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FROM THE YOUNGEST TO THE OLDEST
We decided to take a swimming pool exercise class for seniors…
we thought it would be sweet…
A way to get some exercise and beat the Florida heat.
Two realizations hit me as I waded in: One, the water was a little cool,
and Two, as I looked around it seemed to me…I was the oldest man in the pool.
My mind drifted back to my swimming lessons…my parents thought it’d be cool
to take me when I was just a baby…the youngest in the pool.
My birthday is on New Year’s Eve…six days after the Yule…
My parents sent me to 1st grade early so I was the youngest in my class at school.
At 21 I became a teacher…for the most part still a fool….
but here I was in Kent, Ohio…the youngest teacher in my school.
And I wondered where the time has gone…while exercising in the water…nice and cool
How have I gone from the youngest…to the oldest in the pool?
Then I found myself smiling at my good fortune…time has not been cruel…
for there beside me was my wife, Deborah, exercising in the pool.
We have a wonderful family…friends…we’ve had pets both dogs and cats….
We’ve been lucky to grow old together…and there’s nothing wrong with that!
As we finished our exercise class a baby was taking lessons…learning how to swim…
I stopped on my way out of the pool to wave and smile at him…
Secretly I hoped his life…like mine…will be a jewel….
A parting wish from the oldest man…to the youngest in the pool.
