My sister and her 11 year old son are moving to Hawaii (she recently won a coveted job transfer to Honolulu) and my mom is going too, to help care for my nephew.
None of them knows anyone in Hawaii, and my mom hasn't even visited the islands. I have to admit it would take some major cojones for me to uproot myself from all that's familiar and journey 3,000 miles into a new life in the middle of an ocean, but her innate sense of adventure seems to have kicked in and she is sailing forth into this one with style.
My mom will be 75 this year, which isn't that old but it's an age when many of us are pretty stuck in our ways. I'm deeply impressed with her flexibility and strength, and most of all that she's retained a sense of innocence, a sort of child-like trust of life and willingness to be surprised and delighted. That seems to me very beautiful, and I know I'll be calling on her example as I venture forth into whatever adventures 2008 holds for me.
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