It's Never Too Late

I'm inspired today.  Why?  Because today I started editing my dad's book number three. 

Dad has always been a creative type.  And he has never let his age stop him from trying something.  At age 35 he picked up the guitar to seriously learn it.  He still plays daily and his latest gig was last night.  In his 40s he decided to take up photography.  Not long ago he was riding his bike around town taking pictures. 

He's a house painter, carpenter, electrician, landscape architect, and a heck of a good cook (he never follows recipes) and more.

And what did he do when he turned 70 years old?  He bought a computer of course, learned how to use it and started writing because he decided to write down some of the history of his family for a reunion back in 1999.     

How's that's for a great example of "it's never too late"?

I expect my editing work today will be a lot less demanding as his writing has grown and improved over the last 13 years.  He's progressed from an 80-page section in a genealogy book with family history and stories written by others, through a 380 page limited edition self-published not-for-sale book with more family history, more stories written by others, biographies, eulogies of those close to him, anecdotes, things that make him smile and more, to a smaller family military book and another in a collection of stories of local men and women who served in WW1, WW2 and more recent conflicts.  The latter is the first he sold, at cost, so others could have these memories as well.

For the last year he has been submitting re-worked and new personal essays to the local newspaper, and now he is near completion on his third work, a memoir of the town where he has lived and worked for about 65 years.  This is the first time he has done practically all his own writing, incorporating comments he took from interviews he made with friends on a mp3 digital recorder (which he learned how to use last year by the way) rather than ask others to submit their writing to be included alongside his own.

So, as I started in on the editing this morning, I couldn't help but think about all my dad has done, and what a great example he is of "it's never too late".  And I thought I'd like to share this thought with you.

By the way, he'll be 85 years old this year.

--Leah