“This is a beautiful spot, George. The mountain stream right here, just off the deck. And the view of the lake. Martha and I are so grateful that you and Ruth invited us to come with you.”
George looked up from his tablet. “The agency said we would love it.” He continued reading and pecking away.
Herb tried to peer over at what George was typing. “What are you doing? Work stuff?”
“No.” George chuckled, even as he continued reading. “I’m filling out one of those questionnaire things about health habits and lifestyle. Ya’ know, adding years to your age for bad stuff or subtracting years for good stuff – what it says about how long you will live.”
Herb settled back in his deck chair, waving a hand dismissively. “I never do those things. Waste of time.”
“I don’t know. Seems like they have some fairly reputable people discussing the answers.”
“Naw. I don’t do them.”
George ignored his friend’s dismissal. “Like this one about walking.”
Herb closed his eyes. “I already walk. Learned how as an infant.”
“Not like that, you boob.” George laughed aloud. “It’s about exercise walking. Wants to know if you walk briskly, or sort of normal, or slowly.” He looked up. “I remember walking with our pastor during a retreat. He said to Ruth, ‘Wow! You sure set a fast pace, don’t you.’”
Herb nodded. “Yep. I’ve seen her out walking with her friends. She really goes.”
“It’s become a habit, you know.” Herb bent his attention back to his tablet, flipping back to an earlier entry. “Anyway, this thing, this survey or whatever – it’s about how old you are by your age and how old you by your physical and mental status. It says that middle-aged folk – that’s you and me, bro – walking briskly can increase their life expectancy to 85-86 years old. Those who walk slowly can expect to get to 65-70 years old.”
Herb was listening and thinking. “I want to see the grandkids graduate from their master’s programs. Teddy’s gonna be a physical therapist, you know.”
George noticed the pensive tone of voice and looked over at his best friend. “Yeah, me, too.” Then he returned to his tablet. “Anyway, it says if you walk briskly, you can subtract up to 20 years from you age, if you are a male.” He glanced at his friend. “You are a male, right?”
“Last time I checked.”
“Thought so.” George smiled but refrained from any follow-up comment. “But I really got surprised.”
“By what?”
“Well, they mention lots of stuff that can affect your health – how long you might live. Stuff like eating fiber.”
“Martha fixes all the food at our house. And she makes sure we get our fiber.”
George nodded, still staring at his tablet. “Then you can subtract four years.”
“That’s a bunch.”
George nodded again. “Yep, that was a big one. But other things that I thought would have a big effect – like stress, smoking, alcohol – “
“I don’t drink. Never have.”
“Yep, I know. As I said, things like stress, smoking, alcohol, even being overweight – they all had only a small effect on longevity. The biggies were fiber, like I said, and diabetes – ”
Herb winced. “That’s me, at least, according to my doctor. He says I could fix that if I dropped thirty pounds and started walking.”
George glanced at his friend and slowly rubbed his forehead, then averted his eyes so as not to get caught staring. “Yeah. Diabetes makes you older – real quick. That was one of the biggies – and having a positive outlook on life. It was as big a deal as the fiber.’
Herb cocked his head. “Whadda you mean?”
“How do you view life? Is the glass half empty or half full?” George flipped through several screens on his tablet. “Didn’t expect that big an impact just from our ability to view life with . . . with . . .”
Herb slowly closed and opened his eyes in thought. “The word is resilience.” He paused. “It’s a fancy word for hope. Read that somewhere.”
George contemplated Herb’s last comment, appreciating his friend even more. “But the really big surprise was the walking at a good pace – just walking. It had more impact than any of the others.” He rubbed his forehead again. “Except the diabetes.”
Herb gazed at his friend. “Maybe – when we get home – you and I could do some of that brisk walking?”
George smiled and nodded. “I think we can make that happen.”