Forget the Joneses—Keep Up with the Grandkids

Early in our careers we focused on climbing the corporate ladder and getting ahead in life. Now that we boomers are aging, we are in the retirement zone and concentrate on building a healthy 401k. We no longer try to keep up with the Joneses and realize life is what it is—and find ourselves comfortable with our standard of living. Now, our goal is to stay healthy and fit enough to keep up with our grandkids.

I just went to Branson with my grandkids. My daughter-in-law, Stacey, and I took three of them to Silver Dollar City on Friday. We migrated from the kiddie section where we all rode rides for the younger crowd. Now, you would think this would mean carousels, little cars, etc. But no, the rides are high-flying swings, pirate ships that zip around in circles throwing you against the person riding with you, a big ship that rocks back and forth higher and higher above the trees, a small rollercoaster and other rides that left me a little on the dizzy side.

Later, we moved toward the big rollercoasters and I watched the two little ones while Stacey and twelve-year-old granddaughter got onto a rollercoaster that rocketed off the platform before going through a series of twists and turns. Then they rode one that did a loop-de-loop letting them see the world from an up-side-down vantage point.

It seemed to me that we walked uphill all day in 100 degree heat. At one time, I was so hot that I was drenched with sweat and my skin felt like it was being pricked with a billion pinheads. By the time we left, I was exhausted and felt like the calves of legs had been in a car wreck.

The highlight of the day for me was stopping at Steak and Shake and drinking two glasses of ice water with lemon in it. Yep, it was quite a day. The only thing I can say is I kept up with the grandkids. Geeze, I don’t think the Joneses can compete at all with that feeling of accomplishment.

Copyright © August 2010 L. S. Fisher
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