I Always Wanted to Visit Peru

At BoomerCafé, we love stories about change, namely, how baby boomers change their lives. Harvard Clinical Instructor Dr. Bill Roiter, author of Beyond Work: How Accomplished Retire Successfully, wrote to us about one woman who tried change, had a tough experience, but kept going anyway. It’s called, “I always wanted Peru.”

A few months ago, a national magazine asked me to help locate regular people in their 50s and 60s who are now living exciting, adventurous, even exotic lives. I sent an email to 75 contacts asking for recommendations. The response was overwhelming. As it turns out, there are lots of boomers living the best years of their lives now. Their stories are invigorating examples of how some people are using this period in their lives to fulfill long held yearnings, desires, and plans. In this first installment of a new series, I hope you’ll find inspiration from the people who are doing what they have always wanted to do.

Gloria Hicks spent the first 43 years of her life letting everything run its course. She was a highly regarded operating room nurse with great job security. She enjoyed her work, but her opportunities were limited because she didn’t have a bachelor’s degree. Her job was also her set of golden handcuffs. So, would it make sense to give up a secure and meaningful career for the vague notion of new opportunities? Many people would have been satisfied with what she already had. Why risk what others would envy?

Quite simply, Gloria felt that she could do more with her life than what she was doing. Departing from her risk-averse past, she enrolled in college while continuing to work full time. She was immediately enthralled with her new learning. Aside from her course work, she discovered that taking risks improved the quality of her life. “What truly changed for me was that I began seeing what I can do instead of what I can’t do.” Filled with momentum, she completed her undergraduate degree and continued on to complete her master’s. By the time Gloria was 50, she transformed from being a top operating room nurse with few options to being the manager of the Surgical Skills Lab for medical school residents at a prestigious teaching hospital while also teaching OR nursing at a nearby university. All the while, she continues as an OR nurse once a week “to keep my skills fresh.” This is a remarkable story of risk and reward, but it is not why I am writing about Gloria.

Not long ago, a close friend of hers had a profound impact when he shared some valuable advice: “Once you have a skill, it is nothing until you give it to others.” To Gloria, that served as a challenge to share her talents with those in need. Now 55, Gloria has learned that challenges energize her, and it is this knowledge that is making these the best years of her life.

So Gloria took on the challenge of giving her skills to benefit those in need and, with a friend, volunteered with an organization that sends medical teams to remote parts of Peru to provide services that have never before been available there. Her experience was so positive that she has built these trips into her schedule and recruited others to join her.

At the same time though, it was in Peru that Gloria faced her greatest challenge.

On a recent trip, she was on a small passenger plane when tragedy struck and an infant died. Gloria and a friend administered CPR but due to the language barrier and without medical supplies, they were unable to provide the specialized emergency care needed. When Gloria returned home, she went into seclusion for almost three weeks. She was shattered by the experience and wondered if she could ever return to Peru.

But Gloria is not the type of person who gives up.

Gloria realized that she did not want give in to her sorrow. She changed the question she had been unable to answer, “How can I return to Peru if I could not save that child?’ to “What can I do so that when I return to Peru, I will be confident that I have what I need to do the job?’ Gloria regained control of her life from the tragedy that hijacked it. She did what she had been doing for the past ten years and focused on what she needed to do: “I just know that I need to move forward and do what I can, when I can, with who I am.” While never forgetting the tragedy, she is using it to inspire new learning. She knows that learning, combined with some risk, creates many new opportunities to live a wonderful life.

Gloria didn’t know that she always wanted Peru but when she got it, she was inspired and thankful.

If you have a story about yourself or a friend that highlights how someone 50 or older is making these the best years of their life, send a brief description (about 250 words) to: stories@beyondwork.net. I cannot guarantee that your story will be used, but all will be considered.

Tags: Bill Roiter, BoomerCafe

Category: Baby Boomer Culture, Bill Roiter