Saturday, November 1, 2014

Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, and JD Mccallister

James Mccallister mentioned something about getting old in a recent Facebook post.  By the way, I never called him James, I always called him JD because my Dad did... but back to where I was James Mccallister mentioning something about getting old.

Well, from what I've heard over the years, he'll never be old.  He's timeless.  And one of the few out there in the world.  My Dad told many stories about JD's life from the time he maneuvered his way into the military nearly breaking his mother's heart to the spectrum of world adventures.  And from my best judgement, JD is a man who knows no fear. And never has.  So, as far as I'm concerned he doesn't need to be fearful of getting old.  Now, of course, I realize that I'm a 45-year-old saying this and not turning 80 any time soon.

JD reminds me of my Mom.   Always on the go.  My Mom worked at a living history museum, dressing in 1830s clothes, spinning, weaving, cooking on the hearth.  She loved it.  We always joked that she would die there and she'd be happy to play the part of the corpse for the funeral recreation. The main point to this is that she never stopped.  Her body had a different opinion, but her spirit kept going.  JD has that type of spirit.

Out of everyone I've ever known or heard about, I think he's one of the few that took on the true meaning of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."  He always encouraged others to get out their shells and ruts and go beyond their comfortable life path.

I recently visited him in Florida, he took for a boat ride along coast.  We started to dock and he wanted to give me tour of the resort that was there, but between the wind and boat not cooperating, we didn't make it.  Even though I didn't get to the see the resort, I was amazed at his agility and enduring spirit.   He wrestled with that boat to get it docked and tied up like nobody's business.

Now that's what I call living life.  I just hope when I'm 80 that I'll be just as high-spirited.

CSM

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