It's All Relative

Last week's blog theme gave you some ideas on how to stay active for as long as possible in the sense that even when your mobility is limited, there are still ways to enjoy sport on some level.  This week I carry on the activity theme with the amazing example of my father-in-law. Today, as a matter of fact, he turns 80!

He looks and acts like a man in his 60's.  Is he gifted with the longevity gene?  We'll know when he marks his 90th and 100th birthday.  Has he found the Fountain of Youth?  Not that we know of.

What we do know is with this guy "attitude is everything" and nobody has told him that you are expected to slow down in your senior years. In fact, there are thousands like him who participate in sports, in clubs, in service organizations, until they no longer are physically able.  Bus loads of them go each year to the Seniors Games, and flocks of them go south to Seniors Camps, (a.k.a. RV parks or Snow Bird Communities) where, thanks to temperate climate, they can play sports until the cows come home.

My father-in-law doesn't go on the long trips anymore. Not because he can't, but because he chooses not to as he is the primary caregiver of my mother in law.  Her health is severely challenged.  "Papa", as he is known to the grandkids, plays year round in his home town.  He is on a pickle ball team (look it up if you don't know what it is), a table tennis team, and a curling team. As well, he plays tennis in the summer, and is involved in soccer practically year round.

When we threw him an 80th birthday party this past weekend there were people in attendance who play shuffleboard with him (I didn't know he played shuffleboard until they told me!) and some fellow dart players, as well as some younger people who had been trained as soccer referees by him.  The Rotarians were there, he's been a member of Rotary for dozens of years,(actually 40 years!) and the Hospital Board's chairman was in attendance and thanked the Birthday Boy for his selfless hours of fundraising for the foundation.

He slows down on Sunday mornings (slightly) when he spends an hour of reflection at his church. There were members of that congregation singing his praises at the party as well.

Was this guy blessed with the gift of good health his entire life? No, he's had his share of ups and downs. A couple of heart attacks when he hit 60 made him re-think his life.  He now keeps his stress to a minimum and replaced his bacon and egg breakfast with oatmeal.  (It's not that I am against eggs that I mention this, but certainly the toast wiped through the bacon grease each and every morning wasn't good for his cholesterol levels!)  I think he takes an aspirin a day to keep his blood thin but I don't think he's taking much in the way of medication.

Papa got a lot of cards from those gathered at his party.  Well wishers wrote kind messages, jokes, and some included photos of him having tons of fun. Someone had put a lot of effort into a homemade card and had cut out a photo of  him standing next to soccer great, David Beckham! I debated on whether to give him a sappy card or a humourous card which showed a geriatric referee with a whistle in his mouth, and inside read "You're Old. Game Over!"  I went with the sappy instead, although I know he would have appreciated the humour of the other. Maybe next year!

The card that stuck in my mind the most, and I looked through them all, was the one with a photo of an old guy playing basketball and a quote from George Bernard Shaw.  It said "We don't stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing!"

Ralph Owens is a kid at heart and  is an example of deeds meaning more than words, of generosity, of selflessness, of humility, and of stamina. If you live your life like him, pat yourself on the back and be proud. Raise your glass of prune juice one and all and as Nike says "Just Do it".