Betty was on the living room floor, coffee table pushed aside, doing bicycle crunches. The Olympics were on TV and they were doing some sort of video montage of an athlete’s training.
Elbow to knee. Elbow to knee. Left. Right. Left. Right.
“Get down here and do this!” she shouted, laughing. Left. Right. Left. Right.
I crawled onto the floor and tried a few, groaning the whole way.
“What’s the matter?” she taunted. “Can’t you keep up with an old lady?”
I flopped on the rug, abs burning. “I can hold my own with old ladies,” I said. “It’s you I can’t keep up with.”
She was 80.
If it’s true that you’re only as old as you feel, I’m pretty sure that Betty never felt like she aged beyond her early 20s. Tomorrow would have been her 94th birthday. To celebrate, I think I’m going to do half a million bicycle crunches and bake an angel food cake, her signature dessert.
Cooking
Fitness
Health