Valuable lessons from 2011

We're less than 4 weeks away from the end of the year and I suppose I'd better get some final thoughts down onto cyber-paper before the tolling of the bells starts a whole new era.

For some people, 2011 has been amazing - new beginnings, much excitement, happy memories.  For others, this  is a year that can't finish quick enough.  I'm afraid I tend to fall into the second category.  I would not want to repeat the events of 2011 for all the money in the world.  But nor would I swap the lessons that these events have taught me for any price.  And over the next few weeks, let me share with cyberspace some of the treasured lessons I've learned.

Lesson 1: It Ain't Over Till It's Over


This is the story of Rascal and Tazzy.  They are almost exactly the same age. The big difference between them is one is a much-loved pet, and the other a car.

Rascal was born on or around 10th May 1998.  He was bought on Father's Day in a little pet shop outside the Hypermarket in Brackenfell. Within 60 seconds, as Catherine watched this little handful of fluff attacking my fingers, she declared that he really was a "rascal", and the name just stuck.  He's a cairn terrier cross (nowadays I say he's a cairn terrier VERY cross) which means that in his early days he was absolutely tireless.  He could run for miles, and we were convinced he'd dig to Australia.

My canine baby

However, when he turned 10, he really started getting "old".  He really started slowing down, you could see that his hearing and eyesight weren't great any more, and in general, he just wasn't the playful terrier he'd always been, chasing soccer balls around the backyard, growling all the way, chasing the cats out of the house, even though they both snuggled up to him every night.  Almost every year, as I look at him,  in his forgetfulness, in his quiet "let me sleep" state, I wonder if that Christmas will be the last we'll spend with him.  Yet, he seems to keep hanging on, and there are moments of great lucidity and "puppiness", especially when I make Italian food!

My other "never say die" story is Tazzy.  Tazzy is my 1998 model Toyota Tazz.  When I got the car, it had 29 km on the clock.  It's already been all the way around the clock once, and I think it's quite far on its way to a second time.  But I absolutely love it.  I love its zippiness, I love its "can do" attitude, its ease to drive and its comfort. It's very, very rarely given me any grief at all - just had some starter motor issue which was quickly remedied by installing a relay switch.  So it was a huge shock earlier this year when the engine simply seized one winter's day.  However, this is Tazzy, and though it was in a "coma" for three weeks (no engine block, no life in it at all), on the fourth week it was back in action.  Four weeks after that, it undertook the longest trip of its life and drove all the way to the Eastern Cape, new engine and all!

Tazzy in Bathurst, Eastern Cape

If I'm being honest, Tazzy's running as well now as it ever did in 1999/2000.  There are many years of service still under the bonnet, many kilometres to cover, two teens to learn to drive in it (both of them could have their licence by Easter, that's the scary thing!) and many more memories to be created in it.  When I think back to the test drive in the Tazz as opposed to the test drive I did in the Fiat Uno, which I was also considering, I did not realise that I was not only buying a vehicle, but a couple of decades of memories, and from Tazzy, a lifetime of faithful service.

So the lesson is simply this.  It doesn't matter who's telling you you can't do it. It doesn't matter who's telling you you're old and past it.  It doesn't matter who's given up hope for you.  While you are still breathing, you have a purpose.  Hang on!  Keep trying!  Never stop enjoying life.  Try new things - learn piano, start writing, join a zumba class, take up playing trombone, dye your hair a funky colour, or shave it all off.  Make memories, and think back often to the ones you've already made.  Do things to keep your mind sharp, and never, ever think you're too old for new adventures.  Remember - new and young doesn't necessarily prove that it will be the better choice. The Bible is full of stories of people who achieved great things in their old age.  Noah built the ark when he was over 500 years old.  Abraham became a father at 100.  Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt at the age of 80, and died only 40 years later.  So if 2011 taught me anything, it's the words of a Lenny Kravitz song - "it ain't over till it's over." And if you're reading this, it ain't over yet!!!

Oh, and Rascal wants me to add that the secret to youth is lasagna.  Just saying.