Tuesday, July 1, 2014

BEGINNING TO SAY FAREWELL

FRIDAY JUNE 20, 2014

I went seeking for just one thing.

I wanted to find a way to live with chronic pain.  What could I do that would be the best for myself despite the often constant pain I felt in my left hip, radiating down my leg?  What could I learn that I hadn't already discovered in many many courses of physical therapy?  There must be an answer, but until June 20, I hadn't found it.

Recently I watched an advertisement with a 90+ year old man sitting on a recumbent bicycle at a local gym called Motions. He wasn't just any older man, he was Will Cohodas.  The Cohodas family has a historical significance to our area. Since the former Cohodas Brothers Distributing business was going to be featured on our historic tour June 29, I was attracted to the ad just by his name.

I've seen many of the ads by Motions, which claims to be far more than a gym.  Many of the ads show a before and after photo to show weight loss by exercise; or someone much older, exercising, making every effort to do the best they can for themselves, and each time I have wondered what can I do for me.  But until now I haven't really wanted to make a commitment, for these two reasons: one, I don't like to drive too much in the winter; and the other is the cost.

But for some reason, I decided to make an appointment for a free consultation.  What did I have to lose?  Nothing.  I believe the time was right.  I tried to be upbeat when I walked in the door, but it was that "walk in a bar by yourself feeling" that I really had inside.  Not for long!  "Hello, how are you today, Susan?"  "Susan is here." Are they talking to me? I wondered.

I was embarrassed. Had it really come down to this? I was being measured and weighed, in this big exercise - a - mania space, in front of all the young and fit trainers and others.  I am going to relax, I am going to give this a try, I am going to stick this out, was the voice in my head, going over and over.
As I started to realize that Lisa was really interested in my needs and helping me succeed, I started to relax.  The upbeat music picked me up and I wanted to dance. When she explained, "you don't see any 21 y.o. Barbie dolls here, do you?"  I stopped being embarrassed. Could it be that I felt so comfortable in a place so foreign to me?

I'll be posting again about Beginning to say Farewell.  Come back and visit, won't you?


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