Which is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. I credit her with my love of the outdoors and travel, and being open to new experiences.
Not that she was an avid outdoorswoman. She was born in 1912 and is very much a product of her times. But she had the great fortune to grow up spending her summers in a cabin in the Adirondacks on a tiny island. And this was a very rustic cabin, where we cooked on a wood stove, read by kerosene lamps, got ice every other day for the icebox, and had an outhouse (none of which had changed during my childhood when we spent two weeks every summer there). We hiked and paddled but didn't camp or backpack.
Her true adventurous spirit emerged when she was 75 and two events converged-my dad died and I started guiding outdoor trips. There were two year when she came on a whitewater canoe weekend I was teaching over Mother's Day. At the age of 76 she joined me for a 5 day Boundary Waters Canoe trip, the first time she had camped since she was 14. Three years later she went on a 15 day raft trip down the Grand Canyon. We also had some great travels together- China and Costa Rica on tours and New Zealand on our own. Our last trip together was when she was 88 and we did a 2 week Elderhostel tour in South Africa.
I have learned a lot from my mom, and probably nothing more important than knowing that it truly is never too late to pursue new experiences. And also that a curious and interested mind keeps us fully alive. While macular degeneration has slowed her down significantly, she recently has been listening to books on Islam as she tries to understand what is going in the world.
Happy birthday, Mom! I sure hope you gave me all those genes. -- Marian
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