A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility: I Discovered the Joy of Middle Age Plus [Paperback]

Carolyn Gray Thornton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000

For those who need a fresh dose of laughter, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE ROAD TO SENILITY is laced with Carolyn Gray Thornton's whimsical sense of humor. Every delightful essay will tickle your funny bone while splashing a bit of joy into your heart and soul. Thornton's humor, combined with heart-felt love and compassion, speaks to every reader who is nearing 50 and those well beyond. Through her syndicated essays, Carolyn is rapidly gaining recognition as being to the geriatric set what Barney is to children. Her collection of writing guides our ever-growing, above the age of Senior Citizen audience through this time of life--a period that is sometimes humorous, frequently frightening, and often reflective. Her dedicated readers look to Carolyn to take them by the hand through this wonderfully different experience of life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Let's make a pact," suggests Carolyn Gray Thornton. "If you are over, say sixty, and we meet, I will not lookk at the skin on your neck and face if you will not look at mine." In A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility, Thornton comments with humor and grace on enjoying the middle age plus years.

What middle age plus is not, for the Nevada (Mo) septagenarian, is a time to act "elderly" or be penned in by the "oughts" of other people's expectations. Instead, Thornton applies the term to those who know what an "ice box" is, served breaded tomatoes at dinner, and don't wash their hair every day. It occurs when hair grows in men's noses and ears and on women's chins but sheds off heads. It occurs when body parts not exposed to the sun "wrinkle like a contour map of rivers and streams" and when getting out of the chair takes three tries. "There is nothing we can do about many changes in our lives," she writes in her introduction, "I enjoy finding humor in many situations."

This collection of her columns, from the N.E.W. Vernon County Record and the Nevada Daily Mail is sectioned into her thoughts on changing products, changing inventions, changes in society's rules, changes in the body, recreations, seasons and holidays. She remembers growing up in Washington D.C. and Vernon County, Missouri as the youngest of eight and her experiences as mother of four, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of five.

Each column bookends with the past and present. Casting a bemused look at the good ol' days, she recalls dishwashing soap as a cake, as chips, and then granules. She remembers riding a train toward Christmas wit furloughed soldiers and cooking dinner for men thrashing wheat. Though she looks back fondly at an era of leg make up and automobile's running boards, she wouldn't give up panty hose or her Mercury Tracer to relive it.

Turning a sly eye on the present, Thornton observes timesaving appliances like riding lawn mowers and computers actually consume more time than the tools they replace. She can't imagine curling up with a computer to read a novel, even in what she labels a "dot.com world."

She dislikes fast-paced cartoons and educational programs for her great-grandchildren, but finds greater harm in "Old Maid" because "it characterizes and ridicules a whole group of people who have added much to our society..."

Thornton writes her hundred essays as if she were smiling. She smiles, realizing where she has to hold the hymnal to see the words and that her purse and shoes don't have to match. She's amused when a waiter automatically gives her the twenty-seven cent senior citizen discount. She smiles, concluding the middle plus years, an essential and valued part of life's spectrum, bridge past and future generations. She smiles, describing what is really important in life. Seeing her mother's hands at the end of her own arms, she concludes the value of body parts is not in their appearance but in what they do--typing a column, making breakfast for her husband, Lester, or holding a great grandchild on her birthday. She smiles concluding middle age plus "is a relaxed time of life with many good things to enjoy."

Besides the tick of the clock, Carolyn's interest in aging develops from twenty-five years as a social worker, establishing an adult day care center, and teaching Mission Studies for the United Methodist Women. She leads Elderhostel groups in the Heritage of Games in the Family Culture. She currently is editor for the newspaper's monthly supplement and continues her five-year-old column, both titled "Middle Age Plus."

Carolyn Gray Thornton is comfortable with herself and her age. A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility: I Discovered the Joys of Being Middle Age Plus is pleasurable, easy reading, enjoyed as one column or several at a time. With both wit and wisdom, it may well be a primer for us getting comfortable with ours, too. -- Vicki Cox, MOUNTAINEER

From the Publisher

When I saw Carolyn's book proposal containing several copies of her newspaper articles entitled, "Middle Age-Plus", my first thought was that would be a great book title. My thought was not from a purely commercial aspect (though admittedly that is always important to a publisher) but because it opened my eyes to the existence of an entirely new lifestyle perception by many of our "senior" senior citizens.

Having not too long ago crossed the threshold of what many call senior citizen status, I simply considered myself as a "young" senior citizen and, therefore, like everyone else I knew, just thought the normal procession was to "just plain" senior citizen. Carolyn's articles caused me to realize that we truly are only as old as we feel. My first reading carried me through the varied emotions of joy, solemn reflection, giddy laughter, fond remembrance, and insightful thought. I experienced everything from welling of tears, to barely controlled laughter, to subtly acknowledging to myself that, indeed, I had personally experienced exactly what she had written.

What I had intended to be a brief glance at the proposal, based on a series of newspaper columns, turned into an hour of inner reflection eliciting a range of emotions relative to Middle Age-Plus. As an individual who has friends and relatives in that group and knowing that I, too, will be included there someday, how could I not be enthralled? As a publisher, how could I not publish this book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Skyward Publishing (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881554058
• ISBN-13: 978-1881554059
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,975,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars to this award-winning writers--great book, March 15, 2005

By 

Sally, Best News "Sally" (The Great State of Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility: I Discovered the Joy of Middle Age Plus (Paperback)

Winning the Book of the Year Award in Missouri, this book is a classic read for anyone turning 50 and beyond. Ms. Thornton has an amazing amount of talent, and her wit and charm come through every page of this excellent book. Her column has been a success for years, and now with her publications, the trend continues. Read this book. You will love it. 5 stars and beyond.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carolyn's wonderful talent is expressed in this book, March 16, 2005

By 

Cover Diva - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility: I Discovered the Joy of Middle Age Plus (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Carolyn's sense of humor and her outlook on life creates positive energy and seems to lighten the road for us who haven't yet reached middle age. It's a fun, easy reading novel that will bring many laughs and enjoyment for all ages. Highly recommended!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchantment, Humor and just plain fun!!, October 18, 2001

By 

Jackie R. (Micke)Jinks (Arlington, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Senility: I Discovered the Joy of Middle Age Plus (Paperback)

You'll certainly be enchanted by this author's writings. I found myself laughing aloud at some of her tales! Yup, been there, done that myself :o) Carolyn Gray Thornton will take you down a pleasant 'memory-lane' throughout the book. I wanted to quote some of my favorite passages here, but I'd be quoting the WHOLE BOOK. Only bad thing about this is trying to lay it down for the night! It's a MUST read for "the Joy of Middle Age-Plus" or for the younger-set to learn of their heritage. And a great gift for your Senior family and friends!!