My Life, My Epitaph

I am 56 years old.  I am sort of an active person.  I like to walk.  Run.  Hike.  Bike.  Swim.  Play tennis.  Play chess!

In so many of the aforementioned, I come in last.  I lose, or am dead last, or somewhere slowly bringing up the rear.  I rarely win at chess or tennis.  I haven't won a running race since high school. My one crit (cycling), I was SOooo dead last.

But: I DID IT!

I still like to do all these activities.  Coming in behind the pelaton or pack or missing that volley? Hey, it really does not bother me.  Not one whit.  I wonder if it used to, back a few decades.  I don't think so.  I still remember running my first 5K, at age 31.  I was having a ball being part of the throng of runners, and it did not bother me when I had to stop and walk.

Last weekend that Spouse o' Mine and I spent time in the Colorado Rockies.  We invited friends to join us up a short hike of Hoosier Pass.  Once we got going, I found myself pacing about fifty yards behind the other hikers.  Altitude!  Deep snow!  Where were my snowshoes?

But I had fun, even though I did not make it as far up as the rest of the gang.

The following morning it was just that Spouse o' Mine and me, hiking up Loveland Pass.  This time we needed crampons for melted snow=ice, not snowshoes.  But, we had not brought those, either.  So we ventured forth as best we could.  Again, I was bringing up the rear by a significant margin.  Still, I got pretty darn high, and was pleased with my effort.  Heck, I did not slide down the icy side of the Continental Divide, screaming and raising a ruckus and pleading for someone to call 911 and a helicopter.  So: all-in-all, I had a good hike.  Albeit slow.

As the two of us were hiking, I remarked that I am always last in all my ventures.  We had a chuckle.  And then we came up with my epitaph.

"Always Last.  But Always in the Game".

I'll take it.