Arriba los viejitos

Arriba los Viejitos!! Or I’ll rest when I die.

Arriba los viejitos is a popular “saying” in my dear Island of Puerto Rico. It loosely translates to “up with the old guys/gals”. Los viejitos can when they do. We all have the will and the spirit, it is typically the body that gives in before the spirit does. It is a great spirit which pushes and carries the body pass exhaustion and pain into glory. The results column invariably misses the struggle, the clawing, the unyielding character of those who choose to battle until the battle is done or until the last breath escapes our bleeding lungs. The ones that strive and push beyond the limits of what is expected are always praised and admired. Secretly, we all appreciate those who refuse to go quietly into the night.

Laser masters come in all sorts of shapes, colors, sizes, etc. but they all share those characteristics embodied by their many colorful bumper stickers. “Cheat the nursing home, die on your laser”; “too old to hike, too young to die”. As we prepare for one more regatta, that cautious but challenging Spartan farewell comes to mind, “e tan, e epi tan” almost translates to “return with the laser or on the laser but not without the laser”. Another quote that comes to mind was used by Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) on the movie The Replacements, “pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever”. And so we dress up for one more. In the company of kin minded friends we launch our lasers into the eternal waters that saw our birth and will remain after our passing. Will the waters remember our wake?
And so I call on you as I call on myself, strive, fight, struggle, refuse to yield, roar like the storm. We can all hike more, point higher and better our lot. There will be plenty of time to rest when we die. But we are not there yet sailors. So while there is will, let’s make a way.