Gord is an 83-year-old retired political communications manager. He previously led the Together in Movement and Exercise (TIME) program, a community-based program welcoming people with balance and mobility challenges to exercise. In between maintaining a rural home in Muskoka, north of Toronto, that he shares with his wife, he enjoys curling, staying politically active, and caring for his seventh Doberman. He has been a participant in the CLSA since June 2012.
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey with aging?
I’ve had my challenges. I had a triple bypass in 2002. They offer you a cardiac rehab course at the hospital – so don’t say no! It’s challenging to try to keep people motivated when you’re doing that kind of a program. It was a good experience – I learned a lot besides just helping others.
After my bypass, everyone said ‘Well, surely he felt this coming.’ No, I didn’t. I’d had a cardiac work up month before, and while I noticed that climbing the stairs took just a little more puff than it used to I sort of put that off to being in my 60s. It turns out it wasn’t – it was something more that was causing it. So you have to be aware of the signals, too.
My dad had heart problems. He died at 72, and that was back in the time when the doctor said, ‘Oh, don’t move! Don’t do much. Take a little walk around the block and come home again.’ I think we’ve proven now that you’ve got to stay active – physically and mentally. If you don’t do that, you’re probably going to lessen your ability to stay with us.
How do you stay motivated?
You’ve got to find the right program, and I lucked out in my cardiac one. Some people feel like they were forced into a program, so they really aren’t going to spend a lot of time thinking about it or participating. They will do as little as possible for the hour and leave. There’s a lot of other people that I’ve worked with that hold the attitude of expecting somebody to come and do the work for them. Other people say, ‘Well, this may be my opportunity to get back on my feet.’ They’re the ones that are fun to work with.
How important is staying active to you as you age?
I’ve never curled before. But 10 years ago, I said, ‘Well, let’s try.’ There are all kinds of opportunities out there. If you just want to play cards, fine. But it’s amazing. We turn over the ice surface at the curling club in the summer to a pickleball club, and most of the people there are not 30 anymore, you know. But they’re all working out, and they’re all staying in shape.
As a person who is an older adult, but also cares for older adults, can you share some perspective you’ve learned being a part of the community that you are also supporting?
I don’t know what’s considered older, I guess I don’t think anything’s older. I tend to be involved with people who are active. Maybe we’re just lucky that we have learned how to be active and stay interested.
Be aware that as life goes on you may “graduate” from some social groups and find others. We used to regularly attend a happy hour group around our area. Eventually we found that we were the ones who left earlier to get our beauty sleep. The “younger” folks were able to party a little longer and still get up early the next day. Now there are others to feel the same and we all get together from time to time. We may still be the oldest in the new group, but we don’t feel like it.
