Lessons shape the person you are and want to become
A sad part of being 60+ is seeing mentors pass on, and even some peers. I am acutely sensitive to old movies and programs, and often hear characters say things like, “Dad, you’re in your 60s now. Time to slow down and think about retiring.” It wasn’t that long ago that living into one’s 80s was pretty unique. These days, the line is that 60 is the new 40, and when I reflect on my grandparents and their peers, I must admit that the people in their mid-60s did, indeed, look more “grandpa-ish” than the average 60-year-old today.
Pass It Along
I find myself reflecting on some of the lessons taught to me by older individuals, and I can’t help but notice I now play the wise, old mentor role without even trying. One of the young guitarists in my church’s worship band was fooling around with the clip that held his guitar strap; he had twisted the screw so many times that the hole was now oversized, and the screw was unable to be tightened. I motioned to him to bring it over. I put a drop of glue in the hole and broke off two toothpicks and put them in there as well. I placed the screw in, and it tightened right up. I explained that, as the glue set, the hole would get even tighter. He was downright amazed. Such a simple thing. The man who taught me that trick some 50 years earlier when I was a handyman’s apprentice taught me many other things:
- To pierce a paper plate on the pole that holds a paint roller, so when painting a ceiling, the splatters fall onto the plate instead of the floor or one’s left eye
- To join two rubber bands to make one longer one (over under/under over)
- To put an unopened garbage bag at the bottom of the trash can before putting another bag in, so there will be one ready for the next time.
