At eighty, I'd like to be able to get down on the floor with a grandchild and stand again without needing to plan it first. There are trails I'd like us to keep walking too, including the ones that take a little effort.
I've been training for about twenty years. Most weeks that means two or three sessions, with gaps when life has gone badly or I've let other things take over. As I grow older, the routine will need adjusting, but I intend to stick with it.
I'd like to be strong enough to carry things and able to reach them comfortably. I enjoy the idea of getting some of that work done outside: splitting wood, digging, hauling things, or climbing because there's somewhere worth going. Training would help me stay capable of doing the rest of the life I've described here.
Sleep needs a place in it as well. It's easy to take an hour from the night when work runs late and assume tomorrow will somehow be shorter. I'd like us to notice when that's becoming the usual arrangement. Eating well most of the time would help too, with enough room left to enjoy dinner at someone else's house without discussing a program.
After an injury, I'd want to take recovery seriously and ask for the help I need. I'd probably be impatient. Starting again at a lower level would be frustrating, but I'd rather work from there than keep testing an injury to see whether it has changed its mind.
I'd enjoy company in this. Long walks, a familiar trail, or something we're both learning could give us time together as well as a reason to move. She might prefer activities that don't interest me, and we'd have room for those too. There'd be no need to do every session together.
Her weight and size aren't what this chapter is asking about. Neither is whether she's ever been in a gym. Pregnancy, recovery, illness, and age would all change what was possible, sometimes for a long while. There'd be seasons when one of us handled more of the physical work because the other couldn't. We could make those adjustments without keeping an account of who owed what afterward.
I wouldn't appoint myself her coach. If she asked for help, I'd offer what I knew. Otherwise she could choose how she wanted to move without getting instructions from me every time she mentioned an ache or missed a workout.
I hope we'd both care about remaining active, in whatever ways were available to us. Some years that might involve a hard trail. Others might mean a shorter walk and more stops. I'd still be glad to go with her.
