the days are long but the years are short...

it hit me this morning as i passed Robert in the hall at work.

who is Robert? Robert is 89 years old. he has been volunteering for our organization, the Armed Services YMCA, for almost 30 years. Here he is below on his 89th birthday, where we decorated our office with posters of what happened the year he was born, 1923.

I'm sure the math has gotten lost over time, but he's given over 20,000 hours of volunteer service. As long as he's in good shape that day, he comes to our office 4 days a week. sometimes he doesn't have too much activity throughout the day, but his favorite thing to do is play chess. i share an office with Robert. he's the only volunteer we have ever given a desk to :) To every patient who comes back in my office, he grumbles, "do you play chess?" Their answer is usually "no", but once they look over his shoulder and see his cork board decorated with Marine Corps memorabilia, they perk up and give him the respect he deserves.

Robert spent 20 years in the Marine Corps. He enlisted on March 2nd, 1942. Robert's slowing down in many ways, over the few short years I've known him, but when he spouted out that date, "March 2nd of 1942", he said it like it was yesterday. You can just see the love he has for his Marine Corps. He got out as an E7. Nowadays, an E7 is a Gunnery Sergeant. But back in Robert's time, an E7 was actually a Master Sergeant. His post-it note altered plaque that you see below makes me laugh everytime.

Robert was a non-combat Marine. He was proud to tell me he was "in for 20 years and never shot at anyone". He told me he started off in artillery. But he was recently married, and he'd watch all these other Marines leave base and meet up with all these girls and have fun, and he had to work long, overnight hours. He wondered how he could get their schedule so he could go see his wife more often? So when there was an opening, he changed his MOS (job) to administrative. And he never looked back :)

During his time in the Corps, they began issuing drivers licenses to Marines to drive their vehicles. But no one really knew how to drive them! He was in China at the time, and he became a driving instructor. He said "as long as they didn't clash gears too much and didn't hit anybody, they got a license."

After he got out of the Corps, he spent 21 years working for the US Post Office as a mailman. He has an old can of dog repellent spray, it looks like its from the 70's. He still carries it in his jacket pocket today.  :)

So what is the point of all this? To remind us to volunteer and give back, like Robert does? I'm not sure. But i do know it reminds me of my sixth Secret of Adulthood: The days are long but the years are short.