Forever Young

My cruise getaway to Bermuda was just too fabulous to put into words. But the absolute highlight of my trip was the conversation that I had with Mr. Joe during the Midnight Buffet.

By the third day of my cruise, I was super relaxed and feeling fine. All of the trivial things that I was stressing and worrying about before my trip were floating far, far away on the Atlantic Ocean. That evening, the ship’s magnificent cooks and servers had laid out the most spectacular spread for the Midnight Buffet. I make no exaggeration when I tell you that the spread was at least four feet long. I was actually kinda ticked that I ate dinner on the late shift and was still full by the time the buffet began. I stuffed down what few morsels my overstuffed tummy could hold, ordered a slamming Pina Colada, and joined the rest of my ship mates in dancing to the Electric Slide, Booty Call, and the Cupid Shuffle. It had been far too long since I had had that much fun. I was in heaven.

An hour later and a half later, my belly and my feet told me that it was time to call it a night. As I got ready to return to my cabin, I ran into one of my dinner partners, Mr. Joe. Mr. Joe is a 68-year-old retired computer programmer from D.C. He had me howling at dinner with his beautiful spirit and his delightful tales. While I was preparing to go meet the Sandman, Mr. Joe told me that he and his crew were just revving up and were going to do a little bit more dancing at the ship’s disco room. As I began gathering my things, Mr. Joe invited me to join him dancing. I politely refused and told him that I was tired.

Mr. Joe got a real serious face and took me to the side and said, “Leah, baby, how old are you?”

I said, “I’m 30, sir.”

He looked at me disapprovingly and said, “Now, let me tell you this. You start doing old folks things, you gonna start being old. Now c’mon up here with me to this disco and enjoy yourself.”

Before I knew it, I had joined Mr. Joe at the disco and we had fun dancing to R. Kelly’s “Love Slide.” After that, I was really tired, and I bid good night to Mr. Joe and his comrades. I discovered the next day that he and his crew shut the disco down at 2:30!

Out of all the wonderful people I met on the ship, my conversation with Mr. Joe at the Midnight Buffet has stayed with me because I realize that I want to be as fun, lighthearted, and energetic as he is as I get older. To paraphrase the classic phrase, “Getting older is mandatory, growing older is optional.” I’m not looking forward to creaky knees, reading glasses, and Ben Gay. But, I am looking forward to being wiser and more thoughtful and living my life even more fully than I do now. I was inspired by folks like Mr. Joe who could still party till 2:30 in the morning. I don’t think that shutting down a dance floor will ever be my calling (LOL!), but I look forward to being one of those fantastic older divas who still has life and vitality and can rock a pair of fabulous heels well into my 60s and 70s.

Thank you, Mr. Joe, for inspiring me to be forever young.