Few people have the luxury of doing something they enjoy until they want to retire.
Thus, I was delighted to read about my brother-in-law’s barber, Joe Brown, 100, who is still cutting hair – safely, I might add – although his children now drive him to work. Reading about him made me think of someone closer to home, my husband’s barber Don Long of Naperville.
Don has worked as a barber since 1989. Yet, he learned his trade at Mooseheart in the 1950’s as a high school student. Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility, located near Batavia.
I’ve known about Mooseheart since I moved to the area; yet, Don is the first person I know of who actually attended there.
“The Child City is a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high school. It cares for youth whose families are unable, for a wide variety of reasons, to care for them. (It’s a) home-like environment and the best possible training and education.”
After Mooseheart, Don went on to graduate from North Central College where he was a star football punter. Following a career in sales, he returned to the area and now works full time at Center Barber in Darien.
The old adage “Age is a state of mind” characterizes men and women who have not let society define what they should be doing at a certain stage of life. Colonel Sanders was 61, Dr. Seuss was 54 when Cat in the Hat was published and Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became president.
And check out Paddy, a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent.
Now in his late 70s, Don joins Joe Brown and Paddy, actively enjoying what they do and being a vital part of their communities. They show the value of clean living and good genes. We should all look forward to such golden years.
