Our Sunday Paper Yippee!
Most people throw a party when they reach a big milestone birthday…but not Dierdre Wolownick. After learning how to rock climb in her 60s, the mom of star climber Alex Honnold (he's the one you watched climb Yosemite's El Capitan with no ropes on Free Solo!) celebrated her 70th birthday by ascending El Cap with a small group of friends and guides. She reached the top in a mere six hours! When asked about learning how to climb later on in life…and how the rest of us might be inspired to make changes in our lives, Wolownick said: 'I was just a lumpy old middle aged woman completely taken with jobs and chores. I was scared, too, and sometimes you need a little help to do something totally new and alien to you...
'You first have to figure out why you think you can't do something and ask yourself if that's a valid point. Look, there's somebody telling you every step of your life what to eat, what to wear, that you can't sleep without this drug, and it's all nonsense. You can decide for yourself what you think you're capable of. It's just so sad when people say, oh, I'm 50, I can't – fill in the blank. Try it anyway! Who cares! You might be surprised.” Read more of her story via The New York Times.
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