It’s just a number

How old are you?  How old do you feel?

Yesterday, on a plane, I met Sally.  I don’t normally talk to people on planes, only because when you’re sitting next to a stranger for hours on end and don’t want to continue talking, you can get trapped.  On my way to Florida yesterday, Sally struck up a conversation with me about ten minutes before we were about to land.  She was very nice, and I am not rude, so we talked for the last few minutes of the flight.

Sally was headed to Nashville to see her boyfriend.  She was so excited, because she was going to spend ten whole days with him.  She lives in Virginia, and he lives in Nashville, and their long-distance relationship requires them to commute.  Then she said, in the conspiratorial way of a typical teenager, “ok, I just HAVE to tell you this.”

When she was 17 years old, Sally was lying out on Virginia Beach with friends.  A nice 19-year-old boy came over to her and struck up a conversation.  He was a Navy pilot, they fell in love, and dated for some time.  But when he got transferred, they broke up.

They each went on to do other things and be with other people.  Two years ago, however, they got back in touch, and realized the love was still there.  Their lifestyles don’t permit either one to move to be closer to the other, so they have to settle for seeing each other when and where they can.  Sally just went to Nashville last month, but she could not have been more animated or excited to be seeing him again if she were still 17.

Sally is now 81 years old.  She reconnected with her first love 62 years after their first relationship ended.  At 79, after marrying, having children and grandchildren, and losing a husband to cancer, Sally fell in love all over again and is happier than most people I know.  I’m sure she reached a point, perhaps several times in those first 79 years, where she thought her best years were behind her, and her future would lie simply in watching the sunset of her life.

Your chronological age is just a number.  The best years AREN’T behind you.  At least, they don’t have to be.  Don’t look back on the number of years you’ve lived and regret what you have done, or especially what you haven’t.  If you look in the right places, and keep an open mind, the future will always hold the promise of new adventures, and opportunity for even greater happiness than you’ve seen yet.

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