My image of the sixties from my childhood (in the 1960s) was that of an old man with an Afghan (blanket, not the dog or the person) across his lap, watching Tiger baseball on the TV with not a worry on his mind. He may have been slow, geriatric, and fairly immobile, but his years had earned him at least two things: respect and leisure. This image was that of my paternal grandfather, who emigrated the entire family from Romania just before the war. He got a job sweeping floors at Ford Motor Company and four decades later bought his first brand-new car, a Ford Mustang as a retirement present. He deserved his leisure because he worked hard and managed to put two boys through the University of Michigan Dental School.
Fast forward to the current issue of Northern Michigan Woman Magazine and the article (link embedded) I just read about my very first employee and very good friend, Bonnie Barley, who recently started pursuing her own bucket list dream of becoming a roller derby queen (my word, not hers). She didn’t let her age stop her, she didn’t let what others thought stop her, and she didn’t let her inability to skate stop her. She joined that first practice and found an amazingly supportive community that welcomed her into the fold and continues to help develop her skills. She is the same age as my late grandfather was when I locked in that image of him sitting in his easy chair.
This morning, I encountered another example of a retired accountant who, at age 66, finally achieved his lifelong dream of playing tuba in the LSU Marching Band. He missed his opportunity when he was in college and immediately began his career serving others through his accounting skills. However, the desire never left him, so this retired CPA started taking classes at the university with the hope of becoming eligible for the band. His tuba skills were rusty from decades of inactivity, and he wasn’t as physically fit as he needed to be to manage the grueling marching demands.
He started training physically by working out and running. He honed his tuba skills and took to marching around his Baton Rouge neighborhood while playing the tuba. I imagine he was quite popular with the neighbors. The band director was not going to cut him any slack due to his age, as his reputation was on the line to form the highest quality band that he could. All of the hard work paid off as this gentleman earned his spot on the LSU Marching Band and was the oldest member by 41 years.
If your WHY is important enough to you, the HOW will take care of itself.
The decade of the sixties was once thought of as a time when one was meant to sink quietly into the background of life. Merriam-Webster advises that retire means to withdraw, recede, and retreat. Of course, my version of the dictionary was published in 1965, and at that time, life expectancy for men was only about 66 years old. A lot has changed since then, as life expectancy today is close to 80 years.
Stories like Bonnie’s and the tuba player remind us that we don’t need to withdraw or retreat or quietly fade into the background. If we are still drawing air, there are things to do and adventures to be had. Through proper planning and saving, the sixties represent a time when we have more discretionary time and money. We need to use that time to explore the things that we just couldn’t get to while we were building a business, having a career, and raising a family.
That time for me reminds me of a joke by Jim Gaffigan that pokes fun at his large family. He says having a fifth child is like having four kids, while treading water, and someone hands you a baby. That analogy is very apt for me during that period of life. I was so focused on treading water that I could not pursue much, if any, of my own interests. It reminded me of the plate spinner on the old Ed Sullivan show. Do me a favor and click on the embedded link for a visual.
I have been working more recently (at least the last four years) on recovering my health and preparing for this exciting time of life. I can assure you that I will not play the tuba, although Joan got me a banjo for my first retired Christmas, because she remembered that I admired Steve Martin for his banjo skills. It was a thoughtful, yet misguided gift. I will not join a roller derby team, but there are numerous activities that I am excited to explore.
The first and foremost goal is preparing for the Camino de Santiago, which I will begin in April of 2026. Becoming physically prepared to walk 500 miles in 35 days is no small task, and I am not taking it lightly. I will have prepared for at least a year before I take that first step in the Pyrenees Mountains. Soon, I will begin preparing for the spiritual component of the pilgrimage; more on that in a future post.
I don’t really know what the rest of my sixties will be like for me, but I can assure you that it will not be solely leisure for the purpose of leisure. This blog is for me a way to reach out. It is an outlet, a journal in some ways, and potentially a means by which I can help or encourage others to carpe diem. To live with purpose, vision, and intention.
Life is short, and I find it troubling when people look nostalgically back at what used to be instead of looking forward to what can be. I know this sounds sappy. I admit it. But, I believe it is a message that far too many people need to hear/read.
Throw off the Afghan, turn off the TV, start living on purpose. Find the desire to learn something new. Use this time to grow, explore, travel, learn, or whatever it is that you find interesting. In the words of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, “It comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”