Goals, Age, and Lists

I hope my mother and father know that I hold them in the highest regard for never having lost their interest in always trying to learn more about the world they live in — even now that they are eighty-one and eighty-six years old respectively.

I hope they know I am grateful for their active and deep-rooted commitment to social justice especially since, given the selfish tendencies in human nature, few people have the integrity to invest more of their energy in worrying about other people’s suffering than they do in whether or not their IPod, watch, tv, or car bears a more impressive brand name than their neighbor’s does.

I hope my parents know I admire the long years they invested in the work force: Mom by demanding of her editor-in-chiefs that the magazine where she worked lived up to higher ethical standards than they were sometimes inclined to set (I nicknamed her “The Moral Bulldog of LIFE” years ago), and Dad by making the world at large a wider, richer, and more meaningful place by adding to it his urbane wit, wisdom, and eloquence through sometimes fulfilling and sometimes tormented years as an author.

I hope Mom and Dad know I love them for the magic and wonder they paraded before me throughout my childhood by always introducing me to some brilliant, other eccentric, but always interesting people; for showing me idyllic or historic or otherwise culturally-relevant places; and exposing me to a never-ending plethora of new and riveting ideas. By being privy to their political, literary, and always well-informed discussions, my inquisitiveness about the world I lived in was awakened at an absurdly early age, as was my wonder at the power and beauty of words.

I recently discovered a new goal for myself as I approach age fifty. Rather than value my mother and father from a distance and from the point of view of the past, I want to maximize every available opportunity to spend time with them. They both remain physically active and more intellectually engaged with the world around them than almost anyone else I’ve ever known. They continue to read, write, view, and discuss politics and art in all of its mediums – through books, newspapers, films, magazines, museums, theaters, and in great halls of music.

In recent years Mom has become an enthusiastic “birder” and taken Continuing Education classes in literature and music appreciation (the latter to further ignite her lifelong passion for Mozart). She sends scathing “Letters to the Editor” to various newspapers upbraiding insincere politicians, vilifying unconscionable corporations, exposing ignorant war mongers, and begging the powers that be to consider at least a little bit more the fragile needs of the earth’s ecosystems, as well as the needs of the less privileged people that share the earth with the rest of us. She continues to doggedly maintain a daily ritual she has performed for over sixty years: reading The New York Times each day before she has her single scrambled egg and slice of multi-grain toast for breakfast.

Dad devotes several hours each day to rereading, sorting, and scrapbooking a lifetime’s worth of letters, articles, and short stories he’s written. He plays tennis three times a week and continues to cultivate both the garden beds that define his back patio and the fertile borders of his creative talent. His correspondence with a wide net of friends remains prolific. Not intimidated or daunted by the number of years he’s racked up on life’s abacus, he sometimes embarks on cross-country trips, covering hundreds of miles, pursuing sights he’s suddenly realized he’s never seen before or that he deems worth seeing again. He still delights in all kinds of humor and is transported by the sounds of a good jazz band to a state of profound joy.

I have a list to which I refer from time to time. It reads something like this:

1.)Visit with Mom –
Talk, read, write, and watch the news with her. Go to a concert, take a walk, share a meal, go to an art gallery with her, and listen to what she has to say.

2.) Visit with Dad –
Talk, read, write, and watch the news with him. Turn on a good radio station, work in the garden, share a meal, take a drive with him, and listen to what he has to say.

3.) Visit again…

4.) And again…

5.) And again…