That’s our Skipper! Yes, Skipper is her nickname, but some days…we can’t even remember her given name! Skipper stuck.
Skipper has been with us since early 2017 – 8 years! She was 87 when she joined our program…and it’s our honor to have seen her at the time and place when her family decided she needed to move north to be nearer to them. You see, Skipper has lived in Florida with one son here, a son and daughter in Georgia (I think!) and a daughter in Pennsylvania. Skipper still lives independently…and drives! That’s how she trains with us. Up until a few years ago she worked at a local computer society – keeping her mental faculties sharp.
Here at the gym, she’s kind of a stud! She does all the things: deadlift, squat, press, clean, jump, lunge…even burpee when we force her to. Yes, she can get up off the ground when she wants to. Her last deadlift on record was 85# x 1 – but repping out 65# was nothing for her.
Imagine the health and fitness status of some of our newbies when presented with a 95-year-old with these stats? It’s both intimidating and motivating.
Ed has story after story about Skipper (thank the Lord for his memory!) – including one about a coach of ours giving her tips on the kind of pants she should wear to trim her avocado tree with her chainsaw – something about jeans or pants that the chainsaw wouldn’t cut through to cut her leg off! I just heard that one repeated today at her farewell party and not only had no recollection of it, but laughed, as that’s just not what you’d expect a 38-year-old male coach to be discussing with a then 90-year-old woman! We love the community that just happens here – it’s not forced, it’s not “bragged about” (#community) – it happens organically and it’s awe-inspiring.
Skipper is the first in our community to have, basically, “aged out” in a planned manner. While it’s nice to have the time to exit athletes the proper way, it’s still hard. Skipper’s exit comes on the heels of losing another of our athletes suddenly to a heart condition. While the loss is notable, and felt, it’s also an honor to have played a small role in the lives of our athletes up to the point they are no longer independent or mobile enough to get here. Every inch of progress, albeit NOT AT ALL LINEAR, is celebrated and noted. While we love our traditional strength and conditioning training strategies, things always link back to daily life:
- the recent storm that naturally pruned so many trees, leaving SO MANY BRANCHES to be picked and raked up
- new grandkids and growing families that present an uptick in activity and more “floor” time
- dream vacations and travel that present hiking, climbing, and carrying challenges
We’re proud to have both prepared Skipper and the rest of our athletes for “life”. And, allowed them to enjoy life to seriously ripe ages – exactly the way they chose to – independently, with strength, confidence, and ability.
We’ll miss you Skippy! You brought fun, sarcasm, and life to the 10 am class.
