Dear Friends,

The New Year is a time for us all to look toward the future and ask ourselves what we want to change this year – and also what we want to do to ensure we remain active and “stay in the game.” New Year’s Resolutions are a chance for us to celebrate all the blessings in our lives, and to make goals to create even more positive outcomes for the coming year.

Like many of you, we both have osteoarthritis, so even though it’s not easy, one of our most important goals is to keep moving. Mind over body – that’s what arthritis is for us. We try to make exercise something we look forward to, so that even when our joints hurt, we can still get out and move!

One trick we like to use to keep motivated is to give ourselves something to look forward to at the end of a walk. Some mornings, we’ll meet a friend in a parking lot a mile from our favorite breakfast spot…there’s nothing like the promise of a delicious meal to motivate us to get walking. Having a friend to talk with helps, too. We’re getting exercise, and the time just flies by.

We’re also pretty sure our dog, Luke, knows about our exercise goals – and he won’t let us forget them! Luke is our dear rescue labradoodle mix. He’s a treasure for us and very brave – he’s not afraid of thunder and lightning or the dark!! He follows one of us everywhere, is just plain lovable and very attached. Sometimes we try to just take him outside for a bit in the morning instead of taking him for a walk, but he won’t let us get away with that.
If he knows we’re not busy (and he definitely knows), he won’t budge until we get his leash and go walking with him. Having a pet helps us stay active, because he’s just wonderful at demanding those walks from us.

Of course, along with our exercise routine, we have another New Year’s Resolution: cheering the Carolina Basketball team to victory. Last year, we went to Houston for the National Championship, where Villanova edged them out in the last second of the game. After the defeat, we were waiting in the hotel lobby to cheer the team when they arrived. One player’s mom leaned over to us and said, “They’ll be fine tomorrow.” We looked at each other, and we both thought, “they sure will.” It’ll be a challenge to get them back to the championship, but we’ll be cheering them on every game along the way.

In many ways, that basketball game last year reminded us of our own struggles with osteoarthritis. Arthritis is unpredictable, and sometimes, we’re going to have bad days. Some days, while walking down the steps, one of us will feel a leg starting to get weak, and we feel like we may fall. But what can we do? We have to hold on, stay safe, and keep going. Just like for the Carolina basketball team, tomorrow’s another day. We pick ourselves up, we stay thankful for our health, and we keep moving forward.

Stay well,

Lennie & Dianne Rosenbluth
Honorary Co-Chairs
OA Action Alliance