He’s doing it!
If you’ve been reading along, you have heard me mention my frustration with my parents and their refusal to take care of their health and fight for strength as they age. To summarize, my dad worked out a lot when I was a kid, but…let’s just say he took some time off from exercising. Like, a lot of time. I’ve been telling my dad to lift weights for at least 15 years, and he’s never taken my advice. My mom is a different story. She’s done a little water aerobics at the YMCA in the past decade, but other than that, I don’t recall ever seeing her exercise in my 35 years on this planet. Sweetest and most loving mother a person could want? Check. Good example of health and fitness? Not so much.
The good news is that I just got off the phone with my dad. Shortly after the new year, he started going to Bianco’s, a local gym back where they live, and participating in their Silver Sneakers classes five days per week. My dad has been diligent about going and walking on the treadmill a couple days per week for the past several years, but this program has him on his feet, moving, lifting, and doing lots of stuff that is good for balance and fighting the aging process. Unsurprisingly, he has already made a new group of friends and is strutting around like he’s Arnold at Venice Beach in 1970. I can’t even explain how happy I am that he took the first, and often most difficult step, of starting a fitness program at a new gym. My dad has also told me that my mom is at least asking questions about accompanying him. She’s fallen twice in the last month, hurting her knee, shoulder, and hip. My mom is physically kind of a mess, and is likely at the point of no return as far as her health is concerned. I just sent her a text message encouraging her to start joining my dad. Surely starting something like that when you’re already in such rough shape is difficult, but what’s the alternative? Just call it a life and keep dying? No, that’s not acceptable.
I’m sure most people go through this to some extent, but it’s damn hard watching my parents age and grow weaker. Actually, let me rephrase that. It’s damn hard watching anyone age and grow weaker without putting up any kind of fight. I’ve already preached enough on here lately about fighting to maintain strength as I grow older, so I won’t belabor the point. My dad just made my day so I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, so to speak.