Occupy Your Golden Years

by Lynne Harkins

A visit with Vance Hyde, a fit and flourishing elder who views her senior years as offering a freedom to engage in life and civic affairs to the fullest.  Her call to action for other seniors is compelling!

During the recent "Occupy Wall St./Cambria"  marches, the most senior marcher was Vance Hyde.  She further distinguished herself with her emphatic sign: 

 " I'm 89 and I'm mad as hell!" 

She caught the local media's attention and Vance hopes that she will catch the attention of other seniors as well.  Not only does she stay active, but she believes that seniors also need to be activists . . .  and not just in matters related to Medicare and Social Security. She feels strongly that more involvement by seniors is required in areas that will benefit everybody's grandchildren
and great grandchildren.  Accordingly, Vance's sign for the second march focused on what ails the democracy that we all rely on for good governance.  Striding with walking poles, she carried the message on her back that proclaimed:

 "Corporate greed is strangling our American democracy."

Vance explained that, "I'm going to carry a different sign in each march--there are so many issues I'm mad as hell about."

She went on to say, "I was happy to see more gray hair and white beards at our last march for Occupy Wall Street in Cambria  in November and I hope there will be even more on Saturday, December 10, meeting at 1:00 p.m. in front of the Vet's Hall.  We seniors have no fear of subtle reprisals from our employers and it's such a joyful experience! Drivers honk and wave encouragement as they drive by!  Now you are part of the solution!"

One of the areas that Vance believes people should learn more about as a solution to our society's financial problems is the whole idea of public banking which could better serve the public than the current Wall Street dominance.

Vance also agrees with  documentary filmmaker Michael Moore as he sums up the OWS movement: "We are but ten weeks old, yet we have already changed the national conversation. This is our moment, the one we've been hoping for, waiting for. If it's going to happen it has to happen now. Don't sit this one out. This is the real deal. This is it."

To which Vance would only add "Come on, Seniors, let's all get involved!"

All this from a woman who says she "never made a conscious decision, 'I'm going to be an activist.' "

When asked about changes she's seen over her lifetime, these are some of the observations and insights that Vance shared:

Straight from college, in the 1940's, I went into personnel work in the same department store where I had held part-time jobs all through school.  Heavens, even the name has changed . . .  now it's Human Resources. The next 14 years saw me doing what women then were just beginning to do . . .  we were the first wave of women who got married and had children without giving up our careers.  In fact, like many other old women today, most of us can look back and see that our personal change and growth paralleled the changing stereotype of Women.

The stereotype of the Senior Citizen is changing, too, but whereas few women still cling to the image of the ideal woman as barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, a heartbreakingly large segment of our 70 and 80 year-olds still meekly surrender to the stereotype of Granny rocking on the front porch as she knits herself a shawl. 

Others, of course, rebel. The Raging Grannies are a prime example and, if you don't know about them, I  urge you to visit the site and get a glimpse of their magic.  I wish a few creative seniors here in Cambria would express an interest in starting a chapter here.

All women, of any age can have a wonderfully interesting and eventful life, for our whole lifetime, if we will fight the stereotypes.

More to the point, we can change the lives of others.  It's easy to rally seniors around issues of Medicare and Social Security, but surely we are not so selfish that we say uninsured children and college students sagging under the weight of student loans and unemployed of every age are simply not our concern!

Though she's resided in eastern parts of the country, Vance has lived in and been a part of Cambria for 30 years.   She no longer drives, so she sings the praises of the community bus which allows for independent weekly shopping .  She points to that kind of service as something that makes a vital difference in quality of life for seniors . . . along with good walking shoes.

Vance points to the ramp where she hopes access to heavy drilling rigs for desalination won't be permitted. She's worked against such a desecration of the Shamel Park Beach and the beach area of State Parks SR Creek Natural Preserve. (See Shamel Park picnic spot.)

Does she have a favorite coastal vista?  Without hesitation, Vance smiled and said that would have to be where Shamel Park Beach and Santa Rosa Creek
Natural Preserve meet at the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek . . .  a place so special that it has inspired Vance and many other Cambrians to call for it to be
protected from proposed desalination plans.  That issue is before the California Coastal Commission yet again on December 9th (under Federal Consistency) in San Francisco, as the Army Corps again seeks to get approval for desal test well drilling.

On the day of this visit, however, there was no sign of any such activity . . .  enjoy!

Many thanks to Vance for graciously sharing her time and her thoughts about what it means to "occupy" one's golden years.  She encourages other seniors to activate themselves..."as long as we are healthy". 

Vance chooses to be vegan for her health.

She relates that  "It usually gets a laugh when I say that, at my age- almost 90- I don't even buy green bananas anymore."

By that she means, she stays focused on the here and now and doesn't 
make a lot of commitments that could keep her from going on trips or resting when she needs to take it easy. 
Vance urges seniors to take care of themselves, both physically and psychologically, so that they can extend their vital years. 

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