Evelyn Dove Coleman: Passing the Baton
My sister Deborah Dove is very competitive. As a former athlete and coach, it is in her DNA to play the hardest, be the fittest, and pound to win. I am a little different. I used to run in 5-K races just for fun. Being in the crowd of avid runners was thrilling, but I was definitely not in the winners circle.
Recently, Dee and I were comparing notes on the joints and muscles that are feeling pain these days from all that ball-playing and running. When you're young, you can fall and jump right back up to keep going. Now if we fall, somebody with upper body strength needs to be nearby to pick us up.
Yet, there is one relay we can still participate in. I describe it this way: The baton of aches & pains begins in the knees. You start to get up from the sofa, and your knees lock up. You have to find some kind of ointment to do the Tin-Man rub so the knees work properly. Then, the next day or so, the baton has been passed to the shoulders. You find yourself trying to remember "Did I hit my shoulder on the door jamb?"
It's funny how old sports injuries that you've forgotten about raise up to catch the baton being passed around. That ankle sprain that healed into dormancy decades ago has decided to hurt again. And as far away as the ankle is from the neck, it somehow passes the pain baton way up there to the neck. We say, "Must've slept on it wrong."
Most recently, I had a fall on my brick steps and everything down my left side hurt for a few weeks. Toward the end of that, I found out that what I thought was indigestion was actually a rib cage contusion. Pass the baton. My sister and I have decided to just keep some Siang Pure Balm nearby to address the aches and pains relay race we run every week or so. Pass the balm.
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
