Tread Gently...

We have Papa enrolled in the Silver Sneakers Program at the Pavilion in Georgetown. They have a wonderful track on which to walk or run. Papa goes over there several days a week and walks the track.

He went last week and found a sign on the door stating they were closed for renovations until the 13th (this coming Monday). When Papa related this to me, I told him we have a treadmill in the basement. I assured him he would be more than welcome to come and walk the treadmill if he wanted to sometime.

This afternoon I received a phone call from Papa just as I finished my last Blog entry. He wanted to know if we were going to be home. I told him yes. He said he wanted to come and walk the treadmill. I assured him he could come on out and walk away.

When he got here I took him downstairs to the workroom in the basement where the treadmill is located. I showed him how we plug it in, then turn it on.  Next I stepped up on the treadmill and helped him put the string that attachs with a clip to his clothes and a magnet to the treadmill on his shirt. If he fell while walking, the magnet comes off and stops the treadmill. Very important feature as one ages. I showed him how to set the treadmill for walking and carefully pointed out that he should NOT press any of the incline buttons. Then I explained how the display tells you how long and how far you have walked, how many calories you have burned, what your pulse rate is, and the speed at which you are walking. He was oriented and ready to go.

Papa hopped (figuratively speaking) up on the treadmill, set it for two miles per hour and then stepped onto the moving treadmill. Once I was sure he was okay, I took Tiny and headed outside so she could run the hill. When we came back into the house, Papa was still walking. Look at poor little Tiny. I'm not sure she has any idea what Papa has gotten himself into this time. Or, maybe she is wondering if she could hop up there with him!!

Papa walked for about 15 minutes total. He was quite ready to rest when he finished. He had already done several errands before he came out to our home.

We got Papa a root beer and he and I settled down in front of my computer to work on a cassette tape we are trying to transcribe.

His back started to hurt so upstairs we went. He nestled himself in the sofa and stretched out to relieve the pain. We had a good talk about his life.

Then he headed out to take the long way home.

I planned on preparing my Sunday School lesson. That didn't happen but I did have a very nice afternoon with my father.