As a person in my 70's I've seen people my age referred to as both "old" and as "elderly" and I have been thinking about what the difference is. I know that I don't mind being referred to as "old" (because I know I am!) but I'm not so pleased with the "elderly" label.
To me the difference comes down to how you are able to function in the world. I think elderly becomes the correct term when there are things you can no longer manage on your own. Managing on your own is key and I'm very grateful that I'm still able to live on my own and take care of myself.
Certainly there are things that don't function the way they once did. I have medications that I take to deal with some things, I can't run or walk really fast for any significant distance, I have an ankle and knee that still bother a bit after an injury several years ago, there are foods that my gut doesn't handle well, but these are manageable things that make me feel old but not elderly.
What I do find difficult now is dealing with the outside world. It seems busy and things seem to move so quickly and I can feel overwhelmed with too much happening at the same time. I don't like being in busy stores or on busy sidewalks. I'm not as good at new situations and I find people get impatient with me because I take more time to process new information or instructions. This is when I feel elderly. I'm still managing but I feel less confident about my coping abilities.
I pretty much stopped driving quite a few years ago (when I gave up owning a car) and certainly now I would not even attempt to drive a car downtown in the city.
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