for those in the golden years...
Oh yes there is a code and if we follow it, there's going to be less grief all around. Growing physically old is something we have to learn to handle, especially when the heart still feels young. Being old is an actuality that we have to deal with on a daily basis.
First of all we have to believe that our time is over - it is the time of the young.
Respect them, do not deny them the pleasure and pain of being young, and certainly do not ever thrust your views, and experiences on them.
Give them the space to discover themselves without shadowing them and trying to be an umbrella for them.
Step back and allow the spotlight to shine on the young. Stay in the shadows and keep them from becoming too dark for them.
Do as much as we can for ourselves. While we are a responsibility for our children, our happiness is not their responsibility. Do not burden them with our demands or our talk or our wishes.
We need to be grateful for everything - every little thing. We need to be appreciative of everything. We need to be pools of light and not areas of gloom and doom.
We need to consciously never let ourselves go....either in dress, or speech, or action, or behavior. We can still be role models for our young.
We may need help to walk, but we can be a source of strength for our young to lean on.
We must speak in the present though it is our memories that we live in and tend to drift towards.
We have to, maybe force ourselves to, take an interest in everything - every little, teeny thing that is happening in the world, the country, the place where we live, the lives of those who touch us, our children and our grandchildren.
Growing old is a natural progression of life, and we cannot do anything about it. Gracefully accepting that and making the most of it, is something we can do.
(Anybody like to add in anything more?)