They will turn 70 soon and both still work full time. One is firmly entrenched as the patriarch of a family business where there is no retirement plan so he keeps working like he always has.
The other declared bankruptcy last year and has found new work as an independent assessor. Life is spent behind the wheel of his gas economic tiny car, driving across three different counties to get as many assessments done as possible in the course of a day. He is paid per assessment.
"Did you hear about Johnny?" one asked.
"No. What?"
"The cancer came back. They give three or four years."
"That's what they told Harry and he only lasted two months."
"Well, at least he's got a chance to get more things done. Better than Ray who keeps sliding in and out of Hospice."
It grew quiet for a moment and then one slapped the other saying with a laugh, "I told you we should have bought the damn yacht and sailed away. Now we're too damn old."
And that's how lunch ended as we followed one another outside to find our cars and drive in the different directions of our lives. My mind kept replaying their conversation as I made my way.
They kept meaning to buy that yacht and sail away but things kept getting in the way. There's always money to be made of course and family obligations are ever demanding. Baby always needs a new pair of shoes even though she moved to another city years ago. Times are always tough but one day soon the chance to sail away is going to come ... its just not today.
Then you wake up and you're old. Friends are dying. Managing your own health means the blood pressure is never at the right level. Aches and pains mount, everything takes longer than before and nothing's as fun as it used to be. Opportunities came but it never seemed the time was right to take them. The money's never quite right. Then things happen and all of the chances are gone.
Life ... "is for each of us a series of crucial, precious and unrepeatable moments that are seeking to lead us somewhere," explains Frederick Buechner.
The question is where?
You're where you're at.
Is it where you really want to be?
As I drove I crossed the Thunderbolt Bridge and glanced down at the marina where boats to be sailed waited empty in their slips. The river meandered through the marsh towards the sea. The sun was bright, the winds lite and the waters calm.
It's a perfect day for sailing.
I found myself whispering a prayer.
"Hey God! Please touch everybody that feels like they've missed the boat. Tell them that it's never too late. Give the courage to change and the serenity to understand they'll disappoint somebody regardless of what they do. Grant the wisdom to know there's just this one life and if they don't sail away now, they never will."
