Great News! Dwight and I restarted our exercise program Wednesday night! We’ve talked about it all summer and into the fall; “We really should start exercising again… And so, of course, the coldest night of the season- thus far- seemed the perfect time to start.
Dwight was in complete agreement with me. “Let’s go for a walk! No answer. I let the idea sink in while I brought the groceries in. I ran up stairs to change, came back downstairs, and threw on my shoes, hat and mittens. “I’ll just wait for you outside,” I said, hoping this would bump him from his chair. “Will you just give me a few seconds?! I am trying to write this e-mail!” Well! I can certainly wait a few seconds…
Once changed into “running gear” we were about to venture out. “Where’s my shoes? Who took my shoes? Well, I can’t go anywhere without my shoes!” I picked up the phone. “Hello- Nicki? Is Charlie there? Would you ask him if he’s wearing Uncle Dwight’s shoes? He’s on his way back home? Lovely!”
Dunned in our “running shoes,” Dwight checked his blood sugar and removed his insulin pump. Blood sugar- 101- Perfect. Unless you’re planning to exercise. I poured a thermos of apple cider. Ready for low blood sugar.
Now we have ipods, we have cell phones, we have stop watches- do you think even one of them had battery power at that moment? I took my Timex from my wrist and checked its night light. Check!
“What’s your hurry?” He asked as we walked down the driveway. “Well, it’s twenty to 9; I thought we should get going so that we’d be back by bed time.” No response. “In ten minutes we’ll run for one minute.” “I thought we started out at 30 seconds the last time?!” “Nope, one minute blocks tonight,then we’ll add 15 seconds to each minute, each new day…”
We walk on quietly- somehow I had thought this would be more fun…. “Wow! It was 31 degrees already an hour ago!” I offer cheerfully. ” Well, it was only 27 degrees back at the house.” I gently place my upper and lower teeth around my tongue…
We successfully made it through our 10 minute run-walk segment; even though Dwight’s blood sugar did plummet- good thing for apple cider! Running with low sugar felt like he was” trying to run on the deck of a ship in a storm.”
“Are ya still mad at me?” I asked. “No.” “Do you still love me?” I asked. “No!” Well…! On we walked. Half a mile later, “Are ya still mad at me?” “No.” “Do ya still love me?” The corner of his mouth started to turn up ever so slightly, about the same time I noticed a hint of a dimple in his cheek. Ah, finally! “Aren’t you glad you did this now?!” He finally put his arm around me as we walked back up the driveway. Someday he’ll thank me, right?!
