In recent months three women in their 60s have disappeared in Tucson. In all instances, their cars were found. The most recently disappeared car was found a few weeks ago...with a body inside.

As I listened to the news reports, I was struck by the description of the victim. She was "an elderly woman". Say what? She was only a few years older than me! I'm not elderly!

Yet the Arizona Daily Star news article described the situation as "...one of three Tucson-area women in their 60s who have gone missing under suspicious circumstances since November, which elderly advocates say is an alarming trend for a vulnerable population."

Good grief! Who is doing the defining here? I think of my friends in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. I don't believe any of them would label themselves as "elderly". Retired, perhaps, but not elderly! My neighbor in her 90s is elderly. That's decades in the future for my age group.

We as a society need to rethink how we define the generations. Are you 50? Do you rebel at the idea you are labeled "middle-aged"? Are you "elderly" at 60?

What labels would you use for the decade of life you are in?