Page 16 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2022

Fast-Attack Volleyball
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My mother is ninety-five and lives in an assisted living
center. The people in charge there provide a lot of activities for the
residents to enjoy. There are, of course, things like card games,
Bingo, and putting puzzles together. My mother doesn’t get too
excited about any of those. She grew up as a hard-working farm girl,
and playing Bingo just isn’t in the cards for her.
But there are other, even more far-reaching activities. One of
the owners has a pond that he stocks with fish. The residents go in a
van to the pond, then fish from lawn chairs on the dock. Some young
people even bait their hooks for them.
Mom never did like fishing. My father, brothers, and some of
my sisters enjoyed it, and we would go when we could. Mom would
go with us and take a book to read.
The assisted living center has had outings to parks, short
hikes on trails that were wheelchair accessible, and long rides to see
the countryside. My Mom has gone on a few but usually comes back
and says, “If you’ve seen it once, there’s no need to see it again.”
I have been concerned about her being bored, so I have
provided her with all the crossword puzzle books I can get my hands
on. She enjoys them. But with her eyesight fading, that is becoming
increasingly difficult.
There was one thing she found she enjoyed. It was called
M&M night. The M’s stand for music and movies. They had
someone come in and play music for old silent films. A person could
win M&M’s if they could guess the piece of music that the lady was
playing. I was pleased to see that my mother had a whole bowl full
of M&M’s.
But one day, I was surprised to hear my mother talking about
the residents playing a rousing volleyball game. She was telling me
how much fun she had.
“Some players are incredibly aggressive,” she said. “The lady
next to me kept getting in my road when I tried to hit the ball.
Everyone has to keep reminding people to stay in their own areas.”
I was shocked to think of my mother playing volleyball at her
age. She has said she wanted to get more exercise, but I was

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