Youth without expiration date
“What do you express in your eyes? It seems more than all the words I read in my life”. (Walt Whitman)
Grandpa David turned 80. It is curious, but if you ask me who is the youngest person I know, I have the answer on the tip of my tongue – is the birthday boy! Grandpa has endless energy.
How can we measure how much a person is young? Age can be a way, but I believe it is less reliable. Some studies also show that youth can be measured from the assessment of the individual’s habits and way of life: if you smoke, if you are engage in exercise, if you have healthy eating habits …
I think these methods rather simple to measure the youth, because this reflects much of our spirit and how we see life – quite subjective factors for an objective evaluation.
Perhaps the most true and infallible measure of youth is the look. “The eyes are the window of the soul”, as Leonardo da Vinci said. The youth is then that twinkle in the eye, that fire that remains over the years, surviving all weather and obstacles.
Youth is that flame that never goes out, that drives us to be surprised by the small everyday events. It’s like seeing the world through the eyes of a child and always be open to glimpse the extraordinary. With the rush of the day, we forget to thank the miracles that happen in our lives. Open our eyes in the morning is a daily miracle.
Youth won’t let us settle.
And when I think of those eyes full of fire, as typical characteristic of youth, I remember Grandpa David. A man doing a thousand things at once. Leaving nothing for after. That achieves his dreams daily. Who has researched the family history in every corner of the world.
As Virgil said: “Fortune favors the brave” and also favors those who embrace life with passion and enjoy every second. Every moment.
I am grateful for celebrate this date so important, for this extraordinary grandfather that inspires my life and taught me so much. Congratulations, Grandpa!
Gigi Eco ama aprender e faz muitas coisas ao mesmo tempo - é jornalista, fotógrafa, professora, rata de biblioteca e musicista por acidente. Ama viajar e é viciada em chás. É a escritora oficial dos cartões de Natal da família. É Doutora em Comunicação e Linguagens pela Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná (UTP) e atualmente trabalha no seu primeiro livro de poesias.