90 is the new 60

I had the honor of being invited to lunch with a group of our patients and a couple co-workers to celebrate a 90th birthday last weekend. It was one of our patients who turned 90 and he wanted to treat us to lunch so we could all spend time outside of the Rehab center socializing. It was a very enjoyable lunch, especially since he shared stories of his life with us.

He is a retired judge and told us about his experience taking the bar exam. Back when he took it, they had to type everything out on typewriters in a huge room with about 50 other people taking the test. It's a timed test, so once everyone was allowed to start, it was unnerving to hear the typewriters start clicking. He said it definitely made you more anxious and nervous about answering the questions. He had come prepared with extra long paper because he thought that would save time since he wouldn't have to change paper as often. So he begins answering the questions and is typing away at a nice pace. He had chosen a seat in the very back of the room because he felt that it would be less distracting...not as many people around him. At one point during the exam, a couple of his papers blew off the table under slipped under a door behind him.

Of course he had to try to get that paper, otherwise he wouldn't pass the test! So he tried to reach the paper with his hands, his pencil, other papers, but nothing was working. Unfortunately the door was locked - he told the exam monitor what had happened but she didn't have a key for the door. Although they called security, I guess they didn't have a key either. No idea what was in this room that they had to keep locked with no key to open but that was the demise of his first attempt at the bar exam.

He had to wait six months before he could take it again and his luck wasn't a whole lot better. This time he broke the ink ribbon on his typewriter in the middle of the test!! But because of his experience the first time, he brought a second typewriter with him! So he was able to finish the test this time around and PASSED!

He also shared with us how excited he was as his 90th birthday approached. He was excited up until the day before his birthday. On that day he stayed home all day because he was worried that something might happen to him and he wouldn't see his 90th birthday! He laughed about it afterwards.

He is a remarkable man and has accomplished a lot in his long life. He was a cub reporter during World War II and he was sent with another man from his newspaper to cover the Nuremberg Trials in Germany. He said it was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to witness those in person. He actually wrote a book about his experience decades later called The Nuremberg Legacy. It is an excellent history book that gives more details than you learned in your world history class in school!

Amazingly this man doesn't wear glasses or contacts. At 90 he can still drive and read without needing any assistance! I told him that I was looking forward to celebrating his 95th birthday with him! He just smiled.