I come from a musical family and have always loved music, and I have always had instruments around that I was going to learn how to play "some day". As with a lot of people, those good intentions just never materialized into prolonged practicing. I got into the IT industry at a young age, the nature of which was to work long hours, week-ends, holidays, etc. Then came marriage and a baby and the sudden realization that I was an idiot for EVER saying "I just don't have the time". So the years went on and the guitars just stayed in the closet, but I was going to get serious about it when things slowed down.
At 49 years old I went out with my daughter for the day and started feeling very funny. By the end of the day I was in the emergency room and would not leave the hospital for 7 weeks. I was diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukemia, a pretty grim diagnosis that left a fairly slim chance of survival. I will leave out the details, but when I was going through treatment I wasn't thinking I wished I would have worked more, or made one more promotion. I was wishing things like, "I wished I would have taken the damn guitar out of the closet!"
So here I am two years later. Thanks to some pretty amazing doctors, nurses, and modern treatments I am in remission and starting to have pretty good odds of making it long term! There are no more excuses, I make a point to concentrate on family and doing those things I was always going to do "some day". I bought my daughter a nice guitar setup for her birthday and we have been practicing every night. It takes me a lot longer to learn new things than she, but that is okay. The point is to make progress on the things you truly want to do each and every day and not wait on that "some day" you might not be lucky enough to see. Sorry for the novel, but I hope this settles the "Am I too old" question for me and everyone else.
