Back to school has always been a busy time for retired school teacher Leanna Clark. These days, Clark stays in school all year long. She takes exercises classes at San Diego Oasis four days a week to keep feeling steady on her feet and confident in her movements. 

Clark’s job as a kindergarten and first grade teacher kept her moving but because of arthritis she began to use a cane. Eventually, she had surgery to replace both knees so that she didn’t miss a day teaching her Kindergarten and first grade students. While life remained busy, she didn’t feel steadier on her feet.

One day about 15 years ago Leanna fell.

“My doctor agreed I was lucky I didn’t get hurt worse than I did. At that point my son, Tod, suggested that I find a balance class to help keep me from falling again.”

These days Clark’s exercise routine means she no longer needs to use a cane for support.
She feels fortunate that her neighbor told her about exercise classes at San Diego Oasis. Last Christmas when asked by a friend why she exercised so often she replied,

“For me, exercise has become as irresistible as a box of chocolate . . . I’m kind of addicted.”

We all lose one percent of our muscle mass after we turn 40, but anyone who follows Clark’s lead does not have to succumb to loss of strength, flexibility and agility.

“I always encourage people to stick with it, Clark says. If I could do it so can they. I’m the oldest student in my class and I enjoy the independence I have regained by exercising.”

Take these steps to stay on your feet

1. Sign up for an exercise class.  Tai Chi, strength building and balance classes are especially good, but anything that builds your fitness will help.

Find out about upcoming Oasis fitness and balance classes.

2. Avoid flippin, slippin or trippin. Choose sandals with ankle straps and socks with grippers over flip-flops and slippers. Remove tripping hazards, like throw rugs, from your home. Have your pharmacist or doctor review your medications to make sure that medication interactions are not causing balance issues.

3. See where you stand.  Get a physical or attend a community health screening  to detect a problem that can affect your balance.  Screenings to test balance, strength, agility, bone density, orthostatic blood pressure, vital signs, foot sensation, vision, and hearing  can help healthcare professionals create an individualized plan of action to prevent a fall.

Peter Bolland enjoys the engaged audiences at San Diego Oasis

“They are buying into the work before you say the first word,” says Peter. “Our discussions get really exciting because these students bring with them a life of insight that is thrilling for me.”

For five years, Peter has been a mainstay at San Diego Oasis. A philosophy professor at Southwestern College, as well as musician, artist and columnist, he is also frequent lecturer on any number of spiritual and mythological subjects. He says he takes away just as much “homework” or food for thought as anybody in the room.

“The questions they ask are really helpful for my writing process and I leave the classes with the dialogues continuing in my mind,” he says.

Peter’s experience with OASIS has helped him reshape how he perceives his own aging process.

“I’m coming to appreciate more and more the power of community,” he says. “We’re social creatures and something happens when we gather. It’s really interesting to see students realize that their presence in the room has benefit to others in the room. That’s what I love about OASIS.”

You name it

With Oasis, there truly is something for everyone: book clubs, dancing, cooking, history, music lessons and helpful information about practical matters, like estate planning and understanding Medicare.

“You name it,” says Simona Valanciute, San Diego Oasis executive director. “We probably have it.”

While the variety is certainly part of the appeal, the high quality of instruction keeps learners coming back for more. Classes are led by instructors who are experts in their fields: healthcare professionals, historians, attorneys, musicians, artists, former professors, writers and thinkers.

Robert Tórrez brings history to life in Albuquerque

A core group of people frequents classes at Oasis Albuquerque taught by Robert Tórrez, who served as the New Mexico State Historian for 15 years.

Robert still writes a monthly column, “Voices from the Past.” Naturally, his classes cover local history and his specialty, the judicial system, what he calls “wild west stuff.” His wealth of knowledge comes from years of access to the New Mexico official archives, which go back as far as 1621.

His tours, most to his hometown and other surrounding small towns in Northern New Mexico, are just as enjoyable for him as those he’s leading.

“These tours usually sell out,” he says. “Most are national historic districts, and with a tour, you get to show more than pictures. I point out personal things. We see weaving, dyeing wool, old railroad yards. This kind of experience allows people to see history in a different way.”

Jerry Pruzan offers expertise from the ranks

Oasis centers often have a built-in resource for quality programs: the participants themselves.

Jerry Pruzan is an Oasis tutor and takes Spanish and other classes from time to time. He also brings something wonderful to  Washington Metro Oasis: tours at the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. A retired attorney, Jerry serves as a docent for both institutions and offers his expertise through Oasis, where the tours fill up quickly.

“Both are really interesting, and I think the Supreme Court is especially so because it’s somewhat mysterious,” says Jerry. “I’m able to facilitate a behind-the-scenes look that not many people get. It’s popular because people want to be a part of history.”

“Sometimes I look at my calendar and it’s booked! I love it,” Jerry says. “So many people think of retirement as life winding down, but it’s actually the beginning of a new life.”

The breadth and scope of programming at Washington Metro Oasis shaped in part with assistance from Jerry’s wife, Marcia Pruzan, who serves on the program committee. Her involvement with the National Institute on Aging and Montgomery County, Maryland’s Commission on Aging and Aging Services has helped her stay abreast of issues relevant to older adults and she often works to connect high-quality lecturers to the Oasis lineup. She is happy to help connect the dots, finding the best people willing to share what they know.

“We have such an engaged population here,” says Marcia. “The classes are packed. The intergenerational opportunities, keeping people involved…Oasis offers all of that. Older adults are an untapped resource.”

These instructors were featured in the 2015 Oasis Annual Report.

There is only one way to live a long life, and that is to age. And there is only one way to age–with a smile. If you are able to laugh at yourself, you’ll never cease to be amused. After all, you’re only old once.

I’m button–burstingly proud to announce that I’ll soon turn seventy-eight years of youth. Now that I’ve long ago passed through the portal of my biblical threescore years and ten, I’ve reached the point in my life when I have stopped lying about my age. Rather, I brag that I am so full years. I’m no longer a spring chicken; I’m a winter chicken. I’m no longer wet behind the ears; I’m dry behind the years. I’m no longer knee high to a grasshopper; I’m sky high above a grasshopper. I’m not a has–been. I’m an about–to–be. Yay! Yippee! Huzzah! Woo–hoo! What a ride!

Some of us try to turn back our life’s odometer. Others of us want people to know why we look this way. We admit that we have bumps and dents and scratches in our finish and the paint job is getting a little dull. And sure, the fenders are too wide to be in style and our seats are sagging. The battery no longer holds a charge, and the headlights have dimmed. The hoses are brittle, and much of the original tire tread is worn away. The transmission stays in low gear and doesn’t easily shift to high. We don’t convert our fuel as efficiently as we used to, and climbing any hill is liable to cause sputtering. And whenever we sneeze or cough, our radiator seems to leak.

But you know what? We’ve traveled many, many miles, and some of the roads weren’t paved. Wisdom and laughter are our shock absorbers. We’ve become classics.

And we’re not alone: This year, 2016, 530 million men and women worldwide are sixty–five or older, including more than one out of every eight people (13.4 percent) in the United States.

While growing older is mandatory, feeling old is optional. Attitude is ageless. More than two millennia ago, the Greek playwright Sophocles wrote, “One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.” Only at sunset is the day truly golden. The later the hour of the day, the longer the shadow you cast.

The poet Robert Browning wrote, “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. The last of life, for which the first was made.” Let us revel in the best years of our lives.

You’ll never be younger again than you are right now! You may be over the hill, but that’s better than being under the hill–and it’s not till you’re going downhill that you really pick up speed! Birthdays are good for you; the more of them you have, the longer you live. There is only one way to live a long life, and that is to age. And there is only one way to age–with a smile. If you are able to laugh at yourself, you’ll never cease to be amused. After all, you’re only old once.

Now that I am full of years and white of hair and the evening star glows in the sky, now that my sere, my yellow leaf falls from bare, ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang, I find myself filled with one overmastering emotion:

Gratitude – for my wife Simone van Egeren and the saucy Holland days I have so loved with her; for family, which now embraces seven grandchildren; for enduring friendships; for an unslakeable thirst for learning; for the joy of teaching at Oasis and changing the world one student at a time; for the privilege of sharing my thoughts and emotions in this space; and for the astonishing gift of life: what it has been and what it will become. Hurrah!

About the author

Guest author Richard Lederer, Ph.D., has been teaching language and history classes at Mission Valley Oasis in San Diego for almost twenty years. He is the author of more than fifty books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current books, Amazing Words, Lederer on Language, and Challenging Words. Dr. Lederer’s syndicated column, “Lederer on Language,” appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, and he is a founding co-host of “A Way With Words” on Public Radio. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International’s Golden Gavel winner.