never too old

around october 2011, my friend was working for an events management company and had a few days assignment at the airport; fetching passengers who were coming to singapore for a cruise tour. this sounded interesting and i agreed to help him with some of his friends, since i never done this before. we were given a list of the passenger names, flight numbers and arrival times to pick them up from the respective arrival halls. our job was to hold the signage of the cruise ship, standing and waiting at the arrival belt. usually, the passengers would approach us when they saw the signage and we would verify their names against the name list. once confirmed, we would hand over to the drivers who drove them to their hotels. our job was done. yes, this kind of job existed and we could be waiting at the airport for the whole day, walking from 1 terminal to another, depending on which terminal the plane would land. there were many passengers flying in from various countries and airlines at different timings. sometimes, we needed to divide ourselves at different terminals when the flight timings for different flights were similar.

before we considered ‘no show’ of the passengers, we needed to wait up to 1 hour after the arrival of the flight as the passengers could be shopping inside or waiting for their luggages. there was a particular passenger who left a deep impression on me. she was the last passenger we were waiting before the 1 hour waiting time was almost up. we finally saw an old lady, probably more than 60 years old, making her way out of the arrival belt with the help of the airport attendant. she was walking slowly towards us and we verified that she was the last passenger. apparently, she came alone as there was no one with her. as i watched her from behind when she left with the driver, i felt a sudden surge of emotion. i wondered, how come she was travelling alone? this was very courageous of her to make the trip all by herself. my friend was guessing she might be making this trip in memory of someone, like an annual trip to remember someone close and important. she reminded me of the old couple in 1 of my favorite animated movies, "up" by pixar, featured in 2009.

"up" was a story about a boy, carl and a girl, ellie who grew up together and eventually got married. they wanted to have kids but unfortunately, ellie got miscarriage. carl wanting to make ellie happy, suggested that they pooled their money to make a trip to ‘paradise falls’, a place where ellie always wanted to go when she was young. however, the trip was always postponed when they needed to use the money for other urgent needs. when carl finally bought the air tickets, ellie fell sick suddenly and eventually passed away. with an unexpected turn of the events, carl set off on his adventure to the ‘paradise falls’ with a boy scout, russell. they overcame all obstacles and ultimately fulfilled ellie’s wish. this was a very funny yet touching animated movie. the love between the couple and the adventures between the elderly man and the boy scout were awe-inspiring.  

i wondered whether the old lady was on an adventure to fulfill her husband's wish as well? or fulfilling her own adventure? it was no easy task to travel at such an old age, let alone to travel all by herself. i really admired her courage, as if declaring that it was never too old to have adventures in your lifetime. most of the passengers we fetched were also elderly or old couples from the western countries, some even had difficulty walking. the physical challenges did not deter them to want to travel and see the world. at that age, probably about time to enjoy themselves after working so hard for most part of their lives.

i guess as long as one still has the curiosity about this world, that is enough to take the first step. i definitely hope that i still want to see the beauty of this world at my old age, best with a companion, be it a spouse or friend, to capture the last few wonderful memories on this earth. 

"up" movie trailer! hilarious!