In Bob Greene's book, "The 50 Year Dash," he asked a friend of his if he felt middle-aged now that he was 50.

His friend replied that no, he felt like a teenager who had been in a fight.

I'm 61, well past 50 and by many standards past middle age. But something happened to me yesterday that left me wondering if I ought to start thinking of myself a little differently.

I slipped and fell on the concrete walk in front my my house, which was covered with ice. My feet went out from under me, my butt hit the ground and then I fell backward and the back of my head hit the ice -- hard.

As it turned out, I was lucky. There was no bump on the back on my head and I don't think I had a concussion. But I had been walking on the ice the same way I did when I was 18 ... or 25. I wasn't even considering the possibility that my reflexes weren't as good, that I might be more susceptible to breaking a bone.

[caption id="attachment_752" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Growing older but not up"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/posterOlder-but-not-Up-Medium.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-752" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/posterOlder-but-not-Up-Medium-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

It reminded me of the Jimmy Buffett song:

<em>"I'm no Pete Rose, I can't pretend, my mind is quite flexible but brittle bones won't mend."</em>

A lot of us in the baby boom generation have taken great pride in saying that we're "growing older but not up," as if losing our youthful spirit and growing into full adult maturity would be some sort of betrayal.

When I was 25, I never would have considered that slipping and falling down might cause any kind of serious injury. Barring some sort of really bad luck, it probably wouldn't have. But at 61, bad things can and do happen from simple falls.

I really don't think of myself as <em>old</em> yet. I don't know if I'm going to live to be 70, 80 or 90, or maybe even longer, but I am definitely no longer young and no longer able to write off the potential danger of things like falling on ice and hitting my head.

Just one more thing to worry about.