Pat asked me if I could step in and teach her exercise class today at ONEgeneration. Pat is the reason why I teach at ONEgeneration.

Several years ago, when I first came back from Montana, ONEgeneration called me. The Executive Director, Cathy Carpenter, asked me if I would be interested in taking an exercise class for instructors sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation. My friend, Dolores, worked at ONEgeneration and she mentioned to Cathy that I was a teacher and that is how Cathy got my information. I thought it was fate, since both my Dad and my grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis, but ONEgeneration had no idea that arthritis ran in my family. Since it was summer and I had nothing else planned, I signed up. Plus, I really wanted to do something for my Dad. He had passed away over thirty years ago and I thought this was a great way to honor him. After I completed the class, I went for CPR training and then I taught a six-week class, two sessions each week at the Alicia Broadous-Duncan Multi-Purpose Senior Center in Pacoima. The class was well attended and I loved teaching it, but I was only getting a stipend and once the summer was over, I had to go back to work.

As the years flew by, the weight crept on and it was evident that I needed to get back in shape. I thought about the exercise class that I had taught a few years ago at the Alicia Broadus Center. I decided to do it again. I got recertified and went back to the Alicia Broadus Center, but to my disappointment, they weren’t interested. No matter how many messages I left, they never called me back. But that was okay, I knew that there was a place for me; it just wasn’t there.

And then Dolores told me that Pat, the exercise instructor at ONEgeneration was going back east for the summer and they needed someone to take her place. I jumped at the opportunity. This was where I was meant to be. That summer I taught two classes each week and I loved it, but at the end of the summer, Pat came back and I thought I was going to have to give up my class.

The good news is, Pat asked me if I would be interested in teaching the exercise class once a week. Of course, I would! So Pat would teach the class on Tuesdays and I would teach the class on Fridays. So I am forever grateful to Pat for giving me the opportunity to teach at ONEgeneration.

I had an appointment in the morning, so teaching her class in the afternoon fit in perfectly with my schedule. The class was a good size and there were many students there who don’t come to my Friday class. It was a good class.