“There’s nothing sadder to me, I feel, than individuals who really feel like their tales are usually not value telling and who die that method. It’s very, very unhappy.”
That’s one thing that journalist, humorist and historical past buff Mo Rocca advised me lately after I had the pleasure of talking with him about his new guide, “Roctogenarians: Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs.” In it, he does his half to make sure that folks’s tales are advised by sharing dozens of inspiring tales of a number of later-in-life achievers. (You may take heed to our full dialogue within the Newsmakers podcast that seems on the finish of this weblog.)
The one who impressed his remark to me occurred to be his personal mom, Maria Luisa Rocca, whom he profiles within the guide, accessible as of Wednesday.
“My mom is an immigrant from Columbia,” Rocca mentioned. “She has at all times been very, very personal, however I feel that my mom additionally for a few years, frankly, believed that her story wasn’t value telling. I don’t suppose it was simply that she was discreet or personal. I feel she felt like her story wasn’t value telling.”
However then she stunned him by asking to be included in his guide, maybe as a result of she now’s in her mid-90s.
“I’m actually grateful that she allowed me to put in writing about her story,” Rocca mentioned. “And it actually was value writing about and value telling.”
The significance of sharing our life tales, and listening to others’ tales, is one lesson I gleaned from our dialogue. Everybody has one thing to say.
One other message got here after I requested Rocca what he hoped folks would take away from his guide.
“It’s by no means too late, it’s by no means too late, it’s by no means too late,” he mentioned. “Go for it now. Don’t wait. Don’t wait.”
Rocca shared with me one other private instance, involving his father, whom he mentioned realized how one can play the trumpet in his late 40s. “It turned one of many nice passions of his life,” he mentioned, including, “This guide is filled with tales of people that, to make use of a phrase presently in vogue, who pivoted late in life.
“The standard knowledge that the final third of your life is a time to wrap issues up is nonsense,” Rocca continued. “We’re blessed to reside in a time with still-increasing life expectations. COVID apart, life expectations are growing once more. Benefit from that. There is no such thing as a motive you possibly can’t begin once more.”
After all, he acknowledged, age could convey limitations. However the viewers, he added, ought to keep in mind that “you’re resourceful, you’re inventive. You may determine thrilling methods to develop and get round these limitations.”
A becoming closing level as we come to the tip of this weblog?
“Endings are additionally beginnings,” Rocca mentioned. “Should you lose a sure capability, in case you lose somebody, one other door opens.”
Take heed to the podcast under to listen to about a number of of the inspiring tales from the guide, in addition to why Rocca has an appreciation for older adults, how he selected the subject of this guide, how he selected the folks to characteristic, and what he hopes to attain later in life.
Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Dwelling. Learn her different columns right here. Comply with her on X (previously Twitter) at Lois_Bowers.
