#4: I'll be a Mr. Gardener someday.

In September of 2007 I traveled with a small group of American students to Insch, Scotland for a weekend of cultural immersion. This pleasant farming town - located 30 miles outside of Aberdeen - is home to the kindest, most hospitable people I have ever known.

Upon arrival, the twenty of us foreigners were paired up and distributed amongst numerous local families. Perhaps the most striking of these host figures was a man by the name of Gardener.

Truthfully, there might not be a more quintessential old man in all the land. Without a doubt one of Scotland's finest unsung heroes, Mr. Gardener had what I like to call, "the complete package." Everything you could possibly ever want in an old man, he had: disheveled white hair, exaggerated facial features, a gummy smile, a hunched posture, a wooden cane, the argyle and corduroy look, and those sturdy black Velcro shoes. Classic.

Not only were his healthy physical attributes impressive, but his accomplishments in life as well. Still happily married to an equally as adorable woman, and with multiple grown children now scattered out around the globe, Mr. Gardner is in many ways the elderly man I hope to become. Despite his many years, he hiked routinely with our group, he laughed and told us stories, showed us his well-maintained home and yard, and would even drink tea and whiskey with every meal.

My thoughts go out to Mr. Gardner today, since I know I will never see him again. It's a sad but true reality. However, my memories of him will last me a lifetime, and I will one day follow his footsteps graciously into the clutches of old age.