Are You Too Old?
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” my well-intentioned neighbor said. “After all, you’re not so young anymore, and all the guys in a Senior Life Saving Class will be big, strong athletes from La Crescenta High School who want to get jobs as lifeguards this summer at the beach. And, well, you’re just a stay-at-home mom of two little girls.”
“You’re right,” I said. “We love camping, but in this heat, we would like to be out on the water. And we just bought a used boat, and someone needs to know how to rescue anyone just in case.”
It’s the first time I ever felt really old! What did age matter to me? After all, as a child I had been taught by Mrs. T that I could do anything if I was willing to try hard enough. Anything.
So, I decided to do it anyway.
I was not a strong swimmer to begin with and as a teenager I couldn’t make it out to the float from the dock with my friends at Cuba Lake in New York in the summer. But in fairness, I had not had lessons and didn’t know how to breathe properly and do any of the strokes.
“Well, at least I can go to the local YMCA, take a few lessons and learn something.”
So, while the girls were at school, I enrolled in Beginning Swimming. I built up strength as I learned the various strokes. Gee, this was fun! So, I went on through Intermediate and even Advanced Swimming.
Why not take the Senior Life Saving Class while I’m at it? Even if I don’t pass, at least I’ll learn something.
And there they were. Fifteen gorgeous, tall, athletic, seventeen and eighteen-year-old guys. And there I was all of 5’4”, 120 pounds dripping wet. They looked at me kind of funny. Embarrassed, I decided to hang in there. For the final test, we drew names, and I was partnered with a 5’11 big guy. I was instructed to dive in and bring him up from the bottom of the 8 feet deep pool. I remember thinking, “I’ll show them.” That no matter what it takes, I will bring him up even if I drown doing it.
To my shock, I did it! Oh, joy! I passed the test and got my Senior Life Saving Certificate. Uh-oh. I asked the instructor, “What do I do if we’re out on the water and some big guy far away is screaming for help?”
His answer set my mind at ease. “Never go after someone that you think you can’t help because then we have two drownings. Get a log, a mat, a life preserver, anything and take it out to him.”
Later when the girls were in their late teens, I decided that I didn’t want to go back to being a teacher. Could I do something else? I didn’t want to look back when I’m eighty and think, “I could have done that! So, I went back to college and took radio broadcasting at PCC Community College in Pasadena. Was I too old? Probably.
But I decided to do it anyway.
Once again, the students in the class were eighteen and now I was in my thirties. But I have a plaque on my fireplace that says, “She believed she could, so she did.”
And, with lots of effort, I did get my first radio job as a disc jockey in Palm Springs weekends, then on to being a newscaster and producer of Rich Buhler’s Talk from the Heart. Not especially out of talent or intelligence, but mostly by sheer determination.
But my most fun story is boogie boarding with my husband in San Diego. We were grandparents by then. His two grown sons who are surfers, couldn’t believe that we wanted to learn. So, clad in our new, warm, wet suits, we wobbled out and got in touch with nature as the waves carried us in for the ride of our lives. What a thrill! Often, when we staggered out of the water, polite teenagers walked up to us and asked, “Uh, excuse us, but, uh, how old are you?”
All my life I had regretted that I never learned to surf. I had avoided going into the water in the Pacific because it is so cold. But Wally, ever the encourager, convinced me to at least take a lesson when we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon. “Life is short. Do it now,” he said.
I believed I could and so I did and actually got up twice soaring to shore at what felt like a thousand miles an hour. The thrill of a lifetime.
Come to think of it, I noticed that Moses, Abraham, Elijah, and the other heroes of the faith never thought about their age and never retired. And one of my heroes, Winston Churchill, was 71 years old when led the British and the Allies through WWII as Prime Minister saying, “Never, never, never, never give up,” as Nazi bombs blasted London for 57 days. Most of that time he was very ill, but he was active in Parliament until he was 89, the year before he died.
So, think about it. Are you too old to take on that next challenge?
Why not do it anyway!
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliot.
Am I too old to write another book? What about that amazing adoption story in which I had a small part? Oh, and that Colorado Mountain Dog puppy that we found a great home for?
But that’s another story….
Enjoy reading Annie’s recently published inspirational memoir, THAT ONE PERSON, by Annie Farris, written to encourage you in these challenging times. Now available on Amazon for $15.95, and Kindle for $9.99. Endorsed by Pat Boone and 18 others with numerous 5 star reviews. It makes a great gift!