Early Influences & Gratitude Part 1

Mom

I am thankful for the influence my mother and father have provided me in my pursuit of living a healthy lifestyle.

When my parents were in high school my dad was very athletic and excelled in baseball, basketball, track, and pretty much anything else he wanted to do, while my mother was on the dance team. They were high school sweethearts.

 

Married at 18 years old, my mother gave birth to me a month before her 21st birthday. When I was an infant we moved to Mundelein, Illinois, where we lived until shortly after my sister was born, then we moved back to South Dakota and eventually settled in with a family of 6- two boys, and two girls.  I was in elementary school during the 80’s and my mother, father, and both sets of grandparents were responsible for what I consider some of the greatest times of my life. However, I failed to appreciate at the time, just how fortunate I was.

Every spring, as soon as school was out for the summer my mom would drive all of us kids to spend a week with her mom and dad in Wheaton, IL. That was the best! Back then it took nearly 12 hours (with stops, kids, and 55mph) to get there. Spending a week with my Chicago grandma and grandpa in their nice suburban home was like the greatest thing ever. Grandma would always spoil us and  take us to places such as the zoo, amusement parks, the Sears Tower, Old Chicago and Toys R Us! When the week was over, and we had to go home, I would cry pretty much the entire way back to South Dakota.

But then, every July my Chicago grandpa and grandma would rent several cabins at an old resort called Little Crow on Green Lake, MN. All our aunts, uncles, and cousins would spend a week in one of the cleanest, coolest, most beautiful lakes in the Upper Midwest. I can never tell my grandfather enough times how thankful I am for everything he was able to provide for us. He is such an altruistic, saintly type of man.

At some point in my elementary childhood my mother got into health and fitness. It almost seemed like a light switch turned on and suddenly began running up and down the stairs and dancing in the living room. At the time I had no clue what she was doing! It wasn’t long before she became an aerobics instructor, then personal trainer and head aerobics instructor at the premier health club in our city during the 80’s and 90’s. I can still hear the music playing in the living room as she recorded her mix tapes for class. In fact some of those very songs are on my playlist today. Her picture was on a billboard on a busy intersection in the city. I was proud, but I did not fully appreciate exactly what she was doing and how she was leading and helping so many people in their quest for a healthier mind, body, and soul.

 

I remember the countless issues of Muscle & Fitness Magazines stacked about at home. The dumbbells and ankle weights, the kitchen filled with quality, whole “health” foods that I thought were disgusting at the time but absolutely love now. I was completely oblivious to such things as a youngster. I mean, I would look at the huge, muscular bodybuilders featured in the magazines and thought for sure if I just did a couple of sets of curls my arms would undoubtedly look exactly like the guy in the magazine. LOL. Mom would say “I’m going to the health food store” and come home with things like raw, unsalted sunflower seeds, raw peanut butter, plain yogurt, granola, and other foods I thought were disgusting at the time. She would bake chocolate cake but forget to tell us she put zucchini inside. I’d be like “yay!” then bite into it and go “eeww!” There were no “sugar cereals” allowed in the house but I would sneak a couple teaspoons of sugar into my cheerios.

 

It wasn’t until much later in life that I found myself adopting the same healthy habits my mother tried to instill in us. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself “oh, I see”. It’s unfortunate that I was always too blind to adopt those good, healthy examples she provided at the time. Instead, I took a different path. More like a long, and winding road of pain and hardship before I realized what I was missing out on.

 

I look back with regret for not being the son that I had hoped. The disappointments, bad decisions I’ve made, and times over the years that I have not handled disagreements within the family as well as I would have liked. Mistakes have been made, pain has been shared, but I am proud to say that I have always provided sincere apologies. All to say that I feel they (both parents) deserve all the good fortune they can possibly receive. In addition to being fabulous grandparents, they continue raising kids! Wonderful kids I might add! They may have had a few empty nest years sprinkled in here and there but basically they’re coming up on 50 years of raising children!

My youngest sister, whom I love dearly, was blessed to be able to give birth to two wonderful girls. But unfortunately she never had the best luck with men in her life, and in addition to that her history of trauma and substance abuse issues, has left her unable to provide the best opportunities for the girls, so my parents bravely stepped in and are raising them in a nice home full of love on an acreage in the country. My mom has stayed fit her entire life and continues to set the right example for the girls. I love you, mom. Thank you…