By Michael Wright
In our retirement village in Lakeland, there was a gentleman there I admired very much, although we never said much other than “Hello,” “Good Morning!” or “How ya doing?”
I figured he was close to 90 because he wore a Korean War Veteran baseball cap. Nonetheless, every morning by 7:00 he was out running laps repeatedly over a course consisting of several adjacent blocks about 2/3 of a mile each lap.
It wasn’t a pretty or smooth run by any means, but consisted of short, choppy steps covering little ground; but he was persistent and focused, never slowing his pace or stopping to rest.
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One morning I tried to remember the last time I ran and couldn’t. So the next morning as I walked Marcell outside the gates (where I was not likely to be seen), I gave the puppy some loose leash and began running. My jog was also not pretty or smooth; basically, I’d forgotten how. It was near impossible to even get started.
This week, our grandson Tyler is staying with us. When he was little, I would take him for walks hand-in-hand through our South Tampa neighborhood. If it had rained overnight and there were puddles in the streets, he would side-step them until I stopped him, saying “No, no. You’re missing all the fun!” Then I’d grab his hand and we’d skip through the middle of the puddle, giggling all the way.
A week or two ago I started thinking about when I last skipped and wondered if I still capable of doing so? I tried and realized that I no longer remember how. So I did what every red-blooded American does: I requested instructions from Siri. (She directed me to several videos.)
My goal is to be acing it before Tyler goes back home, so he can brag about his “Poppa” after school starts back up. (But at 10 years of age, he is probably too mature and sophisticated to engage in such nonsense since he excels at Tae Kwon Do and consistently makes the principal’s honor roll.)
I’ll still try long as I don’t fall and break my neck first. I joined a gym last week, but they had no skipping classes. So I’ll be trying the weight room and water aerobics instead. (sigh)
If you can still skip and you’d like to send Mike a video of you in action, please contact him at micwrighthamo@gmail.com.
