My age limit for traipsing across the campground to use the bathroom in the middle of the night was a whole lot younger than your mom's.

Right? Although I would have been okay with renting a camper van that doesn't have a bathroom and is just tricked out with a comfy sleeping arrangement; if I *had* to traipse across the campground to pee, I would have. But basically, we can't tent camp any more because we are both too rickety. (Also, tent camping sucks and always has.) But when we found that the best rental price was an actual small Winnebago with bathroom and fridge, then hell yeah we rented it, and it was a delight.

(I can already forsee our own retirement years, and they're going to involve a camper. But that's cool by me.)

I empathize and sympathize with the aging parent issues. It's not easy. And same re: recognizing the importance of trying to stay active -- my mom suffered a lot of mobility loss because of her essentially sedentary lifestyle, so I'm trying to learn from that. Hell if she didn't keep, like, 95% of her mental faculties though. Seriously fucking impressive and, I hope, a good sign for me in that regard.

Thinking about exploring Pilates now, which seems easier on joints.

Tai Chi?

Definitely no al fresco bathroomimg or traipsing for this gal anymore. Nope.

I say that like I used to do it a lot. I did not. Don't think I've ever slept overnight in a tent, and I know I've only had to use an outhouse once e in my life. I'm OK with that.

I empathize and sympathize with the aging parent issues. It's not easy. And same re: recognizing the importance of trying to stay active -- my mom suffered a lot of mobility loss because of her essentially sedentary lifestyle, so I'm trying to learn from that.

Cosigned. Since Covid, my physical health has fallen off in a big way. No in-person 5Ks, no dance classes, no classes at the gym, etc. I actually lost weight during quarantine, but part of it is that I lost any tiny bit of muscle tone I ever had. Now things are creeping back to normal, well, "normal", I've got to start making a real effort to get off the friggin couch more regularly. But seeing what my mom went through her last 5-10 years really made an impression.

My sciatica experience was the same wake up call. And now I run the steps five days a week regularly. Or until my knees give out. Thinking about exploring Pilates now, which seems easier on joints.

Endurance-wise, I'm just trying to add walking time in increments of literally 1 minute. It is brisk walking, like, definite breaking-a-sweat walking, so there's that. I am actually optimistic that I'll get back to pre-Covid levels, but I can't guess how long that will take. And I hiked in Vermont without slowing anyone down, so I'm not decrepit. I'm just hyper aware of where I was pre-Covid and where I am now, 9 months later.

Anyway, I really need to take a page out of my mom's book and do some yoga, too, because I am emphatically not bendy. I also need to get back to lifting weights, because muscle mass is pretty damn important as we all get older. (Another true story about my bionic mom: she had developed osteoporosis [or maybe just the precursor osteopenia], and her doctor started her on meds for it. Mom threw herself into a regimen of lifting weights and, for real, not just stopped the bone loss but actually reversed it and doesn't have to take the meds any more. She's a wunderkind.)

That makes me feel doubly good about the fact that we decided to go lift tonight!

Epic, I hear you.

I still don't have the cardio endurance I had before Covid. And when I say "cardio," I mean brisk walking. I'm at maybe 2/3 the capacity I was before.

I came down with Covid a year ago and hills both up and down are still brutal. Long Covid blows. Covid antagonizing other issues into serious issues that I might be facing for the rest of my life (hyponatremia for as yet unknown exact causes) blows most of all for me.

My sciatica experience was the same wake up call. And now I run the steps five days a week regularly. Or until my knees give out.

Easier on joints overall is best but knee surgery would scare me less than (more) back surgery. And faster recovery.

Staying as active as possible is important with aging. My Dad died at 80 and he had pain/poor mobility for so long before that he seemed much older to me. Mom died when she was 80 and we walked every weekday morning for a few miles with elevation changes. She was a very young 80, apart from her heart stopping. They both lived to exactly 80 but had such different experiences. My stepmom might outlive me potentially. Because she had knee surgery.

(I can already forsee our own retirement years, and they're going to involve a camper. But that's cool by me.)

I so want to do more camping. Any camping.

My own train wreck of a father, who is probably in medical textbooks with the caption of We Don't Know Why This Man Is Alive -- seriously, he has so goddamn many things wrong with him it blows my mind, if you read his chart you would not expect to see the 79-year-old man who works 30-40 hours a week at Kroger every week. And, quite honestly, I think if he weren't working that job, he would have died already. It's not like a gym workout, but he's on his feet the whole time, stocking shelves and getting carts outside and bagging groceries. That's a hell of a lot more active than 40 hours a week editing. So I think it's been really good for him to have that job. Plus he gets a lot of social interaction, which is also beneficial.

Oh yes, elder parent care. All my love to everyone dealing with it. Also, +100 to the rec to get active now. My dad was never active, and he can barely move around and has no muscle tone. He's an old soon-to-be 79. My mom is much more active and MUCH healthier and younger soon-to-be 77.