I have a story for you all. A story about the realities of aging. Growing old. Drying up. Losing the elasticity of your once resilient 7 year old self. It all started last weekend with our first soccer game. Roomie and I walked on to the field through a curtain of theatrical smoke. Slow motion, of course. The whistle blew and for the next 90 minutes we were the stuff of legends. Epic tales will be told about that game. Granted, we were sore after, but that's to be expected after 3 years off the field. Fast forward to yesterday morning. It was an hour before we were scheduled to leave our apartment, Where The Wild Things Are played in the background, and roomie and I did some half assed stretches on the floor. "I don't know roomie, I'm still a little tight in the hammies". "Don't worry girl. Once you start running it'll loosen up and you'll be good as new". I took her word for it, the smug know-it-all. Loosen up my tuchus. We're in position to kick some more ass, the whistle blows, I move to get open for a pass and- oh what was that? The discordant sound of a ripping groin? Within 5 minutes roomie is limping off the field with wrecked quads, and I'm just a few minutes behind her with zero range of motion in my hips, knees, ankles, and feet. For the remainder of the game we languished on the sideline nursing our wounds and contemplating our lost youth. What happened to our 12 year old metabolism? What happened to our young, pliable muscles that would extend, contract, and heal without a single complaint? I might as well buy myself a LaZBoy while I still have my mobility. One with built in speakers and cup holders. Better yet, a LaZBoy with wheels and a basket on the front for my grocery shopping and my lap dog. It has come to this, folks. Until I have time to go pick out my custom chair, I'll be stretching for an hour every day.
All kidding aside, this really is a surreal experience for me. I keep thinking back to middle school when my best friend and I would make frequent trips to Safeway and stock up on junk food for our long summer weekends. And I vividly remember being aware of the fact that those days were fleeting; that someday our bodies would stop being so forgiving, and would demand better from us. It's always a trip for me to come up on these moments that I've been anticipating and recognize them now as they were a decade ago. They act as markers between milestones; the minutes between the hours; the beginning of each new stage. This officially marks the beginning of a new stage, where I need to be saying "thank you" to my body and giving it the tools it needs to continue supporting me. On that note, mom, I'm about to go eat some chewable chocolate calcium supplements and drink 8 glasses of water while walking laps around my apartment.
Here's to the weekend and hoping it was everything your little heart desired.
-LG
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