by This past weekend, I went out to Southern California to co-drive for an old friend at the Gorman Ridge Rally. Nothing unusual about this race from any other. John Dillon was a novice driver, but a very experienced co-driver. He’d been offered a car much like I was back in February when I drove the 100 Acre Wood Rally. And we were looking for some fun!
What might have been considered unusual is that I reached the governmentally defined precipice of old age of 65 years at this event.
I fondly remember my last milestone, 60, standing on an overall podium with Matthew Johnson in a PGT Subie at the Ojibwe Rally back in 2006. We splashed champagne right next to Travis Pastrana and the megabucks SRT USA STi. And that was fun.
The venerable Ray Damitio co-drove for the 2nd place finisher of a West Coast event at age 82….my hero!!!!
In the good ol’ US of A, the composite Knower/Judger has a set of age related milestones we dutifully click through. At 5 we start kindergarten. At 16 we start driving. At 18 we can legally take our clothes off for pay. At 21 (officially) we start drinking. At 50 we qualify for AARP. At 65 we carry a Medicare card. Thankfully, from here on we’re on our own! Nobody has yet dictated my age of demise.
WHO SAID? What input did I have in any of this? Why do any of us have to buy into this crap?
George Bernard Shaw is credited with the concept:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old.
“We grow old because we stop playing.
Carrying my Medicare card will NOT, I repeat will NOT stop me from playing!!!! Our own K/J’s disrupt our paths to success and happiness enough. I don’t need someone else’s chipping in!
P.S. In an exercise of managing expectations to minimize frustration, our car spun a bearing (meaning the engine essentially blew up) before we even started. We contacted the organizers who gave us the incredible opportunity to officiate for all our friends out racing the roads of the Angeles National Forest. There are multiple ways to play! I have a rain check with John.
Kim DeMotte – Corporate CoDriver has developed tools and programs for teams who value increased trust, understanding and camaraderie Call him at (877) 245-8251.
“There is a clear and present danger when we are neither clear nor present”
