New Year Resolutions

If I had made NY resolutions in the past decade, they were resolutions to stay strong and wise and present for my son in his prison years, as well as resolve to do my part in seeking change to a broken system that separated families and imposed long years of suffering for nonviolent first time offenders. And in that respect, those years that I made a conscious, spoken, NY resolution, I like to think I (both Rod and I) were successful in keeping our resolutions. We both remain immensely grateful we were able to follow our son and share those years, as much as we were allowed to, much as I still rail against a system that forced such a decision.

Being with, and seeing Corey now, back in the world, moving forward with his life, happy, well adjusted, and meeting each new day with anticipation and joy, is further confirmation we made the right choice. Some say we sacrificed much, but it wasnt about that, and lord knows my husbands and my own life changed and was enhanced in many ways by the choice we made. Taking the prison journey out of the equation, the difficult, painful, stressful times the BOP, the prison facilities, the prison guards, et al, often inflicted, I have to say for as many times times as we stood powerless and proved ineffectual in helping our son, there were as many, perhaps more, times we battled the bureaucracy, the facilities, against additional punishments imposed by guards with their own agendas or egos, and won those battles (!!). But again, taking all THAT out of the equation, over the course of those years Rod and I also gained amazing experiences and new insights, experienced adventures and joys we never would have otherwise. We met amazing people on this journey, we learned much, we became wiser, more patient and more compassionate. My husbands job allowed us to travel often throughout the State and we enjoyed all we saw and experienced. Our life experiences grew in many ways we never expected.

But getting back to NY resolutions ... I actually made my first resolution in a very long while going into this new year...and though it may sound somewhat frivolous, all things considered, and commonplace (probably half the population makes this resolution after NY's!), I am determined to get FIT. Or at least FITTER. Perhaps what has inspired me the most is the fact I have OFFICIALLY become a senior citizen! Medicare and all. Wow where DID the time go? Well I could tell you, but you can read about it in the past many years posts to this blog. LOL. I know where it went! But to stand here today and actually find myself on Medicare and a Medicare Advantage Plan to boot, boggles my mind. As an aside, let me say, it WAS NOT easy getting that Plan! In the months leading up to my 65th birthday (just short of a week ago now) I struggled with researching the various options I had as I became Medicare eligible. Talk about stress! Who knew there were SO many options, and SO many Insurance Companies vying for my $$$ as I turned 65! The emails and phone calls poured in! I asked friends for advice, asked which Plans they had signed on to, I scoured the internet, I called back the various Insurance companies. Narrowing it all down to 4 major plans in the last week prior to the imposed signup deadline, I chose an AARP Advantage Plan and enrolled. I figured if I wasn’t happy with this plan I could switch to another at ‘open enrollement’ next year. But again, who knew it was going to be so frustrating, so exhausting and exhaustive, to go through that process.

The particular plan I have enrolled in has one perk I think I’m going to especially enjoy, a program called Silver Sneakers, and it is a free membership with SnapFitness Gyms. There are several locations here in the city, and though all have your basic exercise equipment there are one or two that also have pools and spas. There are at least a half dozen or so locations I can use in the City, but I was thrilled to find one just 5 minutes drive away. I am really enjoying my first two visits. AND I did something I’ve never done before, being somewhat of a ‘loner’ in some respects when it comes to exercising, I actually signed on with a Personal Trainer. I am doing this because though I’ve continued to walk, and I swam regularly pretty much year round (we had a pool at our Bakersfield house) my weight lifting really fell by the wayside these past 8 or 9 years. So, I am very excited to be back working out with free weights and machine resistance training machines. My PT is putting together a routine for me that will utilize the various machines and equipment and get me on a faster track to better fitness…the main reason I signed on with her. And though I love to walk our neighborhood, some of these colder winter days going to the gym to use the treadmills and ellipticals will be very nice. I look forward to charting my progress.

"A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs." ~ Joan Welsh