I can relate as a fellow old programmer that had to fight to get back into the industry. Age immediately takes you out of consideration in a large majority of positions. After 6 years out of the industry (to work as a musician) I chose PHP because it is free and popular. Played on my own for 6 months before landing a contract, and then another year of searching to find a full time position. I actually got hired in QA, but was able to move back into programming pretty quickly because coworkers were able to see my potential.
Experience more than a few years old means nothing today. Employers want to fill an immediate, specific need, whatever it is. Pick a language you can build and demo applications with. If you can show an employer a polished application in a relevant technology you have a good chance of being noticed.
Cudos to you for working on iOS/Objective-C. I work in that environment now and highly recommend it as a starting point. Not only is it very marketable, but you also have the option of independent development. Although it's a crap shoot, Apple/iOS is really the only environment where independent developers can really make money. You don't need a company to back you up, the marketing and payment infrastructure and customer base are there for you to use, only costs $99 a year to buy in. Keep at it, build apps for yourself, your kids, put something in the store, and show the best work to potential employers. If you want, focus on apps that use webservices (social services, mapping, data..), as that lets you build lots of value fast, and webservices are a key technology most developers need to be proficient in.