Silver tsunami: The defiant oldies who ride their own wave
What happens as you age and life becomes a daily struggle? What’s it like as your family and friends fall away? Michelle Duff meets the boomers who aren’t waiting round to find out.
Growing up, Terry Kirk and his brother used to fight tooth and nail. Their upbringing was tough. Later, when Terry Kirk gigged around West Auckland as the Hallelujah Cowboy, they didn’t have a lot to do with each other. Over time, the siblings grew apart.
In January 2018, Kirk’s brother was found dead in his North Shore home, discovered by a friend who had stopped around to see him. He’d been there for two weeks. “It makes me feel really, really sad, it should never happen,” says Kirk, who is fast approaching 70. “But he’s not the only friend I’ve lost in Auckland who has been dead for two to three weeks before they are found.
“I think that’s something more people than you know would have experienced.”
