I walk and skip and hop.
I twist and bend and squat.
I bear walk, cobra and crawl.
I handstand on the wall. (Well, I’ve tried it a few times)
No, that’s not Dr. Seuss. That’s me: Grandpa. I’m 62 years old and I move in different ways. Ways that make my wife say, “Don’t hurt yourself” and my son say, “You’re an old guy, now, pop.” I move so that when my grandson says, “Your turn, grandpa! ” I can give it a go.
I’m a grandpa who moves and
I want to encourage other grandpas to move, too.
I move because I want to be able to keep moving: for me, for my family and, maybe most of all, for that little guy in the picture (he’s closer to three years old now, so he really moves!) I move so I can pick up my grandson (and new granddaughter!) and jump with him, crawl with him, climb with him, and chase him around. I move so I can carry tubs with Christmas decorations up the steep basement stairs in the winter and stand on the deck rail to hook the big hanging plants up in the summer. Those are my reasons; you can have yours!
I’m not particularly strong. I’ve never in my life been able to do a bunch of pushups. I’ve never run a 5K race. much less a marathon. I grew up in Massachusetts twenty minutes from the ocean and can’t even swim! I was a very overweight, inactive kid, almost always picked last in schoolyard games. I became a skinny, weak teenager and then an extremely dad-bod adult. There might be 62-year-old triathletes, powerlifters and gymnasts; that’s not me. Still, I move.
There IS a big reveal about me: I practiced and taught Tae Kwon Do for nearly 27 years, up until age 60. When I was 33, that big guy in the picture got me into classes along with him, a four-year-old at the time. Starting Taekwondo had not been in the plan; I HAD to start so that he could start. I was not in any kind of shape at the time, except maybe more vertical than horizontal.
I never stopped practicing Tae Kwon Do for the next 27 years, and I tested for (and earned) my fifth degree black belt at age 50. I’ve played with hundreds of kids, teens, adults and senior citizens. I’ve helped people go from not moving at all to doing things they never thought they would, at age 6 and past age 66.
I started this blog so that I can share a little bit about the experience of being a grandpa who moves, both the movement part and the grandpa part. I want also to uplift other grandpas, whether they move a whole bunch or not. Finally, I hope that we hear from each other. Please comment or reach out to share your reactions and your own experiences, even if you’re a Yankees fan.
Grandpa Mode 