Thursday, March 15, 2018

If I'm 60, why don't I feel old?

I remember my mom at 60. She was overweight, grey and only went out to go to senior meetings. I'm not sure what they did at these meetings but I think it was maybe card games and snacks. Now, I'm 60 and although I need to lose about 30 lbs, I'm not very grey and do more. Is 60 really the new 40? Am I really in better health than she was at this point?

Mom always had a bad hip problem, but as young as I was, I don't know exactly what caused it. When I started having hip problems I did more stretches and exercises and when it does act up, I can usually "fix" it. Sometimes I wish I could go back and help her with her health problems with the science that exists now. It would have saved her a lot of pain and maybe given her a longer life. She passed at 65 from complications of a heart attack. She had type 2 diabetes which made her recovery more difficult. I think during my mother's time it was believed you didn't move forward after a certain age. You hit your sixties and it was all down hill from there. That believe was instilled by society and opinions of others. It was just the way it was. You'll go grey, get arthritis, just sit down and wait for it.

So, I'm 60 and determined to be in better health from here on in. I've joined Weight Watchers (for the 3rd or 5th time?) and decided it's way past time I took control.
Science tells us that weight training and cardio can keep you in much better health in your sixties and even seventies. Here are a few examples;

Eighty year old body builders;
Ernestine Shepherd









Dr. Jeffrey Life


Check out this guy's website. It's informative and inspiring!




So maybe age is just a number, 60 is the new 40, and we've got more mountains to climb and there are victories to be had. Let's go get 'em!


Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Packing Up Memories

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes! My life is going into plastic tubs and cardboard boxes with a prayer that it all makes it to Florida without getting crushed.

We're in the countdown. Four and a half weeks to go. Today, another lovely snowy day in New Jersey, I'm tackling my office. This used to be my youngest daughter's bedroom, but after she moved out to start her own life, it became my office. Desk, printer, file cabinets, and built in cabinets. Since we started de-cluttering when we listed the house, there's not a lot here to pack. Books, a few odd manuscripts from books published on Amazon, lots of notebooks filled with scribblings from the soul and story ideas, and a couple of decorative items. I could probably get this room done by noon.

Harder still to pack is the memories. Chunks of time nestled in my heart. Waking kids up for school, picking colors for their rooms, setting the furniture just so. Memories to hold and rooms to let go of so we can build new memories with the kids in Florida.

Tomorrow or the day after it will be another room. Another four walls of memories. Years ago my oldest daughter wanted to sleep in a hammock. My husband strung the thing across the room and there she slept, nestled in a neat macrame hammock with pillows and blankets and her dog. It was quite a sight but she loved it and it made that room uniquely hers. And mine in my memories and my heart.

We one time painted my youngest daughter's room pink with a bright pink rug that she picked out. When we put it all together the room practically glowed. My husband and I exchanged glances that effectively said, "What did we do?" But my daughter loved it so we kept it. It was her room and her joy to have so it was right.

Memories. Wonderful, warm memories of hammocks and pink rooms and a happy family. Now, at 60 I look back on all the years with a contented yet wistful feeling. I miss having the kids home. I miss family dinners and running to band practice and lazy days by the pool watching the kids play.

Packing is bringing back a lot of memories.