Bea Arthur: Maude was (much) younger than I am now

Bea Arthur:
At 50 as "Maude" in the early 70s
At 54 with her then-husband Gene Saks
A very sassy 65 in 1988
At 86 in 2009.
Me dancing while celebrating my 53rd birthday, 2009.

Thinking about Bea Arthur on the occasion of her passing on April 24 at age 86. While watching a nice segment about her the next day on CBS Sunday Morning I was surprised to realize that one of her most famous characters, "Maude," was 47, five years younger than I am now, when she made her famous decision to get an abortion in 1972 (the year Roe v Wade passed). I remember thinking she was so old when watching that episode all those years ago!

So, curious, I did a little research and the math. Bea Arthur was actually 50 in 1972 when Maude debuted, three years older than her character. I was 16 then. Bea was three years younger than I am now and her character was six years younger.

I have become the so old of my teenage perspective and but am not really old yet at all.

If I live as long and full of a life as Bea Arthur did (which I plan to do), I will reach 86 in 2042, which is 33 years from now. That's a whole lot of living yet to do!