Saturday Short Subjects: “You're never too old to chase your dreams.”

On September 2, 2013, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad inspired each and every baby boomer fighting to prove that age should not matter.

In the 1970s, Diana was considered the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world. But one record eluded her. She dreamed of becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. She was 28 when she made her first unsuccessful attempt to achieve this goal. 

Diana never gave up. She failed three more times. She vowed her fifth attempt on Labor Day weekend 2013 would be her last. 

She set out from Havana on Saturday, August 31, prepared to swim the 110 mile shark- and jellyfish-infested route one final time. She battled sea lice and choppy seas. But, as it says on the map of the route posted on her website, this time “She freaking made it.”

As she stumbled ashore in Key West, just under 53 hours later, the 64-year-old Diana Nyad proclaimed, “…we should never, ever give up…you’re never too old to chase your dreams.” 

Words to live by. Thanks, Diana.

Have a nice weekend.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).