Raising teens again!

My first special memory of walking was in 1960 when I was nine & my dad gave me a piggyback ride to his work! I really felt cherished.
Other walking memories from childhood had to do with school, ( Walking a mile in blizzard conditions in Wisconsin.) friends, my grandparents farm along the railroad tracks & of course walks with some of my siblings.

In my 20s I started walking my babies in strollers and wagons. Later it was walking my kids & others to school, parks & many exciting adventures! Then I became an early morning mall walker here in Anchorage for over 20 years. There are many stories to tell about that for sure! Still later I began walking with my grand babies. As they grew older I made a list of over 100 things for us to do, inside and outside. One memory is walking in a local park & seeing the Lesser Canadian geese.

When they were teens we started walking their little sisters all around the neighborhood.
Hubby & I have also walked for many years. He was 6 ‘4” so I often had to grab his hand to get him to slow down. He was a runner so it was hard for him to slow down. Then as we aged, he started to pull on my hand & say “Slow down.” Now that he is 6’0” after 58 years of running & having compression fractures in his back from falls while running & in the house, neither of us asks the other to slow down because our walks can only be described as strolls!

At this stage we have been walking to get little grandkids from school, and since they have so much energy, David starts walking back before they get dismissed. Sometimes we need to cross the street due to a mama moose & yearling munching on trees. We also now take our 1 year old granddaughter in the stroller to get the girls & she loves to hum etc. while observing all the people & cars. So it’s been 51 years since I first started strolling babies. A lot has happened since then, especially the price of fancy strollers. It seemed like the old red wagon that’s been through grandkids was too short on the sides and I was afraid that the baby would fall out, so I got a cute new one with a removable canopy. It’s great for short strolls in our subdivision. What will they think of next?

I wonder how many steps these 73 year old feet have gone? it must be millions. They sure could tell some stories! I am blessed that I have good walking shoes, so despite the bunions, corns, sore spots etc. I keep on going without too much trouble. I even play Pickleball, but that’s another story!

So, at this stage, the 19 year old teen in the house is gone a lot so I haven’t walked with her or the 21 year old lately, but we keep young by walking with their little sisters and the baby, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Imagine how bored we would be if those two teens hadn’t moved in 2 1/2 years ago! I think that we will keep up this walking tradition and enjoy the awesome but short Spring, Summer & Fall seasons here in Alaska. Before you know it these kids will all be too busy to walk with grandma & grandpa, so we will cherish this time for sure!