online psychology class and my last assignment was quite interesting so I just had to share. Here is what the teacher asked us to do..."In your own words define senescence." Well first of all, I had no idea what this word meant and so I decided I had to look it up first before I could form my own definition. Here is what the word means (according to the textbook). Senescence--the process of aging, whereby the body becomes less strong and efficient. So basically after I read that I realized that this word basically meant, getting old. I immediately began thinking, this is not a very fun assignment. My wheels began to turn as I thought of many things that I associated with getting old. I began to record my definition. Not sure if the teacher was really looking for what I gave her, but nonetheless, it is my definition of senescence. Maybe some of you out there can relate!

Se-nes-cence (noun)--getting old; looking in the mirror and noticing your first wrinkle; the first time someone says “yes ma’am” to you; when your children gasp at your age; realizing that a bedtime of 9pm makes sense; getting bills in the mail; finding your first gray hair; having to color your hair to not see those gray hairs; planning to go to dinner and a movie with your spouse and opting out of the movie because it starts at 9pm; looking forward to your Sunday afternoon nap; opening up your birthday card, or any occasion for that matter, and realizing that it is only a card...I could keep going, but I will refrain, you get the drift.

It's not much fun becoming senescent!