W.E. Krill, Jr. M.S.P.C.

When I was a small boy, I knew my Dad was the strongest Dad in the world. As I grew older, especially in my late teen years, my body became quite lean and strong from all of the miles I put on my old Schwinn racing bike. By then, I could see my youth and energy in contrast to my Dad, and he did not appear as strong or as big as he once did.

In the decades since then, I have, off and on, started health kicks alternating with periods when I was very sedentary and unhealthy. I am currently at a place in my life where I want to be healthy. But that gets harder to do with each passing year. While I am blessed with good health, I am at a point where I look at my sons and can clearly see that they are stronger than me. When I visit Dad, he feels as small as a child in my arms when I hug him.

But being strong is a relative thing. For my size and age, I feel I can lift a decent amount of iron when I work out. But then the young guys come by with their six pack abs and narrow waists, or the eighty year old retired teacher goes to the bench and presses more than I weigh.  Then I am harshly reminded that physical strength is a relative thing.

As I get older, I continue to have a changing view of strength. I now take pleasure in walking a couple of miles on an uphill grade, or being able to move up a few pounds on the weight machines at the Y.  It just feels good to have sore muscles.  I like feeling strong.  It no longer concerns me that I am no longer young.

But with age, gratefully, comes wisdom. I have learned the hard way that pushing too hard at the gym (like I am still twenty) is hazardous. That wisdom extends to my concepts of strength. I can look back on my Dad’s life and see what a strong man really is: one that has survived being wounded in war, one that knows gentleness, one that perseveres despite long odds and rough times, one that lived through the fears of losing a child, one that knows the deep longing for a lost love, and one that is strong enough to drop to his knees in prayer.

When I grow up, I want to be just like my Dad.

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