I. The Mailbox, Forevermore
Ever since I was a kid, I wrote letters back and forth with Auntie Vi.
I sent her a new mailbox once, but it was too big and she returned it. She painted flowers on her old one instead:
For the past six years, Vi and I emailed almost daily. This past year, she started signing her emails, "love FOREVERMORE".
And I do feel her example will always be with me--including her model of facing extreme old age and its ills with pluck and humor.
The pain did make her mean and crabby sometimes, but considering, she was pretty darn nice through it all.
Considering what?
Well, once she was in her eighties, she refused most diagnostic tests, but it's pretty clear she died from bowel cancer, which was pretty unpleasant for a long time... But she got up, showered, dressed, made breakfast every morning, and tried to keep going all day.
Neighbors helped with heavy chores--though she put in her own air conditioners last summer.
(Thankfully she had plenty of morphine at the end.)
I'd usually e-chitchat with Vi first thing in the morning--maybe I'll do more of that here.
II. This Morning's Chit Chat
Today I'd start, as I often did, with the Weather and Health Report:
Thank goodness it cooled off overnight, after a hot & humid day yesterday. It's still humid, but only in the low 70s, and supposed to drop during the week.
Sure is nice to see everything green again after a month of rain--amazing how grass that looks brown and dead can return refreshed.
I feel refreshed myself, now it's autumn--or nearly--equinox is on Wednesday. I hope you are feeling energized too, Vi, and can get out for walks again, after the summer heat.
Just now I heard the bell of the highschool one block away--classes must start at 9 a.m. Never heard it last year, during Covid of course. Not that we don't still have Covid...
And the regular flu is here. Sister had it for three days last week--got tested for Covid, but it was "just" the regular miserable old variety.
Have you had your flu shot, Vi?
I got mine on Friday after PT for my Achilles tendinitis.
I love my pt, you know. I call him Captain, which he really is:
besides having his PhD in PT, he is also a captain in the army. He's one of those rare people who are kind & understanding (at least with his patients) and also happen to be overachievers.
Instead of feeling like a loser in comparison, I feel encouraged by him to keep on doing my little things--like stretching my calves at the bus stop.
"Only about 10 percent of people do all their pt exercises," he said--seemingly not upset about it––when I told him I only did about half of them.
(Vi, I know you are one of the 10 percent!)
III. Be NEAT!
I told him about you, Vi, and how you'd stayed active up till you died at 96. "But she never went to a gym," I said. "She gardened, did constant housework, walked--walking with her walker to the grocery store even in her last summer."
He said you got it right:
"That's called NEAT," he said: "Non-exercise activity thermogenesis".
It's the calories we burn when we go about our daily business that isn't planned exercise or sports (or sleeping, breathing, and eating).
Neat, huh?
Captain said studies show that doing desk work produces the worst health outcomes--EVEN if you are athletic outside of work.
I told him that one reason I decided to stay in my thrift store job, even though it pays poorly, is because I am NOT physically energetic. When I was writing for work, I went to the gym 3 times a week--but that's only three hours of exercise--almost nothing set against hours and hours and hours at the computer.
I'm in constant motion at the store. Lots of NEAT.
"I figure staying active is worth more than money," I said.
"That's a good decision for the long run," he said.
I figure PTs must see the outcomes of the worst decisions--(as well as bad luck, of course--I KNOW I've been lucky so far)––so I take his judgment seriously.
Keep 'er moving!
OK--going to make breakfast now: OATMEAL with walnuts and blueberries, for lowering cholesterol, and also I love oatmeal, and it's oatmeal season.
Find joy in your day, auntie--I know you always do!
Love FOREVERMORE, Fresca
P.S. I'm doing my colon at-home iFOB test this week.