林榮峰 (Emily Lee)
60歲退休，迎接新的樂齡生活。第一件事就是去穿耳洞，聽說有耳垂越大壽命越長之說。好吧，不要怕，以前女兒不是也很勇敢的在十幾歲就去穿耳洞？
這個想法偷偷的告訴我的美髮師Lynn，才說完，等著挨針。她卻說：妳的耳環已經在耳垂上。
60歲開始接受我以前不會的東西。順服是基督徒最難的功課，我們常將自己的意念高過一切，運行在日常中。上帝在安排，我們卻逃避，不就範。
金鷹學院是在1989年在紐約法拉盛設立的老人大學，上課四天，有英文、社會學、心理學、哲學、音樂…課程。1997年開始我負責教務主任的工作，每天陪學生上課，安排課程，直到完畢，我會把教室整理的乾乾淨淨，關上燈，內心說著：「主啊，我已經把今天的事情做好了，感謝主！」
後來又加了下午的課：有畫畫、太極拳、高爾夫球。唯有畫畫課，我無法陪著上課，因為上了五分鐘，我覺得不舒服，頭痛，就想離開。
新的學期開始，學生們請求開設壓克力畫課。因為沒有教室，所以我把買來不久的公寓當教室，請來老師在家裡客廳上課，我人卻去公司上班，到下課前才去拿鑰匙。剩最後的三週，我早些回去，老師問我：為什麼不一起畫畫？我不知道為什麼，我沒有東西、也沒有理由可以回答。再來的上課，老師已經替我準備好所有的東西，我只好跟著畫三節的壓克力畫了。隨著就是休假。
新的學期老師照樣來我們家，我真的不好意思，沒有學生報名，而我知道老師已經八十歲了，想回台灣退休，為了教我們而留下來。我真的走投無路，告訴老師：就教我一個可以嗎？他說：只有你一人最好畫油畫。我問：有不同嗎？原來材料不同。老師下週又幫我準備一個木箱子，裡面有整套的顏料，開始了我的油畫人生。
油畫就像在廚房煮料理，調這、調那，可以自如，真的很適合我這個家庭煮婦，而且不喜歡的還可以改來改去。和老師上完十週的油畫啟蒙課，有點概念了，也愛不釋手。
有段時間去Boston探望兒子一家，每天和兩個小孫子玩，也開始想回紐約畫畫。媳婦知道後帶我去店裡，買下所有材料，也買了幾本不同畫家的作品書，我就照著書當教材，從第一頁學到最後一頁，把作者當成我的指導教授。這樣慢慢地追求，到後來就看美術期刊，常常從Q&A學到許多竅門。
60歲才開始畫畫人生，一直到現在，看到有感動的，尤其愛畫人物，有感情、有美景，任何可以敲動我的內心深處那一點，都會引發我進入畫室！
At sixty, I retired and welcomed a new chapter in life. The first thing I did was get my ears pierced. They say the larger your earlobes, the longer you live. Well, why not? No need to be afraid—didn’t my daughter bravely do it in her teens?
I whispered my plan to my hairstylist, Lynn. Before I even finished speaking, as I braced for the piercing, she laughed and said, ‘You already have piercings on your earlobes.’
Turning sixty, I began to accept things I never used to. Submission is one of the hardest lessons for a Christian—we often place our own thoughts above all else. When God is guiding us, we resist and run.
Golden Eagle Academy was founded in 1989 in Flushing, New York, as a college for seniors. Classes ran four days a week and included English, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and music. In 1997, I took over as academic coordinator. Every day, I attended classes with students, organized lessons, and after class, I would tidy up the room, switch off the lights, and say in my heart, ‘Lord, I’ve finished today’s work. Thank you!’
Later, we added afternoon classes: painting, tai chi, and golf. Only painting made me uneasy. After just five minutes in class, I felt uncomfortable, got a headache, and wanted to leave.
A year later, the students requested an acrylic painting class. Since we had no available classroom, I offered my newly purchased apartment’s living room. I invited a teacher, and while the students painted, I would go to work. I returned only at the end of class to lock up.
Three weeks before the course ended, I came home early. The teacher asked me, ‘Why don’t you paint with us?’ I didn’t know how to respond—I had no supplies, no reason. At the next class, the teacher had already prepared everything for me, so I joined for three acrylic sessions. Then came vacation.
When the new term began, the teacher came to the apartment again. No students had signed up. I felt terrible, especially since he was already eighty and had stayed in the U.S. just to teach. I asked, ‘Would you teach just me?’ He said, ‘If it’s just you, better to paint with oils.’ I asked what the difference was—it turns out the materials were different.
The next week, he brought a wooden box filled with all the necessary oil paints, and thus began my journey into oil painting.
Oil painting is like cooking in the kitchen—mixing this and that freely. It suited me perfectly as a homemaker. I could always adjust or repaint. After ten weeks of introductory oil painting, I grasped the basics and fell in love.
Later, I went to Boston for an extended visit with my son’s family, spending time with my two young grandsons. Yet I kept thinking about returning to New York to paint. Seeing this, my daughter-in-law took me to the store, where we bought all the supplies and several books of various artists’ works. I treated them like textbooks—just like back in college in Ohio, studying every page from start to finish.
I imagined the authors as my professors. Over time, I improved, and eventually, I began reading art journals and learning painting tips from the Q&A sections.
My painting life began at sixty—and continues to this day. Whenever something moves me, especially faces, emotions, beautiful scenery, anything that touches my heart—it calls me to my studio