A change of pace.

Yesterday, I awoke at 10:48am. I didn't know what I was going to do for the day. I considered rolling over and going back to bed. Most places are closed on Sundays, and I'd been meaning to blog for a while, so I thought about staying in bed and blogging all day. Yves had mentioned something to me the other day about my being welcome to join him and Ariane in visiting his father who lived 35 km outside of Paris, but I hadn't yet made up my mind if I was going or not. After I finally rolled out of bed, I walked into to the living room to find Yves fixing up his bike and Ariane slicing a baguette she'd just bought. I figured I'd join them for breakfast, and after that, I'd play it by ear. Yves asked me if I was joining them to visit his dad, but before I could answer, the phone rang. It turns out it was his father, Jacques, calling to ask what time he was expecting them and if I would be coming with. I don't know what prompted me to nod my head so quickly, but I did. Maybe it was the excitement in Jacques' voice or the sincerity of Yves' smile... whatever it was, it was convincing.

Yves left on his bicycle and told us he'd see us there, and Ariane and I left an hour later to catch the RER. We almost missed our stop to get off because I was focused on sketching my neighbor's shoelaces, and Ariane was listening intently to the philosophical teachings of Epicure on her iPhone. But just in the nick of time, we simultaneously noticed the sign outside labeled Courcelle-sur-Yvette and quickly rushed to make it off the train before the doors closed. We then spent almost the entire walk to Jacques' house laughing at what could have been a really stupid disaster.

When we entered the house, we were greeted by a little old man with open arms and the biggest smile I'd ever seen. It was contagious, too. Yves arrived shortly after we did, and for the next few hours, we sat around the brass-top coffee table drinking Champagne and exchanging stories.

The constant flow of enthusiasm continued over lunch, and I was slowly beginning to piece together this Jacques Prince character. At first, I thought I was mishearing their stories, because 1. they were told in French, and 2. I couldn't bring myself to believe what they were telling me. Here's an icebreaker for you (you'll get the pun in a second): his godmother was on the Titanic (bam), and happened to be Ninette Aubart, the mistress of Benjamin Guggenheim. I was told the story of their tragic parting as she watched from her lifeboat, the sinking of the ship and of her lover. I then found out that he used to work in the film business alongside director Roberto Rossellini, and was also best friends with producer Adolphe Osso who asked Jacques to work with him, but Jacques missed the appointment due to heavy traffic. He just laughs about it and says it wasn't meant to be.

Then Ariane began telling me about a play that Jacques was in, in which he played a very active and sporty 75 year old. Out of curiosity, I asked what year this was, to which she responded, "2010". She then laughed and said, "The funny part is, nobody knew he was 95 at the time!"

...

I remember Yves had once mentioned something about his father's age in passing, but if you know anything about counting in French, you'll know that the closer the number is to 100, the more complex and mathematical it gets. I guess when he'd said "quatre-vingt-dix-huit", the number 98 didn't entirely compute. Low and behold, Jacques Prince is 98. He is healthy as can be, drives his own car, makes his own food, goes out with friends, and enjoys whisky and the occasional cigarette. Last year, he underwent (and obviously survived) a dangerous heart surgery, which makes him the oldest patient in the world to whom this operation has been done.

I asked him how he does it, and he chuckled and told me that he did everything in his youth a person shouldn't do. Everything, in moderation, that is. One of the most memorable things he said yesterday was this:

"People used to tell me not to smoke, because smoking makes you die young. But now that I have no chance of dying young, I don't have to worry about that!" 

Right then and there is when I really began to understand who Jacques Prince was.

He continued on by saying that life is here for us to enjoy, and that it's important we don't take away from that by stressing over things. His example being that if he is working on a project and suddenly loses all of his work...oh well. It's a learning process, a new beginning--it's an adventure!

I can honestly say that my encounter with Jacques has changed my life. His words were so powerful and so genuine. He's opened my eyes to an entirely new way of seeing things... Living a long and happy life is not about playing it safe. It's not about making things perfect. It's about doing what you love and not worrying about the little things-or the big things for that matter. It's about taking life one step at a time and when something doesn't happen the way you wanted it to, it's because it simply wasn't meant to be. Every time I'd heard this said before, it went in one ear and out the other. But never before had I been faced with living proof. Jacques Prince is living proof. He is 98 years old and he is the happiest person I've ever met.

And so I'm turning my life around. I'm opening my mind up to new opportunities, letting go of grudges,  accepting change... Because only then will I be able to say I lived life for me.