Aging with Attitude One day a decade ago, when I first began to fall into thinking old – a woman I barely knew patted my hand and said, “You are such a dear.”   I wanted to tell her “Say that again and I’ll smack you in the face – I’ll show you what a dear I am.” But I knew I had brought it on myself – something about my demeanor, the way I sat, or laughed, or held my head, said  – “This is a little old lady.”  At that moment I stopped being a little old lady – for the rest of my life.   Old is a flexible attitude. A groundless stereotype. No matter what I  look like, inside I dwell agelessly.  Me.  I am startled when I see my image by accident. That old  woman - she is not me. Last week Betty McNeil, 82 years old, received her BA degree from Harvard, winning also an award for academic achievement.  She fulfilled her pledge to get   her college degree before her grandchildren. "I never felt I was the oldest in the class.  I fit in with everybody." Asked the reporter, "Did anyone blink?" "No, no - if they did I didn't notice." Betty intends to begin studies for her MA degree in Theater Arts, in September. Her advice for other octogenarians - "Just do it.  Get out there and do it." Way to go!    82 year old graduates from Harvard Age is indeed a physical state, but it's also a mental state. The latter is far more important. If people believe they are only an embodiment of their corporal disintegration, that's all we'll see, and all they'll truly be - that self-fulfilling prophesy thing. Shifts in attitude - a child-like curiosity, a love of learning anything, a friendship with life, various enthusiasms to drive one - any of these are tremendously empowering. I welcome comments: wanda mccollar