Sitemap
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd Wright) Non-fiction pieces, personal essays and occasional poems that explore how we feel about how we age and offer tips for getting the most out of life.

Follow publication

Member-only story

I Now Understand Why Old Guys Like Suspenders and Long Shoehorns

4 min readMay 18, 2025

--

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

I used to watch an old chef from Louisiana on television. I believe he was on PBS, and his first name was Earl. He had a distinct Cajun accent and a big belly. He always wore suspenders. Ever since then, I have noticed that, aside from fishermen in overalls, it is mostly older, overweight men who wear them. I now know why.

With every decade since I turned 50, my belly has been expanding. My pants have a hard time staying up, no matter how much I tighten my belt. It is great that I live in Florida and can wear shorts most of the year.

My wife thinks it's because I'm losing weight that my pants are falling. No. I explain to her it’s like trying to keep a rope around a beach ball.

I once went to a holiday party at a friend’s with a pair of stylish suspenders. I felt free, and my pants no longer slipped down. I was comfortable, but my buddy thought I looked silly. (This was before young metrosexuals and fraternity bros found them to be in style.)

After my brother-in-law died, his wife gave me some of his things. I had never owned a long shoehorn. However, I now know it’s a great invention because you don’t…

--

--

Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

Published in Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd Wright) Non-fiction pieces, personal essays and occasional poems that explore how we feel about how we age and offer tips for getting the most out of life.

David Mokotoff, MD
David Mokotoff, MD

Written by David Mokotoff, MD

David Mokotoff is a top and boosted writer. He is a retired MD, passionate about health, medicine, gardening, and food, https://tinyurl.com/y7bjoqkd