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Jul 09, 2006, 04:16 AM
When I'm 64
For a generation that viewed 30 as old, Brevardians still live like youngsters
BY TOM BREEN
FLORIDA TODAY
The Beatles today
Original Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney continue to perform in their 60s. Starr turned 66 Friday, and McCartney turned 64 in June.
John Lennon died at 40 in 1980 after being shot by a stalking fan and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at age 58.
Will Shaffer was 25 in 1967 when the Beatles released "When I'm 64."
"Turning 64 seemed a million years away back in those days," said Shaffer of Cape Canaveral, a production planner for Lockheed Martin who will be attending former Beatle Ringo Starr's concert at the King Center tonight. (Shaffer's 64th birthday is Aug. 9).
The song was written by former Beatle Paul McCartney with a little help from the late John Lennon, who contributed the names of the grandchildren (Vera, Chuck and Dave). They wrote it a few years before the Beatles broke out of working-class England to rock the world's music stage.
It's a love song that reflects the spirit and fears of a generation that looked upon anyone over 30 as old and anyone over 60 as incapable of doing anything. These days, however, the view of 60 is far different than it was when the Beatles included "When I'm 64" in their milestone album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In fact, the American Association of Retired People even proclaimed in an article that 60 had become the new 30. In other words, the same generation that looked at 30 as old looks at 60 as young.
"If people start thinking about being old, then they are old," said Sally Burke of Cape Canaveral, a martial arts instructor.
Burke, who turns 65 in December, was raising "two little kids back in Pennsylvania" when the Beatles song came out.
"I never dreamed my life would take this direction," she said.
As her children grew older, and her marriage broke apart, Burke looked for fulfillment through tae kwon do, a martial arts system similar to karate.
Now, she is a third-degree black belt with dreams of reaching the ultimate rank of master one day. She teaches at Space Coast Martial Arts in Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island.
"It may take until I'm 75 or older, but I'll become a master," vowed Burke, who has overcome a spinal condition to perfect her martial-arts skills.
Like the still-performing McCartney (now 64) and Starr (66), Burke is determined to look at her age as only a number that won't prohibit her from doing the things she wants to do.
But when McCartney wrote the song, he seemed to imagine a quiet existence when he would be lounging around the house with the woman he loves.
His life as an older guy has been far from sedentary, with him energetically performing on stage. Also, he won't be growing old with his most-recent wife, 38-year-old model Heather Mills. They recently split, so no "valentine, birthday greetings and a bottle of wine" for her.
Whether they grow old noisily or quietly, the "When I'm 64" generation seems to have few regrets about the aging process.
"I'm lucky to be healthy, and I'm certainly looking forward to what's ahead," said Dante Fleckner of Satellite Beach, who turns 64 on Sept. 2.
Fleckner was working in Europe when the Beatles rose to fame and had migrated to Satellite Beach by the time "When I'm 64" came out. He operated a beauty salon, Dante's Inferno, for two decades, worked another 15 years for the Satellite Beach Fire Department and is retired.
Now, with his two daughters well-grown, he is planning to move to the mountains of Georgia to "see what's next. I'll say this about my generation: We went through the beatnik and hippie stuff, and we're pretty adventurous."
As he spoke, other 50- and 60-something people filtered into Lou's Blues, a music club in Indialantic, where the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz was playing on a breezy evening.
"I'll tell you one thing," said owner Louie Andrus. "People in their 50s and 60s certainly are not acting old."
Wayne Senesac, 68, who lives on a boat in Melbourne with his friend, Adria Holmes, 53, agreed with Andrus. "We're living every day with as much enthusiasm as we can," Senesac said.
Equally enthusiastic are Will Shaffer and his 56-year-old wife, Cyndi, sitting on their living-room couch in a fifth-floor condominium overlooking the water in Cape Canaveral.
"There are so many things we want to do," Cyndi said, "and we certainly are not worrying about age stopping us."
Theirs is a fascinating story. They dated for a while in Ohio when Will was 27 and Cyndi was 19, but then lost track of each other for years.
One day in the 1980s, Will, who was divorced, went searching for a condominium in Cape Canaveral and ran into Cyndi, also divorced. She was leasing the condo.
"Uh, I think I know you," Cyndi said, recalling the moment.
Later they married, and don't plan to part.
As Will talked, Cyndi laughed when she heard the line, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?"
She smiled, clutched his hand, and said, "You know I will."
For a generation that viewed 30 as old, Brevardians still live like youngsters
BY TOM BREEN
FLORIDA TODAY
The Beatles today
Original Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney continue to perform in their 60s. Starr turned 66 Friday, and McCartney turned 64 in June.
John Lennon died at 40 in 1980 after being shot by a stalking fan and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at age 58.
Will Shaffer was 25 in 1967 when the Beatles released "When I'm 64."
"Turning 64 seemed a million years away back in those days," said Shaffer of Cape Canaveral, a production planner for Lockheed Martin who will be attending former Beatle Ringo Starr's concert at the King Center tonight. (Shaffer's 64th birthday is Aug. 9).
The song was written by former Beatle Paul McCartney with a little help from the late John Lennon, who contributed the names of the grandchildren (Vera, Chuck and Dave). They wrote it a few years before the Beatles broke out of working-class England to rock the world's music stage.
It's a love song that reflects the spirit and fears of a generation that looked upon anyone over 30 as old and anyone over 60 as incapable of doing anything. These days, however, the view of 60 is far different than it was when the Beatles included "When I'm 64" in their milestone album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In fact, the American Association of Retired People even proclaimed in an article that 60 had become the new 30. In other words, the same generation that looked at 30 as old looks at 60 as young.
"If people start thinking about being old, then they are old," said Sally Burke of Cape Canaveral, a martial arts instructor.
Burke, who turns 65 in December, was raising "two little kids back in Pennsylvania" when the Beatles song came out.
"I never dreamed my life would take this direction," she said.
As her children grew older, and her marriage broke apart, Burke looked for fulfillment through tae kwon do, a martial arts system similar to karate.
Now, she is a third-degree black belt with dreams of reaching the ultimate rank of master one day. She teaches at Space Coast Martial Arts in Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island.
"It may take until I'm 75 or older, but I'll become a master," vowed Burke, who has overcome a spinal condition to perfect her martial-arts skills.
Like the still-performing McCartney (now 64) and Starr (66), Burke is determined to look at her age as only a number that won't prohibit her from doing the things she wants to do.
But when McCartney wrote the song, he seemed to imagine a quiet existence when he would be lounging around the house with the woman he loves.
His life as an older guy has been far from sedentary, with him energetically performing on stage. Also, he won't be growing old with his most-recent wife, 38-year-old model Heather Mills. They recently split, so no "valentine, birthday greetings and a bottle of wine" for her.
Whether they grow old noisily or quietly, the "When I'm 64" generation seems to have few regrets about the aging process.
"I'm lucky to be healthy, and I'm certainly looking forward to what's ahead," said Dante Fleckner of Satellite Beach, who turns 64 on Sept. 2.
Fleckner was working in Europe when the Beatles rose to fame and had migrated to Satellite Beach by the time "When I'm 64" came out. He operated a beauty salon, Dante's Inferno, for two decades, worked another 15 years for the Satellite Beach Fire Department and is retired.
Now, with his two daughters well-grown, he is planning to move to the mountains of Georgia to "see what's next. I'll say this about my generation: We went through the beatnik and hippie stuff, and we're pretty adventurous."
As he spoke, other 50- and 60-something people filtered into Lou's Blues, a music club in Indialantic, where the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz was playing on a breezy evening.
"I'll tell you one thing," said owner Louie Andrus. "People in their 50s and 60s certainly are not acting old."
Wayne Senesac, 68, who lives on a boat in Melbourne with his friend, Adria Holmes, 53, agreed with Andrus. "We're living every day with as much enthusiasm as we can," Senesac said.
Equally enthusiastic are Will Shaffer and his 56-year-old wife, Cyndi, sitting on their living-room couch in a fifth-floor condominium overlooking the water in Cape Canaveral.
"There are so many things we want to do," Cyndi said, "and we certainly are not worrying about age stopping us."
Theirs is a fascinating story. They dated for a while in Ohio when Will was 27 and Cyndi was 19, but then lost track of each other for years.
One day in the 1980s, Will, who was divorced, went searching for a condominium in Cape Canaveral and ran into Cyndi, also divorced. She was leasing the condo.
"Uh, I think I know you," Cyndi said, recalling the moment.
Later they married, and don't plan to part.
As Will talked, Cyndi laughed when she heard the line, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?"
She smiled, clutched his hand, and said, "You know I will."