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This summer I spent time with elderly relatives in Wisconsin and saw the vivid difference between those who harbor bitterness and anger and those who gratefully greet each day, those who fear change and those who greet it openly. My friend, Ellen Butkus, Executive Director of Senior Connections in Evanston IL has years of experience in being in relationship with people as they age. In the Senior Connections newletter, Ellen shared the poem below, written by Sam Ullman.
Youth
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.
It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees;
It is matter of will, a quality of imagination, a vigor of emotions;
It is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity,
Of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
This often exists in an adult of sixty more than a child of twenty.
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next.
In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station.
So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from people and from the infinite, so long are you young.
Samuel Ullman (1840-1924)
Ullman lived in Natchez Mississippi and Birmingham Alabama, where as a white businessman and lay rabbi he devoted his life to securing educational benefits for black children, similar to those provided for white children.
Published in Healthy at 100 by John Robbins
I feel it is our responsibility to be sending messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage to those wireless stations.
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Elizabeth: I had no idea that I played such a prominent role in your Homecoming in 1974. I do remember nominating you and being shocked that the rest of the SAE’s didn’t agree with me. I loved telling them “I told you so.” I took a picture with my new Pentax camera of Arlie holding the trophy. I was so new at it that when I had the pictures developed, all I had was the bottom half of the trophy and Arlie’s hand. For the record, I while I have forgiven your for not accepting my invitation, (and for dating my brother but only going on one date with me – you obviously had better sense back then) I have NEVER fallen out of love with you. There has always been, and will always be, a special place in my heart for you. You are a beautiful, gracious, talented and loving person and I am fortunate to have you in my life.
Comment by Terry Bush January 27, 2010 @ 8:02 pm