My Journey With Health And Fitness – Remembering A True Gentleman

This week was a good week for workouts. I did about 3 hours for 5 days and today taking it down a notch to work on recovery I did 1 1/2 hours. I feel pretty good as I have met most of my goals each day. The only problem is that the treadmill is slowly dying and I really need to start looking in to replacing it. My only hesitation is the cost of buying a decent new one.

Today I went to the Celebration of Life for my Mom’s 1st cousin, Johnny Weston. Now this might seem an odd topic on health and fitness but I don’t think it is. Seriously, this was one of the best services I have ever been to the reason being, it was all about a kind, caring, honest gentleman. He was also the last of that generation of the Weston cousins and at 89 outlived them all. Every speech done at the COL just kept referring to him as a gentleman, and he truly was. That is how I have always thought of him, just kind and caring. That came through so much with the tributes from his children, grandson and nephew. All of them talked about how he touched the lives of so many people and always with a kind heart. I still remember the loving speech he gave at my Mom’s COL and how everyone in the room knew it was from the heart.

So how does this fit in with my journey? Well, a comment was made how Johnny always wanted to leave the world a better place. He wanted to help those who needed it. He wanted to surround his family with love and support (which he absolutely did). He wanted to be remembered as a good man. Seriously, that is what I strive for. I know I did it through my work as a union activist and even more so now as a dedicated volunteer for several organizations. But the bar I saw today is set so high I don’t know if I can ever achieve the status that he did. Still I want to think I can.

And so my gentleman cousin, go in peace. Know that you impacted so many people in a positive way. Know that so many of us want to be remembered in the same light you were. But most of all, find Ruthie, Mom, Doug and Chris and have the biggest cousin party ever imaginable.