Rona Dougall: Sometimes it is easy to forget that growing old isn’t a chore but a privilege

I was walking in the glorious Pentland Hills last weekend and, although the weather was pretty foul, the views when I got to the top of the Allermuir Trig point were just breathtaking. On one side lay the majestic vista of Scotland’s capital and on the other, the inviting peaks of the rest of the Pentland ridge stretched before me.

As I paused to drink it all in and catch my breath, I got chatting to a fellow walker. Dave confided that he was turning 76 next month but still loved wandering in the hills. He’d been walking all day and looked as fit and fresh as a 20-year-old.

He felt it was a real privilege to still be able to follow the passion he had had since he was a young man.

Growing old is inevitable but how we spend our later years can be a wildly different experience for us all.

I’m hoping I’ll be lucky enough to be like Dave. Or even Lester Wright, an American veteran of the Second World War, who celebrated his 100th birthday recently by taking part in a senior masters 100m relay race. Not only did he win but he set the world record for the 100-to-104 age group. I don’t suppose it’s too crowded a field, but, still, what an achievement.

I’ve presented a number of programmes in the last few weeks about the challenges of getting older. Our Scotland Tonight special about dementia was heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measure.

I’ve never been reduced to tears in all the hours of live TV I’ve done but I was struggling not to weep after hearing Doreen describe how she felt when her husband left their home for the final time to go into a care home.

His dementia had become so bad, she simply couldn’t cope with him on her own. It signalled the end of the life they had forged together, but not the end of their loving marriage.

Her situation is one that many people can identify with. This horrible disease affects over 90,000 Scots, and that number is expected to rise sharply in the years ahead.

Former Formula One racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart came on the programme to talk about how he’s trying to inject a sense of urgency into finding better treatments and ultimately, a cure for dementia. His involvement is very personal as his wife Helen was diagnosed with the condition when she was just 53.

He’s watched her health decline over the years and she now needs full-time care. It’s a disease that not only robs the person of their memories and makes them a shadow of their former selves, it also cruelly robs families of the person they once knew.

Retirement is another thing to agonise about as we get older and the pandemic has apparently sparked what is being called the Great Grey resignation. The number of 50 to 64-year-olds either not working or looking for a job has risen by almost 250,000.

Clearly many Scots have taken time to reflect during the quiet moments of lockdown and decided that life’s too short to carry on with jobs they don’t want to do. And if you’re lucky enough to be able to afford to do that, I’m delighted for you. And I say that with only a hint of bitterness.

Unfortunately, my long-term financial plan is entirely reliant on winning the lottery. And seeing as I don’t even play it I’m going to be working for many, many more years to come. But when we complain about the aches and pains, and deepening wrinkles on our faces, its important to remind ourselves that just getting to grow old is a wonderful privilege.