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Accepting age-related changes can free us to appreciate who we are now.

Acceptance and self-care work together to help us live as fully as possible.

A bald head and gray beard can become emblems of experience rather than losses to conceal.

Having lost friends to AIDS, I regard growing older as a privilege—and a way to honor their memories.

I smiled to myself as I thought about the doctor’s diagnosis of “moderate osteoarthritis” in my left knee.

Why did I smile? Because after 21 years of managing HIV, along with high blood pressure and cholesterol, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet, I still occasionally need reminding of a simple fact: I am 68 years old.

Taking care of myself doesn’t exempt me from getting older.

A friend who lived next door to me in our college dorm put it well during a conversation about our aging bodies: “Accept. Accept. Accept,” he said.

Or, to borrow the spirit of Sophia Petrillo, the sharp-tongued Sicilian mother in The Golden Girls: You get old. You sag. You get over it.

Mind you, accepting the changes that come with aging doesn’t mean giving up on your health or “letting yourself go.” We can keep moving, eat well, take our medications, and get the care we need. We can also recognize that even conscientious self-care doesn’t give us complete control over our........

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