Wellness Wednesday: Adding Life to Your Years

My Beautiful Mother

For those of you who follow my Wellness Wednesdays, you may have noticed I missed a week.

And if you didn’t notice, that’s okay—clearly I need to reach out more. 😂

Life has been a whirlwind since the end of July. My beautiful mom took her last breath on August 1st. As her executor, the days since have been filled with memorial planning, phone calls, paperwork, and all the arrangements that come when someone you love leaves this earth.

There is such a strange mixture of emotions that comes with losing someone you love.

I am deeply sad knowing I will never see my mom again on this side of heaven. At the same time, I am incredibly grateful—for her life, for the years we had together, and for the example she gave me.

She Was Still Living

Mom would have turned 90 in November, and she was looking forward to celebrating that milestone.

What strikes me now is that she wasn’t simply approaching 90 years old.

She was still living.

She exercised every day and went for walks. She kept her mind active with games and puzzles—Sudoku was a favourite. She loved people and participated in as many activities as possible at the seniors’ residence where she lived.

She kept herself busy because she was interested in life.

Mom used a walker because her greatest fear was falling. Then, in mid-June, I received the call we had both dreaded.

She had fallen.

She ended up with a cracked tailbone, and after several days of excruciating pain, she was admitted to the hospital for about nine days.

But even in the hospital, Mom was still Mom.

She made friends with the person in the bed across from her. While many people remained in their hospital gowns throughout the day, Mom got up and dressed every morning.

I would walk into her room and there she would be, sitting in a chair beside her bed, fully dressed and looking like a princess—with her clip-on earrings and necklace in place. ❤️

And somehow, despite everything she was going through, she still managed to beat me regularly at cribbage!

Those memories make me smile.

Her Routines Carried Her

Even as her body became more tired after the fall, Mom continued many of the routines that had carried her through almost 90 years.

She wanted to get dressed.
She wanted to move.
She wanted to engage with people.
She wanted to use her mind.

And every morning, she read her Bible.

Her faith was woven into the fabric of her life. Attending church wasn’t simply something she did on Sundays; she had been an active member of her church throughout her life.

Those routines mattered.

And looking back, I think they tell us something important about wellness.

Wellness Is About More Than Our Bodies

We hear so much today about anti-aging.

How do we look younger?
How do we prevent wrinkles?
What supplement should we take?
What diet should we follow?
What exercise is best?

But maybe we’ve made wellness far more complicated than it needs to be.

My mom reminded me that true wellness isn’t about desperately trying to stay young.

It’s about continuing to live well as we grow older.

Move your body.

Use your mind.

Have a reason to get dressed in the morning—even if you’re sitting beside a hospital bed.

Connect with people.

Laugh.

Play games.

Maintain routines that give your days structure and meaning.

Care about how you feel and how you present yourself—not because you need to impress anyone, but because you still matter.

And nurture your spiritual life, whatever season you are walking through.

Adding Life to Our Years

There are no guarantees in life.

We can eat well, exercise, manage our stress, and take wonderful care of ourselves—and life can still change in an instant.

My mom’s fall reminded me of that.

Wellness isn’t a promise that nothing difficult will ever happen.

It’s about building a life that allows us to keep participating in it for as long as we possibly can.

My mom loved deeply. She cared for herself into her later years. She exercised even when it became difficult. She challenged her brain. She enjoyed people. She had routines and purpose.

And most importantly, she had a faith that carried her throughout her life.

She knew that when her time on earth was finished, her loving Saviour would be waiting with open arms.

And I think there is something incredibly beautiful about that.

My mom didn’t get to celebrate her 90th birthday here with us.

But she showed me something far more important:

Vitality isn’t simply about adding more years to your life. It’s about adding more life to the years you are given.

That is the kind of future I want to create for myself.

To keep moving.
To keep learning.
To keep loving.
To keep laughing.
To keep showing up.
To keep finding joy in the ordinary.
And to keep my faith at the centre of it all.

Isn’t that ultimately what so many of us desire?

Not merely to grow old—but to live fully while growing older.

This Wellness Wednesday is dedicated to my beautiful mom.

Thank you, Mom, for almost 90 years of life—and for showing me how it’s done. 💕