By Lynn Turcotte-Schuh
At 35 years of age, I know I am a young contributor for a group called Fit After Fifty – but I hope I can inspire you with my perspective. “Life-Long Learning” is a collection of thoughts I have been filing away while watching the generation before me. One of the most important things I have learned about growing older is that…
#1: Age really is just a number – an old adage but very true.
As a child of divorced parents, I grew up around many types of people and relationships. Some were healthy and others were not. Even among my friends there was a myriad of family situations. As I became an adult, I drew from those childhood experiences to help me realize my own path. The most influential person in this area of my life is my Dad.
My Dad and my daughter.
My father is in construction; a very fit man at the age of 58 he still works a full-time construction job. Growing up, my Dad always made time and found the energy to play with us. He was the Dad that was behind us on the monkey bars cheering us on. He was the Dad that showed us all how to properly dive off the high board. He was the only Dad I can remember that could hang from the door jam with just his fingertips; and he did that last week just before he went to a rock climbing gym with my very fit 24-year-old brother and beat him up the wall. At 58, my Dad is just warming up to do all of this and more with his first grandchild.
In contrast, I distinctly remember my best friend’s father pulling into the driveway just as dinner was being served. He would sit down at the table – still in his suit – eat his dinner and then go into the living room and watch the news on television while the rest of the family went outside to play. I saw such a difference in his relationship with his children, even at such a young age. As I interact with my four-month old daughter I remember this dichotomy of parenting and am pulled quite forcefully to my Dad’s way. I strive to be just like him…even though he was a 23-year-old father, and is now a 58-year-old grandfather, my Dad has always kept a child-like joy in his life proving to me that age really is just a number.
Lynn Turcotte-Schuh lives with her family in Voluntown, CT on 14 acres of beautiful nature. She was certified as a Health Coach in July of 2011 through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She is a member of the International Association of Health Coaches and the American Academy of Drugless Practitioners as well as a Team Member at Nutrisults, a company poised to help people age gracefully.
In 2013, Lynn founded Happy Mama Wellness – an organization whose mission is to help parents model healthy behaviors in all areas of life so that our children can be the next generation of leaders in the wellness revolution.
