Many years ago I read a mystery book by Edgar Wallace and I remember that he described his detective, a Scotland Yard inspector, as being “very old.” He added that he was “more than fifty.” I think that the concept of old age is gradually changing. Nowadays people stay young much longer. Still I often see relatively young patients who feel old and old patients who, surprisingly, feel and act as though they were very young. After fifty, I think the age that counts is the age that people feel and project, not the age that is counted in years. I am also remembering a book that I read a long time ago, called “The Way of All Flesh,” a wonderful autobiographical novel written by Samuel Butler. One of most beautiful statements that he makes in his book is that “spring, like youth, is an overpraised season.” He felt very happy in the autumn of his life. Also one of the most beautiful of Frank Sinatra’s records is called “The Autumn of My Years.” An interesting and important char...