How to Age Well

Spring break is here so I went for a 4-mile run this morning because I could. On my way home I ran into Ron Thomas, my 87-year-old friend who I used to run into frequently back when I ran more. Here he is at about 75 with Ash at our little Lake Point 5K race.

We stopped and chatted for a minute. He used to run but now goes for daily 4-mile walks with a son and a neighbor. 87 years old and he walks that much daily ... except for Thursday because that's the day he works in the temple. Amazing!

Ron then proceeded to tell me that his sister is 93 and she has a doctor friend who lives by her who is 97. Recently the doctor has gotten a little unstable on his feet so he takes his walker out and still does his walk to her house. He gave Ron some advice which Ron passed on to me. It was three words.

WALK

OR

DIE

Well, if it works for those older people I'm sure it will work for me. Ron has always been someone I look to when it comes to aging well. He doesn't look or act his age.

That's been my quest in the last couple of years. How to age well.

1. 10000 steps or more every day. Every morning I go for a 1-mile walk. For my birthday I got a weighted vest, so my walk now includes that. My coworkers and I walk at lunch also. I try to go for a run once a week.

2. Weights. Since November I've consistently worked with weights twice a week. I know I'm getting stronger because I even beat Ash and Kiersten in an arm wrestle that they initiated.

3. Fuel. I'm figuring out little by little how to fuel my body better. I've been working on getting more protein and fiber into my diet. Breakfast is usually a smoothie bowl, eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, berries, chia seeds, flax seeds. Some combination of all that. I don't remember the last time I ate a bowl of cereal. I feel the difference. I really don't get hungry or even snacky until lunchtime.

4. SLEEP! I really think quality sleep is probably the most important thing you can do for your body. I'm usually in bed by 9:30 and up at 5:45. I don't use an alarm clock. My body just automatically wakes up at that time.

5. Stress. I manage my stress pretty good. I don't let things I have zero control over bother me.

6. Water. This is one area I can do better at. I try to get that first glass first thing in the morning and one when I get back from my walk. I'm just not good at sipping my water at school. I don't drink a lot of soda. I usually allow myself a Pepsi once a week, sometimes I'll go two weeks.

I just really want to have the energy to keep up with grandkids, work in my yard, enjoy this beautiful world, and do what God needs me to do. Those are really hard things to do if you have a body that doesn't work like you need it to.

A funeral for an aunt gone too soon

Grandpa Robert J. Ellis passed away in April 2023. Grandma Mary Bay Ellis passed in August 2024. At her funeral I told Tyler that he might not see all these cousins again for a long time.

Not true.

Tyler's Aunt Erika Ellis passed away from endometrial cancer just this past week. We attended her funeral today where we saw many of those same cousins just 7 months ago. Erika stood by her husband Dean (Laura's brother) as he talked about his mom at her funeral. I can vividly recall how tender that was. Little did either know that a month later Erika would be diagnosed and 6 months later we'd be attending her funeral.

She was only 61.

I turned 49 earlier this month.

It's been a very surreal day.

I think part of what made it surreal is that she donated her body to the University of Utah for scientific purposes (love this!) and will then be cremated. So when we walked into the relief society room at the church expecting to see a casket and it wasn't there and there was no interment afterwards, it just felt a little off, a little different, like it was all a dream.

I also think what has made it seem so unreal is that she was active, healthy, in shape. She was a runner, a hiker, a mover. But cancer is impartial and doesn't discriminate. It doesn't care who you are.

I think today has just left me in a more contemplative mood. She had a little time to think about her death and funeral. I haven't thought much about mine other than I told Alex last week at church after he leaned over to tell me that we were singing my favorite hymn How Firm a Foundation that they better sing it at my funeral -- all 7 verses!

What legacy have I left so far?

What legacy am I continuing to leave?

How do I want to be remembered?

Definitely some questions to ponder more deeply.