The Fat Man & his Wife Do It in Public (for the first time!)

Mrs P and I shared a cool experience today. I go to the gym straight from work. She usually arrives a little later. Today, She walked in the front door when I had been on the elliptical for about 30 minutes.

I have been telling her about the machine - my early difficulties, how gentle it is on my joints, what a great workout it is. She had not tried it. We’re both a little clumsy and self conscious about looking foolish, so we are shy about trying to do new things in public.

Well, today, she walked up to me, batted her big brown eyes and said, “Show me how this thing works.”

I was so proud of her!

I stopped what I was doing, and moved down the line to a place where two machines were empty side by side. I tried to remember all the things I had done wrong early on - don’t rush, don’t lock your knees, keep your balance, stay in control - then she stepped on to the foot pads and I showed what all the buttons did. We walked together side-by-side, a fat man running and his lovely bride, sweating through life together. And neither of us gave a rat’s patoot who saw us or what we looked like. She looked like the prettiest girl in the gym. And I probably looked like the happiest boy.

After a week of constant griping about my sore swollen, chafed, strained, aching, limping parts, it was really nice to just enjoy a walk with my sweetheart. It felt like Valentine’s day.

Only the air smelled like liniment instead of chocolate and roses.

Smelled pretty good, too.

Peace,
Pennsy