Where do I begin? S o many thoughts have poured in over these past few days- months really - about if/when this day would come. I guess I’ll begin at the end, and say something I have been avoiding stating – partially because it is hard to put out there and make official. I am closing a chapter in my life that has been a huge influence in my personal and professional growth, and really been a foundation of my identity for the past 28 years… as I have made the decision to retire from group fitness instruction. This happens as another set of doors also close: those at Lifetime Fitness – Six Forks. While those walls may not have always held up the sturdiest of ceilings (cue the water buckets), it provided the space for being creative and joyful in a “job”, and connected me both to myself and others around me. One thing I always loved about working in a facility like this is that you are “working” in a place where everyone is there because they want to be, and you provide
What does love taste like? Maybe you have never contemplated a question like that, and thought love was something you feel. Yes, a taste can remind you of feelings of love, but I am talking about actually tasting it. It’s this sense of actually experiencing the energy the person preparing that food put into it. For me this answer is easy: oatmeal cookies. Not just anyone’s oatmeal cookies, but Nana’s made from scratch, prepared with love oatmeal cookies. I lost my Nana this past Monday at the age of 94 from complications with dementia. She hadn’t baked in years, but our family still talks about her meals like they were yesterday. Even while in the ICU last week, when the nurse asked Nana how she and my Poppy have been together for almost 75 years, she simply replied, “Because I love him… and I’m a good cook”. Nana wasn’t just a good cook, she was magical. No one could replicate her breads and rolls no matter how hard they tried. Fresh out of the oven, a har