Random and not so random thoughts on becoming and being a statistic: professional and personal musings

This article contains personal and professional musings on becoming and being an old woman. Becoming and being an old woman (I had no choice) and being a "gerontologist" (I had a choice), results in experiencing at least two realities, that of subject and that of researcher (an interesting word in itself). We daily face the leap across the chasm between science and personal experiences; between swimming in the subject pool and being a life guard or researcher into the life of guarded subjects. How permeable are the boundaries between subject and objectivity? Do gerontological data inform our experiences of becoming old? Are they providing us with norms for aging? Dear Virginia, there are age and sex norms and Enforcers enforce them. And, dear Virginia, there is more to life than research.