In 1976, my mother took ten years off of her life.

Literally.

My step father was in the final months of his life having battled Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

My mom was about to become a single mother of two teenagers and she needed to work.

When she applied to Rich’s Bakery at the soon to open Southlake Mall, she determined that they would certainly hire her if she was younger.

So, she became younger.

I did not learn of this until I was a grown man.

I never thought of it again until after she passed away and the final paperwork had been filed and I received a call from the Social Security Administration asking if my mother had been born in 1927 or 1937, and they were requesting a copy of her birth certificate.

I tried to obtain a birth certificate and could not, eventually explaining the situation with the truth, a woman with a dying husband and two kids at home, and she was trying to survive.

The Social Security Administration resolved the matter with no further questions.

For over thirty years my mother lived as ten years younger, outside of her friends and family.

I was reminded of these events as I was perusing the magazine Scientific American and various articles on aging, the loss of hearing, the loss of memory, are we happier as we age, diminished eye sight and health concerns as we age.

We have heard of the fountain of youth, but I am not aware of anyone discovering it’s actual location.

Few people under fifty think much of age.

I am not obsessed by the subject, but I must admit, it does enter my mind from time to time.

I do not want to be the last person in my age category to accept reality.

Nor do I wish to be the first guy snappily dressed with a walker.

I am learning to age, hopefully with grace and poise.

With a youthful mind and extreme curiosity regarding life.

Sophia Loren, famous actress, was quoted, “There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love.  When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”

My mom had obviously also discovered the same fountain of youth as discovered by Sophia Loren.

May we all discover the same fountain.