Exceeding Expectations

My friend turned 70

And we had a surprise party for her. I whispered to another friend as we waited in the darkened room, “I hope she doesn’t have a heart attack.”

No problem there, my friend is the youngest person I know. She could practically run the North American BTS Fan Club by herself. My friend lives and breathes BTS the famous South Korean boyband. She collects memorabilia and goes to their concerts every chance she gets.

She loves all things Korean. She watches Korean TV and movies. She has episodes on tape. She’ll have girls up to her room to watch with her. She takes these same friends out to the Korean supermarket where they also sell fresh prepared foods; it’s a date, and they stay all day.

Recently at a bootcamp a fellow attendee made an ageist comment, one where they sort of low-browed another. My experience has always told me that you cannot judge a book by its cover. This isn’t just a saying. The truth is you cannot even begin to guess someone’s story just by a few outer details, such as age, weight, color of their skin. Nine times out of ten we will be surprised to learn something that goes against type.

For example, people are always surprised to learn I am a long-distance cyclist, because I present like a middle-aged, frumpy housewife. If in a line-up of REI models I would be the stand-out—the one who doesn’t fit. Yet, every year I take off on my bike racking up a thousand miles in a couple of weeks. I’m not an athlete; I just love to ride.

Thus, you can’t make assumptions about people—yet people do. My friend who turned 70, is ready for 70 more years.