On a cold and windy Nov in 1963 I sat with my 3rd grade classmates when our classroom speaker hissed and cracked (a sign our Principal was about to make an announcement). The classroom hushed as we waited for his familiar deep voice. "Will all teachers please come to the principals office immediately!", he announced with urgency. I can remember like it was yesterday as our beautiful Polynesian teacher put Billy Ablin in charge as she rushed out the door. Staring at each other we whispered what could be so important that all teachers had to leave their classrooms. You could just feel the tension in the air. Our pretty petite teacher returned to our class a few minutes later with tears streaming down her face. She gained control of herself and stood in the center of the class and made the announcement that no one would ever forget. "Students, the President of the United States, John F Kennedy has been shot and killed." I can still hear the gasp my whole class let out.
Though this great man was gone he left a lasting impression on this third grader. You see earlier that same year we all participated in the John F Kennedy's Physical Fitness program. The President's Council on Youth Fitness was founded on July 16, 1956 to encourage American children to be healthy and active, after a study showed that American youths were less physically fit than European children, by then President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1963, President Kennedy changed it's name to the "President's Council on Physical Fitness". He saw the need to include all Americans to become physically fit. In 1961 he was quoted as saying, "We have become more and more not a nation of athletes but a nation of spectators."
That spring in 1963 I was determined to win that award. Our teacher told us about the program and proudly showed us what the award looked like. To get the JFK Award you had to perform (successfully) the 50 yard dash, the softball throw and various sprints. Back then I could just about out run any boy my age and I would laugh at the delicate girls who could only throw the softball a few feet. A few feet! Could you imagine that? I grew up around my brothers and his friends. If you couldn't throw a rock over fifty feet you were worthless. That was the year I threw the softball eighty feet. I can remember this easily as I watched the coach walk out the long measuring tape to where my ball hit the ground. "Eighty feet", he called out. I couldn't wait to get home and tell my mother. Poor Mom, she always said she would send me to school in a nice dress and watched me jump off the bus with the hem out and dirt all over my face. What can I say, I loved sports! Whether it was jump rope, tag or tether ball I was there! Now a days sports have to take a back seat to the computer, television and video games. Our kids have become stationary couch potatoes. Getting up just to get something to eat or drink. Take a drive through any neighborhood and see how many kids you see outside playing. Odds are it will be zero. Parents don't have the time and kids usually don't have siblings to lead them into play. Team that up with the amount of chemicals and lord know what else in the processed food their eating and it's no wonder that the number of overweight kids 6-11 have more then doubled then kids twenty years ago. Most of these kids will become over weight adults carrying mass amounts of excess weight wearing down their bodies and self esteem. When I was a kid Mom would run us out of the house and we were forced to find something to do. With 4.5 children per family back then it was easy to get a game of whipple ball going or hide and seek. We played till the last kid got called to come home. I can still see our porch light from the big field where we played and my Mom standing in the doorway calling us in. I was physically fit back then. I would never had wanted to miss out on that feeling. You know the feeling where you can run like a deer with the wind in your face. It was a feeling of being totally ALIVE. Every child should know how that feels. To be over weight is like taking a child's childhood away from them. It all goes back to the kitchen. Parents don't cook anymore. Takeout is the main stay for many kids. The child is not buying the groceries or driving up to the take out window. Parents are. Parents are parking their child in front of the TV because it's easier then taking the time to toss a ball in the front yard after school. It is our responsibility to prepare and present the right kinds of food for our children. It's all about getting back to the basics. The right choices will make a child fit and healthy. Guide your child's eating habits and share play time. Teach them to play 'red light, green light, tag and red rover, red rover. It worked for us it can work for them. Don't deprive them of feeling physically fit. There is no feeling in the world better then this.
Back in 1963 that wonderful spring day I heard the pop gun go off and I was running as fast as my legs could carry me. There must have been ten kids ahead of me in that race but I pushed hard and watched as one by one I blew past them till there was just one kid ahead of me. I leaned into the wind and felt the muscles in my legs stretch out with each stride. I was determined to be first. Completely out of breath and a terrible stitch in my side I could see the finish line a few yards ahead of me. I pressed on with all I had left and easily pulled ahead of the boy. I can still see all the faces at the finish lines cheering me on and the overly confident look on my face as I turned into the infield. I had won, or so I thought. Why was everyone screaming at me? It wasn't one lap around that big field, it was two! I now was last in the race. It didn't matter though, what mattered to me was that I had tried and how it felt to compete. There was no better feeling in the world. The next time you feel like you are depriving your child from having that extra helping, think instead of what you will be depriving them of if you do. A life time of being "Physically Fit". Till next time may you feel the wind in your face and feel truly alive....Tag, your it! Aunt Onie
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