In the year I turned thirty, my grandmother turned ninety. On her birthday she told me,
–How lucky I am to be surrounded by the people I love.
My mother-in-law turned seventy the year later and said,
–Never leave things to the last minute, or you might be too late.
She was referring to her daughter, who at forty told me,
–Don’t ever have kids.
Myself, I have always left things until later and now I regret not doing many things. Or maybe I never had the opportunities that others seemed to get. My student, at twenty, told me,
–I wish I didn’t have to grow up.
I think I must have thought that at some point. She wanted to be like her niece, at ten, saying,
–I wish I could fly,
knowing fully that it will always be impossible for her.