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Second Acts
In the current issue of Generations, you can read about five individuals who have dropped everything to pursue their passion—from surfing to sculpting. If you're one of the lucky ones who is living out your dream life, tell us about it. We'll post some of the best responses online. It doesn't matter how big or small the dream is—from climbing a mountain to writing a play to spending more time with your family—we want to know your story.
 Send us your stories  I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia in the 1960s and, although I was there as a lawyer, I got the chance to start their first residential camp. I went back to the US, had a blended legal and camp career, having my own law firm and running our family-held camp in Maine for 30 years. When my son came into the business, I became able to get back to explore whether Africa still was in need of what I could offer. I found an excellent partner organization in South Africa to work with. The first children arrived in January 2004 and we have had 8 camps with 800 campers during the first year. We have found value in using residential (or sleepaway) camp as a vehicle to transmit serious educational content in the context of children having the best time of their lives at camp activities. The key is the Life Skills program which we give daily for an hour in groups of 12-14 children and 2 instructors. The emphasis is on health, but we cover more than that. Our lessons are on adolescence, sexuality, dating, HIV/AIDS, opportunistic diseases associated with AIDS, gender bias, and nutrition, among others. The children come only once to camp. After their camp they are all invited to our Saturday Clubs, which meet every other week and involve sports, dancing, singing, a meal, and life skills reinforcement and enhancement. We plan to have camps all over Africa and then the rest of the developing world. I am 64 years old and would like a few partners with whom to do this work. Phil Lilienthal Reston, Va.
I was an engineer for over 40 years. Approaching retirement I decided to become a writer. To prepare for my new life, I took writing and literature courses at a local community college. after getting several pieces published and winning 1st place in a short story contest, I felt I was ready to write a book. The manuscript was rejected by over 40 publishers. I found out about self-publishing at a writers conference and decided to establish my own publishing company like Mark Twain. The book "Boy Soldier: Coming of Age During World War II" ISBN 0-9663444-0-5 is in its 4th printing and I am very happy writing and publishing.
We are riding our loaded tandem bike around the world for 3-5 years, leaving Fall 2005. We are selling our home, retiring from our jobs, minimizing our possessions and leaving family and freinds for long periods of time. See our web page, wanderingwickershams.com, for details!
I have been practicing yoga for many years. After retiring from my professional occupation, public health education working with low-income expectant mothers and babies, I took yoga teacher training and now teach four classes each week. I will be 80 in June but feel much younger, and I believe it is because of yoga!
I am 59 years old and a successful, full-time real estate agent in Sarasota, Fl. I am also active and passionate about several non-profits on whose boards I serve. However, after losing my husband (56) and son (30) in less than two years, I enrolled in the Diocese's Masters in Pastoral Ministry [program]. I will be 62 or 63 when I finish and have no idea what I will do with the degree, but am enjoying the interaction, learning and research papers each semester. I've one-upped my father who got his Ph.D. in his early 50s.
Reading your article "Life is But A Dream" made me feel right at home. My story isn't totally complete yet, but I'm well on my way. I'm 57 years young and within the year will retire from Stanford to fulfill my "almost" lifelong dream of moving to Kauai. I found Kauai almost 40 years ago camping out as a hippie and loving every minute of it. I've managed to scrape out five years of living on the island at various times over the years and have made it my second home and my spiritual home. In 2004 I managed to buy a house, and at the moment have it rented out to cover costs until I move over, settle in, start a business, join the kayaking club, swim everyday, garden at my new home, have lots of people come and visit me from the mainland and be one very happy camper. I've always lived my life out of the box and I can't tell you how happy I am to have never let other people's ideas get in the way of me having a wonderful life. This summer I am fulfilling one more dream (though not even as important as Kauai) by traveling with an adventure company (Intrepid) to Southeast Asia. [I'm] going by myself and I can't wait. So you see, I'm on my way just like the people you wrote about. I'm the only person I know that is like me, but I knew there was more of us. Thanks for doing that article.
I am composing choral music for church and community choirs after taking early retirement from a university professorhip in foreign languages. My work is published online (www.demiq.com) and has been performed in most regions of the U.S. and in Italy. |
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Dec. 25, 2006
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