Now this is inspirational:
56-year-old becomes first woman to swim Atlantic
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Jennifer Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, exhilarated and exhausted as she touched land this week for the first time in almost a month.
Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean — a dream she’d had since the early 1960s, when a stormy trans-Atlantic flight got her thinking she could don a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56-year-old left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa’s western coast on Jan. 12, swimming about 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) through strong winds and waves of up to 30 feet (9 meters).
[...]
My God, this woman is a year older than I am. You go, girl! (Well, I guess she did.)
This reminds me of how the Boomer generation has continually redefined what age and aging mean. Sometimes I think we're "the generation that will never grow up", in terms of a certain less-than-mature self-absorption, but there are good aspects to that as well. We have consistently refused to accept prior rules and assumptions about what is proper and possible. Say what you will about us, we're true pioneers, and probably will continue to be until the day the very last one of us bites the dust.
When I first began experiencing menopause symptoms eight years ago and sought out information and resources, it was all so "hush-hush". I've had numerous friends in the generation ahead of me, and none of them ever talked about menopause. I don't think it was just because they thought I wouldn't understand. It simply wasn't something you discussed openly.
In 2001 when I went into bookstores or health foodstores, I felt awkward asking about menopause ... but I did, and spoke about it to all sorts of people as if it were just another topic of conversation. Which ultimately it seems to have become. Nowadays, there are menopause message boards, and mainstream media advertisements for remedies, and books galore on menopause, whose authors appear on the Oprah show.
I remember when I was in my late thirties, feeling quite ancient by the then-current standards of "youthfulness", and watching the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics. There were numerous world-class athletes over the age of thirty, which at that time was really pushing the limit of what was considered possible. Seeing them compete helped me past some limitations I had started to place on myself. In 2009, thirty seems so young; it's no longer a big deal to see someone in their thirties or even forties competing seriously in sports.
My first inclination is to think, "But that was when I was in my thirties. I was still young. I'm in my fifties. It's different now." And I hate to admit it, but that's the mindset I've found myself sliding into lately.
And then someone like Jennifer Figge comes along to remind me, "Nope. You go, girl."
Yes, that is an amazing and inspirational story, isn't it? Having had my hips replaced in my 40s, I find that physical challenges and contests are out of the picture for me. But I so admire women who break past the age barriers!
Posted by: Cindy L. | Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 01:09 PM