Sep. 8--Move over, Madonna. Several Tucsonans say you're behind the times if you haven't figured out 50 can be fabulous.
And with about 75 million U.S. baby boomers (according to The Boomer Initiative, a nonprofit organization) ready to retire within the next 10 years, more and more people are refusing to park it on a porch. Instead, they're redefining the golden years as the active years.
We asked readers what 50 or better looks like in Tucson and got a variety of responses. These people have discovered their own physical beauty, new careers, romance and adventure.
What's their secret? Well, none of them copped to working with a personal trainer eight hours a day in the gym or donning a cone-shaped bra.
Read on.
Irma Alexander
--Age: 54.
--How 50 or better looks: "I turned 54 this year and celebrated (by) wakeboarding for the first time. . . . My kids were proud that I would even think of it."
Her son-in-law's parents have a houseboat on Shasta Lake north of Redding, Calif. They go every weekend that it's warm, she said.
"Usually I go and just be a spectator," she said. "But this time I thought, 'I'm going to do something different.' "
--What's her secret: "I try not to be a spectator all the time."
--Tips for others: "Keep open-minded about things. Don't ever say you can't. And stay healthy."
Faye Morse
--Age: 57.
--How 50 or better looks: Morse became a Ford/Robert Black model in her 50s. She has been featured in Tucson Lifestyle magazine and has done runway and print advertisements for Dillard's. She also has appeared in the L.A. Times and Prevention magazine.
Morse is a private pilot, artist and equestrian and is involved in the Father's Day Council, Tu Nudito and other Tucson children's charities.
--What's her secret: Morse credits her late husband's advice to let her hair go natural after she'd colored it red for many years. Once her platinum gray locks came in, people started asking her if she'd ever modeled, she said. So on a lark, Morse entered a More magazine modeling contest. She didn't win, but she did end up signing with local modeling agency Ford/Robert Black.
--Tips for others: "Just believe in yourself and go for it. As you get older, you become who you are."
Mary McFarland
--Age: 50.
--How 50 or better looks: "I turned 50 last October and decided to step up my physical activity to get into the shape of my life. I rode in the El Tour de Tucson for the first time and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with my husband. I feel better now than I ever have. Age is just a number that doesn't matter much to me."
--What's her secret: "I feel very good about being 50. The realization was, I better start doing these things if I want to do them.
"I inherited it from my mother. She'll be 93 and she's still very active."
--Tips for others: "Use it or lose it. Is this really how you want to spend the next 40 or 50 years of your life?"
Mary Ann Brody-Heyl
--Age: 49, turns 50 in February.
--How 50 or better looks: "I dreaded turning both 30 and 40, so I thought turning 50 would be traumatic. Instead, I am embracing turning 50 and excited about the prospects. I started out the year by quitting my six-figure job to pursue my passion for cooking by becoming a personal chef."
Her new business is called "Kissed by a Chef."
"I've been running a half-marathon each month, which has taken me throughout the country, and my husband and I climbed the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in May.
"I'll finish the celebration by walking the 50-year trail here in Tucson with friends."
--What's her secret: "The older I've gotten, I've gotten more comfortable in my skin. So that helped. I did have a successful career. It enabled me to take this next step financially."
Also, Brody-Heyl said losing her parents in quick succession a few years ago made her realize the importance of pursuing her passions.
"No matter what, you always have to have a goal. It keeps you motivated."
--Tips for others: "Don't be afraid to follow your passions. But have a plan. Take the leap."
Bud and Melissa Bowersock
--Age: 70 and 56, respectively.
--How 50 or better looks: On his 66th birthday, Bud Bowersock completed two freefall jumps from The Sky Tower in New Zealand, which at 1,076 feet is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The jumps were on a guided wire, which the operators gently brake just before the jumper reaches the ground.
A year later, the couple participated in an Adult Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. Bud was 67 and Melissa Bowersock was 54. "Space camp is a ball, using many of NASA's original training simulators that the astronauts used, providing simulations of zero gravity, moon gravity (one-sixth the gravity of Earth) and pulling 3.2 G's in the centrifuge," said Melissa.
And one year later, Melissa said, she was zip-lining in Costa Rica. "They have a course set out and cables go from tree to tree; it just goes through the forest, under the canopy."
--What's their secret: "We just do whatever sounds like fun," she said. "We have never acted our age. We refuse to do that."
--Tips for others: "What I go back to is a quote, and I don't know who said it: 'How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?' " Melissa said. "I love that."
Andrew Dennehy and Roni Handsman
--Ages: 50 and 53, respectively.
--How 50 or better looks: They met online at Match.com last year -- two months before Dennehy turned 50 -- and it was love at first sight. Now they're "shacking up" on the East Side. "We had both been through so much of the same things and what we were looking for," said Dennehy. "We wanted to have a committed relationship."
--What's their secret: "We're optimistic. We're very easygoing. We try to treat other people right, the way we want to be treated," he said.
--Tips for others: "Don't settle for less. Everybody deserves to be happy," Dennehy said.
Debbie Rich
--Age: 50.
--How 50 or better looks: "The day I turned 50 (June 16), I jumped from a plane at 13,500 feet to let the last 50 go and begin the next 50. I faced a fear with a childlike exuberance and let myself recapture that feeling. ... It's the most peaceful thing you'll ever do in your life."
--What's her secret: "I really think it's because I was raised to give back to the community and work in the community and I'm just inspired by that . . . to face your challenges."
--Tips for others: "I am not beautiful and don't try to look 30 at 50, but I'd love to let women know that we can do and be whatever we want to be."
Watch video of Debbie Rich's birthday skydive at azstarnet.com/special/skydive.
--Contact reporter Jennifer Sterba at 573-4179 or e-mail jsterba@azstarnet.com.
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