Some of the best things in life are so simple and so unexpected. I experienced this first hand yesterday.
Let me give you the back story…my mother has been a yo-yo dieter for as long as I can remember. After reaching her highest weight (except for when she was pregnant with my brother 18 years ago) around the time of my wedding, she lost nearly 75 lbs. in 2007. Of course, she deserves all the credit for this amazing feat, but I’d like to think that my encouragement and assistance played a role. You see, I am sort of the health advocate for my family. Regular exercise and eating well are a huge part of my life and I have tried to impart a little of my drive and knowledge onto my family in hopes of helping them live healthier and happier life. And, in many ways, my efforts have worked…until recently. My mother has slowly started to put some weight back on. She is nowhere near her highest (not even close, in fact), but she needs to put a stop to it now for her own health and well-being, both physically and mentally. She has been getting very depressed about the fact that she is not maintaining her weight, but she also manages to have every excuse in the book about why she can’t. Well, I am not willing to accept her excuses. There is no excuse good enough to justify not making your health a top priority. So, in my efforts to assist her in getting back on track, I have offered to open up my schedule anytime she wants to work out together. And, she took my up on my offer yesterday. She asked if I would go up to her house in North Hatfield for a bike ride. I did want to work out yesterday and I do love to bike ride, but the drive up there after work was not appealing at all and I seriously did not want to go. But, I sucked it up and went, and man oh man, I am so glad that I did.
We (we being my mom, her boyfriend, my brother, and myself) went for the most wonderful 16 mile bike ride through Hatfield and Whately last night. Yes, it was a great workout, but that is not what made it so wonderful. It was so fantastic to do something like that with some of the most important people in my life. And, it was also fantastic to ride the roads of my childhood. See, my mom lives in my grandparent’s house (they left it to her when they passed away). I was incredibly close with my grandparents when they were alive and I spent the majority of my childhood with them at their house or around town. I’ve been down the roads that we biked a million times before, but not in many years. Going down those roads yesterday brought back so many wonderful memories and warm feelings. It made me immensely happy to think back to times with my grandparents when I was just a child. Going to the Hatfield parade on the 4th of July, going to elementary school (I went there through the 3rd grade), playing tag out in front of town hall with my girl scout troop, playing ping pong with my cousins at the community center, going to the only store in town to pick up milk, etc… My mind is filled with these memories, but I had not thought about them in so very long until yesterday. Also, it was really neat to see the sights that seemed so familiar to me from a different perspective. Usually, I just get a quick glimpse of them as I drive by in a car, but being on a bike and getting to see things slowly and up close was really fun. I got to read signs and look and houses and enjoy the view of the mountains, the Connecticut River, and of all the farm land that Hatfield is known for. I got to look at the cute libraries and post offices and town halls of these small towns. It brought me such a sense of peace and contentment to be out in nature with my family enjoying the country roads of my childhood. It was absolutely perfect.
I am so glad that I forced myself to go because it wound up being a truly wonderful night that I will treasure in my memory for a very long time. I am so thankful to be living close to my family now, enabling me to see them and do fun things like this with them anytime I want. I absolutely love spending time with them, and being able to do so while getting exercise is even better. We chatted it up about life, reminisced about days gone by, all while going something good for our bodies. I can think of no better way to spend my time. We are so fortunate to be able to do these things and I hope to do it many times more. This perfect evening was a clear reminder that this is what life truly is about. I can’t believe that I even contemplated not going because I didn’t want to drive there. What ever what I thinking?
