ANNE

If anyone can pull off being skeptical, quick to laugh, and open all in one . . . it's Anne.

After hearing about our 2nd Wind class from our church's announcements, Anne signed right up. Why? . . . to build strength . . . or, rather, to get it back. The fact that she'd please her kids was just a bonus.

She started day one knowing that it wouldn't get her back to "100 years ago", but hoped that it would at least keep her from the couch potato habits sneaking into her life. In her words, "that's not my style."

She walked into class in the second week with an observation: "After last week's class, I felt something in my legs. Then I realized, those are my thighs! I haven't felt those in a really long time."

It had been a 1-2x/week dedication over four months that culminated in a recent outing to Chicago. It was this day voyage that really impressed on her how far she'd come. She had looked for a park district outing to see the Phantom at the Cadillac Theater . . . to no avail. She decided to not let it stop her. Instead, she bought herself a ticket to the show, got on the train the next day, and headed down to the big city . . . fearless. She got onto and off of the train with minimal help, and walked to and from the theater with zero physical assistance. In fact, she was only offered help on two occasions, when she was a bit lost. But with simple instructions, she was back on her way.

For those of you who know the Cadillac Theater (or most any old-time theater in Chicago), the bathrooms are few, poorly located, and small. The show had ended, she was ready to head back to the train station, but nature called. She looked down the stairs to the nearest bathrooms, and told herself that she wasn't going to let some stairs get in the way of using the restrooms. 18-steps down and then back up again . . . executed proficiently without misstepping or having to stop to catch her breath.

It is a victorious day like that . . . feeling the power of her stride and game-changing confidence . . . that make all her hard work worthwhile.  Add to it that she can now kneel down to get something off the bottom shelf and be able to stand back up without the assistance of a nearby chair . . . and she is winning at her life.

In Anne's words, she "highly recommends the strengthening from class . . . even though it doesn't look like we're doing anything. In fact, most days, it doesn't even feel like we're doing much. But I always feel it the next day."

Truth. We do spend a lot of time talking and laughing. And put all together, we probably only get in a full 25 minutes of movement (only 7 minutes of which make us break a sweat). But it is an efficient and effective 25 minutes.

Awesome job Anne. Your success is commendable and inspiring. Blessings to your hard work!

-Coach Rebecca