Age is inevitable. Aging isn't (Part 2)

Points to Ponder: Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. - Samuel Ullman

I intend to grow old naturally, (Childhood and Youth)

Reflection:

The past thirty days have been very special with respect to connecting with people I have known throught out my life; 35 of the people I have known since kindergarten, one of the first couples who welcomed me in Silicon Valley in 1975, 21 members of the great team from my last place of work (1997-2015), the person who was kind enough to help me integrate well into Intel 25 years ago, and many other friends and members of the family. I was fortuante to meet some in person and others through wonders of technology: Zoom.

For school friends, 51 years have passed but the enthusiasm we had in the old days had not passed from any one. A small team created a good singing and dancing program for our highschool reunion with the same degree of enthusiasm (despite some aches and pains) as in childhood that provided a lot of entertainment for the larger Zoom audience. It was Yesterday Once More. Sample Video from the practice session: Shardamandir Eight (one minute).  Snapshots actual program Starts at 15 seconds.

During Zoom and Personal reunions with friends from my place of work we shared funny incidences from past that brought a lot of laughter and joy reminding us of The Way We Were. As always connecting with my family members around the world was a great source of happiness. Diffrent people from these large group of family and friends represent each of the four phases of life: Childhood, Youth, Family and Career and The Golden Years (all of my childhood friends and a few workplace friends). Though we are in different age groups, we enjoyed and laughed just like in the old times and sang and danced with the same enthusiasm.

But this reflection wouldn't be complete without mentioning how special this day (September 24th) is in my life. On Septmber 24, 1970, I got a letter from a girl in Philippines who became my 13th penpal, and eight years later my partner for life. We have grown together through the years like the flowers in the above photos, growing and enjoying in every phase; the most precious gift life has given to me. Happy 51years of knowing the person who has helped me learn the meaning of Living in the Present.

Quote by Mark Levy *Quote by Mark Twain

Note:

In May 2019, the reflection with the same title (Part 1) was published with the story of the amazing person who stays young at the age of 102 with his passion for painting. The readers comments in that reflection have universal message and are shown in the comments section of this publication as well.