Join Me on the Journey
- Road Scholar’s first employee, Mike Zoob, introduces his series of blog posts and reflects on the history of the organization.
- He also reflects on his own past, including memories with family and favorite activities.
- Mike invites the reader to continue to join him throughout his blog series as he shares his observations on working at Road Scholar and embarking on its learning adventures.
In early fall, shortly after the family festivities and several gatherings of friends to celebrate my 90th birthday had died down a bit, my longtime friend and colleague, Jim Moses, the president and CEO of Road Scholar, asked if I might consider writing a blog.
I guess his assumption was that, as the first employee of the organization — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year — and a participant in a good number of its programs, I might have some thoughts about its journey, and that given my age and the vagaries of life with its myriad challenges I have experienced along with blessings that I have enjoyed, my observations might be of some interest to those Road Scholar seeks to serve.
As I thought about Jim’s request, I had serious doubts as to whether I would take him up on it.
I am blessed. I had a wonderful marriage to a brilliant and most unusual woman, losing her to cancer some 23 years ago. Those of you have experienced such a loss know that it does not get any tougher than that.
Yet, I am blessed. I enjoy excellent health. I have two wonderful daughters, four outstanding grandchildren (the youngest of whom just entered college this year), am active in a number of organizations with other older adults, volunteer to help those who need escort to and from medical procedures, shop for those who can no longer do so and exercise at least five days a week while reading voraciously.
Life for me is both engaging, challenging and interesting. Yet, I have no secret recipe for living a full life.
Is my good health due to the longevity of my mother who, along with three of her brothers and sisters, lived to be over 100? Perhaps. I doubt it’s due to my nightly on-the –rocks-with-a-twist Beefeater martini. Is it due to what I eat, which is mostly prepared foods from the local grocery a few blocks from where I live as I can’t cook a lick? Is it due to my workouts at the gym across the street? Or is it the myriad of books, both fiction and nonfiction, that engage me each and every day? Maybe it’s all the young college students who live right next to me in downtown Boston with whom I interact every day. I have no answer to the secrets of the good life well lived, but I do well know that I am blessed.
Mike Zoob with his grandson (far right).
So with the understanding I trust you will grant me that as I go forward in writing this blog series, I am not giving advice as to how to live a long and good life, nor sharing any secrets as to how to achieve happiness nor longevity, I accept Jim’s invitation.
I look forward to sharing with you some of the fun and not-so fun-things that happened in the earliest days of Road Scholar when it was known as Elderhostel, recollections about the great programs I attended with my grandchildren and the great joy that gave me, as well as the pleasures of my life.
Join me on the journey.
Mike
Mike Zoob was Road Scholar’s first employee and helped shape the organization’s pioneering approach to learning for older adults. Over five decades, he’s championed education, community and curiosity as lifelong pursuits — values that continue to define Road Scholar’s mission and inspire its global network of participants and educators.