Ideas With Attitude - Song, dance on Alaska getaway

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

Here I was in my doctor's office, the first time with the aid of a walker. I was feeling sorry for myself as I had planned a week's vacation on a cruise ship to Alaska and wondered if I would have to use my cancellation insurance and then I heard my doctor say, "Georgie, you might as well pack your pain medication and go. You and your friend can request wheelchair boarding with no waiting in long lines."

Two weeks later my friend and I were taking part in the lifeboat drill. We lingered on deck outside the drill station visiting with people from New Zealand and Taiwan and then retired to our cabin. We spent hours of the next few days watching for bald eagles, spouting whales, and icebergs floating past as the captain guided the ship into the narrow fjord of the inland passage where the depth of the water reaches down to over 1,000 feet.

Now we were both willing to call for room service. After all, our steward was a young, good-looking fellow who would bring anything that we wanted. Well, almost anything. And there were times that we missed a meal or two when we had overindulged at the buffet earlier in the day and decided to call room service for a light snack.

Our ship provided naturalist lectures, a resident stand-up comedian, art auctions, culinary demonstrations, swimming, and spa treatments. For evening entertainment there was a karaoke night blooming into a version of the "American Idol" contest with the audience sending two out of the 10 contestants to the next round.

I am not new at being the oldest on stage as I once sang with my chorale group at Carnegie Hall in my late 70s. This time I was the oldest contestant singing a tribute to Tony Bennett, his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Even with my back stress I lasted through to the end of my number but suddenly the MC called me back up on stage with, "Georgie, come up here. I have a special prize for you."

With this he held out something covered in tissue paper and announced, "Georgie, you were here last night dancing up a storm before the karaoke and singing your heart out so someone bought this little statue for you." With that he unwrapped an 8-inch figure of a granny with Mardi Gras beads who was opening her top to show her bare boobs. The inscription said: You are still outrageous. I came back with, "I surely am. I have been active in the Raging Grannies. But I can tell you that when I was in my 20s I padded my bra so I am not about to flash my boobs at my age."

My gutsy appearance must have made quite an impression on the oldies on board because after my appearance, several over-50 passengers came up to me and said, "I voted for you in the contest." They wanted to talk about their own talents and what they had always dreamed of doing. It was rewarding to know that I had given a lot of older people onboard license to do anything they wanted to do. Life doesn't end when you get older. It continues to be whatever you challenge yourself to be. You don't have to retire to the sidelines. You can just spread your wings and try new things and continue to have a life.

Many people agree that doing the unthinkable or what seems impossible keeps the spirit warm. So get out there and try something new even if it scares you. Your life will be richer for having stayed in the game.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663.