I try to stay relevant even as I grow older. This month I celebrated my seventy-fifth birthday. Seventy five is one of those numbers that rattles me. It sounds ancient and yet that is not the way I feel. I don’t need diamonds to commemorate my age. I need to know that somehow my contributions to this world are still meaningful. I fight against becoming little more than a silly lady in a red hat who life is mostly a round of entertainment. As long as my body transports me and my mind continues to work I still crave being essential to the daily buzz of life. I am reluctant to let go of my grasp on a purpose driven life. 

I tire more easily than I once did. There was a time when I was able to work twelve hours in my garden without experiencing pains in my body or the urge to take a rest. Now I have had to learn to pace myself in whatever I do. I’m still teaching students very difficult mathematics, but I am only able to stay sharply on task for about four or five hours before feeling compelled to stop. When I work in my house I pause about every thirty minutes to recharge my batteries like my iRobot does when vacuuming my floor. If I thoroughly clean my entire home in a single day I end up with pains in my knees and my back. The signs of slowing down are apparent in my body, but I have a tendency to ignore them and soldier on with the projects that I insist on completing. 

Mostly I am intent on pushing myself to continue learning. I find the act of increasing my store of knowledge to be more exciting than any other task that I do. Thus I registered for a class at the Glasscock School of Continuing Education at Rice University this fall. I tend to prefer topics focusing on the social sciences or current events, so for this term I chose The Philosophy of Ethics. The professor will provide a brief overview of the thinking of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Nietzsche. Since I have never taken a formal course in philosophy before it will be quite interesting to learn about these pioneers in thinking who span the human experience from the ancient Greeks to the more modern era. I have little doubt that this course will also lead me to further reading that will keep my mind active for some time to come. 

I must admit that as I approached the seventy fifth milestone of my life I was missing incredible people who were influential in changing the direction of my thinking and ways of approaching the world. I am eternally grateful for the inspiration that I garnered from my father and grandfather. While my dad left this earth all too soon he impressed me with his books and his intellectual curiosity. He is mostly responsible for my love of reading, a personal joy that has provided me with safe harbor even in times of dire distress. My grandfather showed me that we don’t have to become old in spirit simply because we reach a certain age. He continued to thrive and be mentally and physically active until he was one hundred eight years old. 

Then there have been my teachers. Sister Camilla helped me to overcome my tendencies to reverse letters and numbers. In many ways she taught me how to learn. Father Shane is the giant in my erudition who introduced me to the magnificence of the written word in poetry, literature and communication. Father Bernard taught me to look beyond the confines of earth and to gaze into the heavens and the future. Dr. Jones showed me the ways to convey the knowledge that I possess to others. Dr. Durand helped me to become more analytical in my assessments of the practicalities of society. Dr. Boyd demonstrated the threads that stitch our histories together. I have been able to apply their lessons to virtually every aspect of my life in the past and in the present. 

There have been friends who widened my horizon as well. Evenings with Egon and Marita or Pat and Bill were akin to participating in the intellectual soirees of Paris when great minds gathered to discuss art, literature, politics, philosophy. I soaked in all that I heard from them and began to view my life from a wider perspective. They taught me about places and ideas and people that I had never before known. They challenged me to think beyond the narrow confines of the place where I lived. They encouraged me to ask question, to search for facts, to be unafraid to refute or speak my mind. It was safe to reveal my deepest feelings and beliefs when I was with them. It was glorious to feel so free.

Now I find myself finding joy in offering my own knowledge and thoughts to my grandchildren who seem willing to listen to me and fire back their own objections to what I have to say. I have become my grandfather and I genuinely hope that I will be as inspirational to them as he was to me. I get great joy in teaching mathematics as well. When I see a smile on the face of a youngster who suddenly understands how a concept works it is as pleasing and valuable to me as a bag of diamonds would be. 

So here’s to my next phase of life. I do not know where it will lead or who will exit or enter, but surely it will be as wonderful as the previous seventy five have been. My only hope is that it will allow me to continue learning and evolving the way my incredible mentors have helped me to be.