It is never too late to be what you might have been. —- John F. Kennedy

We all have dreams in our youth. Some are fanciful like my one time goal to be an airline stewardess who lived in New York City. Some are aspirational like my thoughts of becoming a published writer. Some fit our personalities like my joy of learning that led me to becoming a teacher. 

I would not mind having enough money to always feel comfortable and able to fulfill all of my dreams but I have learned after seven decades that the best things in life are free and that having just enough is good enough. I became a teacher because it suited who I was. I began learning from my father who introduced me to reading when I was a small child. He read poetry to me and constantly took me to bookstores and libraries. I watched him build a replica of our home out of little strips of balsa wood that he carefully cut and put together just like someone building a real house. He showed me how to create a sidewalk that would last for decades and spoke with me of history and wondrous places. He insisted that I never underestimate myself nor allow anyone else to do so. 

Under his brief tutelage I suppose that it was almost enviable that I would be drawn to the idea of sharing my knowledge with others, but like him I often found myself longing to do more. I began writing once I had retired because I believed that it is never too late to accomplish a dream. Now I mostly write for my own satisfaction. The act of writing is second nature to me. It is a calming experience for which I devote time virtually every single day. 

Some people cook or sew or work in their gardens for fun. I like to write down my thoughts. I suppose if they interest or inspire someone that is like gravy on top of my joy. I sometimes dream that just the right person will notice some of my work and suddenly contact me to help me to publish my thoughts on a wider scale. I suppose that such thoughts are mostly the grist from my lively imagination. I don’t expect a call from Stephen King insisting that I am the next great author but the dream of such a thing is as fun as reality. I write for the same reason I read and learn. It is because my father taught me how much fun it is to do those things. He showed me how to keep my mind eternally active. 

I’m not sure that my father had enough time on this earth to be what he might have been. I always imagine NASA coming to town and piquing his interest as a mechanical engineer. I feel certain that he would have been over the moon at the thought of helping humans to actually go to the moon. After all, he already had many books predicting that very thing in the future. He only had to live a few more years and I think he might have finally found the dream job that he was seeking. 

I enjoyed my life as a teacher so much that it has never really ended. Almost as soon as I had retired I made it known that I was looking for opportunities to tutor students. I knew that I no longer wanted to work all day long five days a week but the idea of teaching for an hour here or there was tantalizing. Here I am fifteen years after my official retirement still homeschooling and tutoring young people. Each time I think of officially retiring someone comes along to convince me to keep going. I have to admit that some of the happiest moment of my days are spent with young men and women working to determine who they want to be. 

I suppose that one of my latest wishes is to grow old gracefully and to dedicate myself to making the world an inviting place for the next generation. Perhaps my greatest talent is to be the grand encourager like my father was for me. It only took eight years for him to imprint on my soul the joy to be found in constantly exploring new places and new ideas. He showed me how glorious an open mind can be. I like to think that I am not stuck in rigid ideologies but rather open to new ideas and the incredible creativity, diversity and inventiveness of humans. 

I suppose that in a sense even as I inch toward being an octogenarian I am still learning and seeking truth, not stodgy beliefs. I like to think that my reading and learning and teaching has shown me how to evolve more and more into the person that I might be. These days it is from the young people that I seem to grow the most in my understanding of our gloriously diverse humanity. I like to think that my father would be proud of the person that I continue to become.