At 76, I love walking and hiking. But an ice storm forced me to face my body's limitations
CBC
This First Person column is the experience of Isobel Cunningham, who lives in Montreal. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
When I opened the door of my small condo building to head to the gym, I saw tree branches coated with ice and the sidewalk stretched out like an endless narrow skating track.
At 76, I still enjoy walking, hiking and taking on different physical challenges, so the unpredictability of a Montreal winter wasn't going to stop me from hitting my daily goal of 10,000 steps.
I pulled on a pair of boots with built-in crampons, armed myself with one of my trusty hiking poles and plunged into the thick crust covering the snow. It reminded me of icing on a cake.
I managed to get halfway to the boulevard where I had hoped to hop a bus when suddenly, my boot didn't punch through the crust.
Instead, I slithered on the icy surface for a terrifying moment, then recovered and assessed the situation. Was it possible my daily routine had turned into a dangerous endeavor?
In that moment, I realized I was afraid to walk to the corner.
I, a senior who not so long ago hiked the almost 800 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago in Spain — sleeping in communal dormitories and starting off in the pitch dark of early mornings to get a jump on the long days of solo walking ahead — was scared of walking to the end of my street.
Prudence won over my normally stubborn character that day and I turned back home.
But as I put the key into my door lock, unexpected tears welled up in my eyes.
A feeling of physical fragility swept over me. It was strange, unfamiliar and something I wasn't yet prepared to face.
The next few days presented challenges — both material and mental.
Confined to my home with a depleting supply of milk and bread, my mind started jumping from one sad idea to the next.
Simply walking down the street at my age was a risk that could land me with a broken bone or worse. What if I could never go out in the winter again without asking for help?
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