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.