The "Drinking of the Fountain" Story

I actually drank from this fountain!

It was an ordinary day.  Showing my wife, Carol, a story in a publication that features the Fountain of Youth in Florida.  The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters.  It was in 1513 that Ponce de Leon, armed with maps, a compass and the instruction of his king, went searching for the fountain off the coast of Florida.  Since then, the fountain has been frequently associated with Florida and St. Augustine.  In 1904, Luella Day McConnell helped create the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park where she would fabricate stories to amuse and appall the tourists until her death in 1927.  Though there is no evidence that the fountain is the storied fountain that de Leon found, visitors to the park still drink the fabled water.  In 1968, the year after we were married, Carol and I took two weeks vacation and drove my mom and dad's Mercury convertible to Florida to see the state.  We had a smaller car at the time and I knew it would be fun in the summer to put the top down on the Merc while cruising the roads of America.  The Mercury had been my car until I decided to buy a smaller car when I got married, so my dad bought it from me.   Among the many places we stopped in Florida was St. Augustine.  Really neat small town whose special attraction was the Fountain of Youth.  We drank from what allegedly was the Fountain of Youth, but as you can surmise, it really didn't work for us or any of the other million or so visitors.  I can assure you of that fact.  Each day in America nearly 10,000 people turn 65.  The aging of America has recently shown its force with a majority of the voters in the recent election being over the age of 50.  First time in history that's ever happened.  Wow, 50.  How I would love to be that age again.  See, that's why we visited Florida 45 years ago, to try and stop our aging in America.  If I had been born in 1900 I could expect to live to age 47, but we have now gained another 22 years in life expectancy.  I'm looking forward to many more fun years of life.  There's still more stories to write, lots of good books to read, yellow umbrellas to sit under and crustal blue water in which to swim.  At times it seems and feels as if the Fountain of Youth has bypassed us, doesn't it.  But, since we now have the gift of extra years ahead of us, what will we do with that opportunity.  Me, I'm going to be drinking from all the fountains I can.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.