My Parents At The Age I Am Now

I had to do a little math to figure out when my parents were the same age as I am now. Here are some pictures from 1978 parents weekend when I was a freshman in college. My father would have been 60 and my mother would have been my age, more or less. Even though she’s dressed very modestly, I can see her strong legs. She would have been playing racquetball several times a week. She was always a jock and always better at me at any sports.

After church on Sundays, the youth fellowship would go down the street to the YMCA and play basketball or sometimes volleyball. Everyone always wanted my mother on the team before they wanted me. They used to call me Chicken Ito because I was afraid of the balls. If I saw one coming toward me, I would duck and put my hands in front of my face. I was a failure at tennis and racquetball and all of those sports that involved balls. My mother was an aggressive player and she even played tennis into her 80s.

I think at the time, my parents seemed old. They were older than many of the parents of my friends. But when I look back on these pictures I see how vigorous and strong they were. My father was still driving 10,000 miles a year, working as a salesman. He really never retired, and kept working even when he lost the use of his legs and was in a wheelchair. My mother was strong. It was also during the years that she was taking care of my grandmother, who was feisty in her 80s.

She’s in her 90s now and still bowling every day. She still strong. I hope I can be as strong as she is when I am the age that she is now.