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Today's blog post title is actually the title of a song. I heard this song for the first time tonight because it's playing under a You Tube video my son made during an epic (his word/not mine) 24 mile mountain climbing/snowboarding trip he made this past weekend. Lately, his weekends have consisted of taking adventurous challenges, creating memories, and thinking that "getting old" is something that happens many years down the road.
I guess the reality that "one day maybe we'll be old" is one of the reasons that I'm here in Turkey the first place. Moving here seemed like a good opportunity for adventure and to create some memories. And, although daily living here in Turkey is always an adventure (welcome or not), and memories are hastily stored in the camera folder of my phone and via this blog, the reality is that I'm not in a hurry to get old.
What made this song and the "getting old" part even more poignant was a conversation at today's school lunch. I was talking with one of my Turkish colleagues and asked about her mom. I'd remembered that she had to travel to eastern Turkey to care for her mom during the semester break. Today I learned the visit was also to give her mom's caregiver a few days off to travel back to Georgia (the country - not the state). As it turned out, my colleague's dad died when she was 26 years old and her mother had a stoke that paralyzed her one year later. So, my colleague has had the difficult task of finding care and making difficult moral decisions for over 20 years. She reminded me how lucky I am that both parents are healthy. I agreed and we both pulled our earlobes and knocked on wood. (for good luck...to ward off the evil eye).
So many thanks to my parents for instilling the sense of adventure and the importance of creating memories in me as a young child. Maybe one day we'll all be old. But for now, let's keep the adventure alive.
I guess the reality that "one day maybe we'll be old" is one of the reasons that I'm here in Turkey the first place. Moving here seemed like a good opportunity for adventure and to create some memories. And, although daily living here in Turkey is always an adventure (welcome or not), and memories are hastily stored in the camera folder of my phone and via this blog, the reality is that I'm not in a hurry to get old.
What made this song and the "getting old" part even more poignant was a conversation at today's school lunch. I was talking with one of my Turkish colleagues and asked about her mom. I'd remembered that she had to travel to eastern Turkey to care for her mom during the semester break. Today I learned the visit was also to give her mom's caregiver a few days off to travel back to Georgia (the country - not the state). As it turned out, my colleague's dad died when she was 26 years old and her mother had a stoke that paralyzed her one year later. So, my colleague has had the difficult task of finding care and making difficult moral decisions for over 20 years. She reminded me how lucky I am that both parents are healthy. I agreed and we both pulled our earlobes and knocked on wood. (for good luck...to ward off the evil eye).
So many thanks to my parents for instilling the sense of adventure and the importance of creating memories in me as a young child. Maybe one day we'll all be old. But for now, let's keep the adventure alive.
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