wisdom

While re-hydrating the vegetation of Quarters A and B, a man approached me eagerly and asked if I had heard of the 90 year old woman who just made it to the top of the lighthouse.  I smiled and replied that I hadn't but was very impressed as those twisted stairs had discouraged many from reaching the gallery of the tower.  He told me his mother was the incredible woman who had just accomplished this feat and that I should go say hello as she was sitting at a nearby picnic table.  I put down the hose and walked over to shake her hand.  She looked me dead in the eye and said, "The only reason I made it up and down those hellish steps was because I wanted to. You can do anything you think you can do. I did it because I wanted my son to shit his pants a little. And I think he did. Mission accomplished."
I chuckled and told her it was an honor to meet a woman with such tenacity and wisdom.  She smiled and looked across the Sound toward the mountain.
"Have a great life," she said.  And I told her I would.