Franklin, a rising senior at Regis Jesuit High School outside Denver, already has received advice from Natalie Coughlin, a 12-time Olympic medalist, who said, "In some ways, it's easier at her age because you don't have the pressure to perform for financial obligations".
Yet when I ask him what he would have been if he had not turned to filmmaking, Riklis says, "Musician, it's an easy answer!" At age 15, he admits, "I played a lot of instruments: guitar, piano, accordion, clarinet; and I left it all because filmmaking got into me".
That gets easier at older ages as health problems multiply, but it's a milestone we all hope not to reach.
"Nobody knows exactly why, but treatment seems to affect children's brains more powerfully," Luby says, pointing out that language acquisition, for example, is easier at younger ages.
"It's not easy at my age, but it's all I've got," Phololo says.
But I can't say it's easy at the age I am".
Nothing is easy at this age, and first meetings for old lovers can be a high-risk venture.
It's not easy at this age to be in a beauty contest, but we're all doing it to show that we're still here".
"It was not easy at my age to have been chosen to play for Mauritius but the coach Akbar Patel has faith in me.
"Roger is now going to be all bent out of shape and it's not easy at his age - he'll be 32 in August - to expect him to be able to go deep into a best-of-five match and stay with those younger guys.
