INTRODUCTION

Thirty-seven years ago, Lou and I climbed into my gleaming white Camaro and headed off to the East Coast on one of our first road trips together. We had only a vague plan of what to do and where to go. We were going to look up two good friends of ours, who were spending the summer in Halifax, and travel with them for a while, before venturing off on our own to Newfoundland. We were young teachers and had a little money and the summer off for the adventure. We spent some time in Quebec City and the Saguenay region before venturing into Halifax to pick up our friends, Dave and Siri.

Just out of Halifax, we spent a day in the lovely town of Cheticamp for some Acadian culture and food. After dinner, we went on a whale watching cruise and saw some amazing pilot whales in the evening warm light. We were happy with our little cruise, and left the boat for an evening walk on the harbor front, laughing, talking, enjoying life.

As we strolled along the seafront, we encountered an older American couple coming the opposite way, also on a leisurely stroll. We said hello to them and then we all stopped, as strangers in a strange place often do, for a nice conversation. We shared travel stories and asked about our respective home towns. I recall the gentleman looking at me and remarking that I resembled a painting he had seen in some Boston museum of a famous mariner: I guess my dark red beard gave him that impression. We all got a good laugh out of that.

Eventually, it was time to go, so we wished each other well on our travels and said goodnight. And then the lady looked back at us with a wistful smile on her face and said, "be safe … and stay young."
Those words touched me then, and I recall them now with great fondness. We never saw those nice people again, and of course many, many years have gone by. I'd like to think they are still with us in this world.

"Stay young." How do you do that ? Obviously, time will not permit it. It moves relentlessly onwards, for all of us. We all grow old and eventually lose our youth. We can't avoid the physical growing old. But I think I knew what that lady meant. We can always hold on to being young in our hearts and spirits. If we allow our minds and souls to grow old, we truly lose something precious and good. So what if the body slows down and red beards become white ? If the soul is willing, youth remains.

In that spirit, Lou and I decided to retrace our steps back East. It would just be the two of us on this trip: our friends have relocated to the West Coast and we don't see them much anymore. And that older American couple have vanished from our world, at least in terms of seeing them. But those words guided us on this new trip. "Stay young." We will certainly try, ma'am.