A Summer Fairy Tale

                                                                                  Photo from greenwich.gov.uk

Once upon a time, in a far away village called 2nd Reyville where I grew up in, there was an old couple in their seventies who used to go walking in the park every summer morning. The short, rather plump Lola slowly walked side by side with the tall, rather slim Lolo, while holding hands. The image of the greying pair plus the rising sun and the smell of fresh morning dew was deeply etched in my young, impressionistic memory. For me, that was the ultimate definition of what sweet, romantic, and everlasting love is all about.

Gadgets, gadgets everywhere!

Back to the future. One of the very few frustrations that I have with my family is their hate for exercising. This is because each of us has our own techie thingies we tinker with all the time. Hmm, maybe the Kiddos think they were born with power cords in their mouths (alas, not silver spoons)? I blame it on the Hubby (hope he doesn’t read this!) for buying the Kids whatever gaming console is new in the market. Hayun tuloy, every time I urge them to come with me to exercise, it’s either they think I’m joking, or they think it’s a form of punishment for something naughty they did. They grumble to the high heavens and make a lot of excuses just to skid away from their workout-freak mother (that includes the H too!). I have always hoped that one day, my three baby stooges (okay, make that four!) would willingly snap out of their laptop hypnosis and go outdoors for some cardiovascular wake-uppers.

A journey
of a thousand miles
begins with a single step

Finally, Someone must have heard my prayers. It’s as if the summer fairies have cast a spell on all of them. Last week, the Hubby bought a pair of running shoes. Then, the Daughter promised me to go to a boxing gym in the morning and jog with me in the afternoon this summer vacation (we started the other day--yehey!). Just today, the First Son confided that he would start walking, early in the morning. It’s only the Youngest who doesn’t have a physical fitness plan this summer. He lost a lot of weight in PiSay anyway, so I’m giving him a pass on this.   But 3 out of 4 converts is not bad, eh? Hallelujah!

Will the era in my family’s couch potato story become a thing of the past? While I may be getting too far ahead of the “ever after” part, it’s such a high for me to know that it is indeed possible; that this is a step toward my vision of replacing the image of the old couple, with the Hubby and me ambling hand in hand in the park.

Cue cheesy music:  And they walked happily ever after. Together. End of story.