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My great grandfather's treadmill
My great grandfather, who used to be a doctor, always maintained a healthy lifestyle. Something that stuck in my mind growing up was his treadmill. He woke up, and hit the treadmill; he finished lunch, and hit the treadmill; he was about to go to bed, and hit the treadmill. He was an avid walker, and told us how in the early years of his youth, up to about his mid-forties, he did one hundred push-ups a day. Upon reaching the elderly stage, he became sensitive to sunlight, which is why he chose this alternative to walking outside. When I was younger, I saw the treadmill tower over me and marveled at its movement; I couldn’t wait to get to my great grandfather’s house to see how he used it, and hopefully to be taught to use it myself. I remember the “treadmill room”, I called it, clearly, and found him there on most occasions (not that it was a surprise, by any means). It was always something he cherished: his “treadmill time”. It was a part of him. Even though he was around the range of 85-95 years old in these moments I recall, he was unfailingly trying to stay active, something made possible by his treadmill. Even through his battle with a minor degree of skin cancer and other health issues, he knew he could rely on his treadmill to get him moving. With time, he went a little slower than usual, and as the sunlight coming from the windows hit his face, I was able to discern the toll age had taken on him. I had always looked at the treadmill as something majestic, in a way, and I found myself towering over it eventually. As the years went by, the old treadmill – archaic, compared to all the state of the art treadmills with screens and multiple controls one sees at the gym nowadays – began to gather dust. Soon after my great grandmother’s passing (he was around 96 or 97 at the time), the treadmill became somewhat obsolete. The “treadmill room” was no longer the “treadmill room”. Nevertheless, it will always represent an important part of my great grandfather’s life and his quest to being healthy and staying active, which he consistently pursued (probably a reason why he became a doctor). My great grandfather’s treadmill embodied his “never give up” attitude, and how he always found time to do the things that he loved – especially those with health benefits.
