I took my January issue of Maire Claire with me and it got
Nanna’ed (a term my family uses to refer to something that goes missing) I
assume it’s in the stack of magazines that sits on her coffee table and I only hope
she gets some use out of it.
My Nanna lost her partner, my Pop, some 18 years ago and has
lived alone ever since in a small town, where the main attraction is fishing.
My Nanna, as so many other women of her generation in
Australia, was married young and dedicated all her time to three children and
her husband. The all of a sudden her children were grown, with lives of their
own and her husband in an urn beside her bed. She was alone for the first time
in her life and she slipped into depression, guarded, nervous, scared and sad.
She kept to herself, and would walk alone, and after several
years of walking past the same fisherman, one of them approached her insisting
she should join his wife’s walkers group. I can only imagine my Nan’s
embarrassment, as she absolutely refused. Weeks went by and Bob the fisherman kept persisting, one day telling Nan if she didn’t show up to walkers the next morning his wife Betty would come collect her from her house. Mortified Nanna was pushed to the edge of her comfort zone, something that scared her more than someone she didn’t know was someone she didn’t know coming to her home.
I imagine my Nan, in her early sixties, brushing her short, curly, grey hair and apply her light pink lippy. Lacing up her trainers and feeling ill with nerves as she walked herself to the local walkers group. She was naturally such a shy person, when anyone tried talking with her she would blush red. She must have just wanted to turn around, go home and close her front door. But she didn’t turn around and the several steps she walked that day with the other seniors in her town helped her take a giant step forward.
Fast forward seven or so years and I was sitting next to my Nanna on the little bus that the walkers had hired for their monthly excursion, we walked around a lake in some random town, ate at a boiling club and visited a chocolate factory, my Nanna laughing and chatting with the other ladies all day.
Today, the walkers meet up once a week, Nanna and Betty
still walk every day. Poor Bob the fisherman has since passed away but thanks
to him my little Nanna came right out of her shell. I would now describe my Nan
as a woman who’s independent, capable, and strong.
I’m so glad my Nanna found her local walkers club.
The Heart Foundations walkers groups are Australia’s largest
network of free, local walkers groups, including groups for over 50’s. The
Heart foundation website has a page for people wanting to find a walkers group
in your local area. Walkers groups are a healthy and amazing activity for
women. Community and socialising is an important part of life no matter how old
and walking is a great way for seniors to get active. heartfoundation.org.au
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