These women weren’t just 54, 59, or 68…they were 12, 25, and 42—a miracle that was beautifully expressed long ago by the author Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time):
“I am still every age that I have been. Because I was once a child, I am always a child. Because I was once a searching adolescent, given to moods and ecstasies, these are still part of me, and always will be. Because I was once a rebellious student, there is and always will be in me the student crying out for reform. This does not mean that I ought to be trapped or enclosed in any of these ages, but that they are in me to be drawn on; to forget is a form of suicide; my past is part of what makes the present Madeleine and must not be denied or rejected or forgotten.”
After the women headed to the airport, I constructed a driftwood castle on the beach, while Jamie and I enjoyed the ocean view. A neighbor traversed the sand with his pitching iron and two Golden Retrievers. Our deserted three-mile stretch of beach was the perfect spot to work on his golf swing. An hour passed and a lone woman arrived at the beach. Not knowing we were nearby in our castle, she started singing to the breaching whales, all in the fairy tale voice of a little girl.
How can you tap into the best of all of the ages you’ve ever been?