I attended a wedding recently, nothing special you may think, but it was my Dads’ who, at the age of 92, married for the second time. This act of commitment has brought such joy and sense of well-being to those around him, in fact more than that, to a much wider group, friends of friends, my clients, the local florist, our builder (I’ve been spreading the word!). People have grinned, smiled, laughed become emotional, talked about inspiration and really welcomed the news. Finding love again at this stage in his life is, it seems, something rather special and remarkable.
He is a man who has always stayed curious, continually learnt and pushed himself to understand society with all its struggles and contradictions. More recently he has talked about living in a world that he feels is speeding past him, which he has difficulty, at times, to connect with and understand and yet he has shown all of us including his grandchildren the possibilities for a great later life.
In a decade where he would have been forgiven for slowing down and becoming more internally focussed, he has chosen to continue to look up and out and also open his heart. This openness and inquisitiveness has, as a consequence, enabled him to find a very special woman to share the rest of his decade and beyond with.
For me it has opened a huge question around the possibilities for living the rest of my life. If this can happen at his age what else is possible?