CAN TURTLES FLY?

      It is no secret that grandparents like to brag about their grandchildren. All one has to do is to is to inquire about them and most grandparents will immediately and gladly show you their latest photos and tell you how they are and what they have been up to. While we may laugh at this, it is something that we expect to happen, and lets face it, it is something that grandparents really need to do.

      While I have no grandchildren, I do have some rather young cousins. As you might expect they are characters, the kind that are creating legends. I thought that I might write about Joey who is now four years old. One day, when he was two years old, I was visiting with my cousin and she asked me to keep an eye on Joey who was playing in the back yard. They live in the country and it is not uncommon to see wild animals roaming about. From time to time we have also noticed a rather large snapping turtle that lives near a small stream just over the hill. Joey had decided that we would call her Myrtle.

      His parents have constantly told him that it is all right to watch the animals and Myrtle but that he must always keep his distance from them and not frighten them in any way. That particular day Joey decided to go out and look for butterflies. Even at two he was one of those exceptional little boys who could count to twenty, spell his name, and he knew shapes and colors, something that many four year olds struggle with. He also has a vivid imagination. As we walked around the yard I asked him where the turtle might be. Without missing a beat he said, “I think it flew away.” I looked at him and could not help laughing as I responded that I did not know that turtles could fly, but he assured me that they could.

      The entire family had a good laugh over that incident. Then I began to think. Why not? What if turtles could fly? I am now in the Medicare age group, way into it and perhaps you might think that I have finally lost my mind. That could be. Many in my generation might recall the words that Judy Garland sang in the movie the Wizard of Oz: “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow—why oh why can't I?” We know of course that turtles cannot fly. They do not have wings like birds, or do they? Even though he is now four, Joey watches a lot of Disney type movies and I know that he has seen turtles swimming under water. Even a brilliant child might conclude that as they move their legs, these are really wings. So because of that possibility, I too have decided that turtles can fly.

     Thanks to rapid communication and technologies unheard of or even contemplated by our grandparents, we live in a wold of quick and true scientific fact and almost absolute certainty. If we are honest most of us enjoy living in this world but sometimes we prefer things to be predictable. Many people my age get upset when the daily routine does not follow a set pattern. Why is that? Of course we live in what we have determined is the real world, but we have to ask ourselves what happens when we forget how to dream and to be surprised by the little things that are unexpectedly sent our way?

      When I was fifteen and sharing my dreams with a relative, he told me that if I kept dreaming I would end up being disappointed in life and probably not amount to anything. My parents had always taught me to be respectful of my elders but in this case I quipped back, “That may be true, but you are not the one who will steal my dreams.”

     Life is all about possibilities. I know people who are well into their 80's who are are vibrant, happy, and such a joy to be with. I remember one day talking with a fellow amateur radio (ham) operator who had just got his first computer at age 85. He was very excited.  Even today I share emails with a friend who is 92.

      Perhaps grandparents who never brag or talk about their grandchildren have given up on life's possibilities. I doesn't have to be that way. Could it be that people have stopped listening to the stories that grandparents might want to share and are too busy to hear them? What if we were to tell people that it is not too late and that God cares and He listens to their stories? What if we took the time and asked them if they knew that turtles could fly? What was it that Jesus taught about the simplicity of a child? Perhaps the next time you are in your back yard you might want to take a really good look. What you see may surprise you. (This is an article that I wrote previously for a Senior Network.) Ralph