RETIREMENT
performing at the expert level, but there is plenty of room for average people like myself.” He shares advice on staying fit in one’s later years: “The secret as a senior seems to be to not get hurt,” he says. “It can take a long time to recover. My daily activities are mostly modest physical exercise and long walks. There are specific archery exercises to do, but it is mostly a mental stamina sport, and fitness develops the more you do it.”
L
91, entered the games for her third time playing table tennis. “I had about 65-plus years of interruption between when I quit playing and when I resumed again,” she says. Lilian started playing the sport again for the thrill of competition. The pandemic made it hard for her to hone her skills the past year at Carolina Meadows. “We have not been able to play locally for a year,” she says. “Once it was allowed again for us to get together and start playing – March 29 this year – our small group appeared. We had a ball, even though everybody, of course, had not played for a year. It was just a terrific success.” Lilian says the return to in-person play has made all the difference. “The fact that I
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ilian Pruett,
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2021