June 11 – “OLLI Old”

I have been taking one of the many classes offered by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) through the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) here in Galveston.  I have actually taught in the program before, several years ago now.  I think it was a New Testament era history class or something along those lines.  They strive to provide college level classes for seniors in the area at extremely cheap rates.  And the type of classes varies wildly.  One of Mom’s favorites was a class on how to write your life story.  The class I’m taking falls more in the physical education realm, I guess.  It is a water exercise class that makes it possible for me to have the water therapy I need for my rheumatoid arthritis at a fraction of the cost.  And in the process I get to meet some fascinating Galvestonians.  Some have been here a long time like Jean, a girl I went to high school with.  Others are relative newcomers like Bill, a retired fire fighter from Detroit.  With some I have made connections in other ways, from praying for a grandson to reminiscing with former Seasiders.  Water exercise twice a week in a heated pool at the Tideway Transitional Learning Center for just $25 a month.  Not a bad price. 

Now I have had some interesting teachers along the way.  I haven’t learned all their names, though.  That’s pretty much my fault.  Well, at least my hearing’s fault.  Since I can’t wear my hearing aids into the water I have to do my best to follow their motions or those of my fellow students.  I have, however, devised a method of identifying each instructor based on her own particular style.  The one we have most often I think is named Bernie.  I’m pretty sure I have heard others call her that.  Since I have never done anything like this before, I consider her style the baseline for comparing the others.  So we have Bernie Basic.  Now early on we did have a young medical student who taught a time or two.  She was very much into aerobics and I enjoyed her class a lot, but alas, she has gone on to higher education and we have not had the guidance of The Youngster in a long time.  Perhaps the most popular of the instructors has been a lady who for me was quite difficult to understand.  She spoke with a heavy accent that sounded to my impaired ears like German, so I affectionately refer to her as simply Fraulein.  The thing I enjoyed about her class was her unpredictability.  One of her favorite commands (and mine as well) was for us to thrash about the pool, doing whatever random movements we desired for a sequence of fifteen or twenty seconds.  Those were probably the most aerobically challenging seconds of my life.  Sadly, she has moved to Colorado, so we won’t be blessed with her unpredictability any more.  One of the more recent ones I can only call the Dance Diva.  Every exercise she comes up with must be done in time to the music, and she has added one move trying to teach us to dance a waltz in the water, as well as another that she calls the cowboy shuffle.  I am not that great at either of those moves, in the water or on land.  The teacher we had Monday was a lady who has been in the class with us for some time.  I’ll have to experience her a time or two more before I can come up with a designation, though.  For now she has an accent as well, but this one has more of a Yankee twang to it.  Her voice falls into that area of the spectrum that is hardest for my ears to translate, though.  I had to watch my cohorts carefully to see what she wanted us to do next.  I think she was saying some funny things because other class members were doing a lot of laughing, but I’ll just have to take their word for it (or I guess it would be, I’ll have to take their chuckle for it). 

But it is with the help of all these instructors that I have literally waded my way through about nine months of some interesting and challenging exercises that only make sense when you try them in the water: cross country skiing, travel jacks, push-backs, and a dizzying array of nightmarish contortions involving a pool noodle.  My balance has improved dramatically.  My stamina still has a long way to go, but I have been able to resume walking around the neighborhood with Chris.  My ultimate goal was to get enough physical self-assurance to go on a ride-along with one of the fire engines.  I already have approval for that, so I don’t think it is far off.  So my final word for this day is … embrace that AARP card and take advantage of the incredible opportunities that await you.  Hey, maybe that can be their motto: Grow OLLI Old.

Psalms 92:12-15 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’”

Father, thank you for opportunities.  Especially unexpected ones.  I like surprises.  Amen.