Thanksgiving was pleasant. Good food and lots of it. Worked a light day on Friday, then went to a beer tasting. Even played some poker–and I’m proud to say I was NOT the first one to lose all my chips. I went to bed early–a 3pm beer tasting doesn’t doesn’t inspire one to an energetic evening.

I got the call around 10:30 that my mom was on her way to the E.R. because she was having trouble breathing. She was admitted to Duke late that night after tests indicated that she’d had a mild heart attack. Yet by the time I arrived in the E.R., she was breathing great, joking around, and not even feeling tired when I was falling asleep at 1:30 am, my head on the desk in front of a monitor showing a screensaver of scenes from Duke’s history.  She was in the Duke heart center through Tuesday afternoon, feeling fine the entire time.

My mom has outlived not only her husband, but her younger brother and sister and all of her brothers- and sisters-in-law. She continues to exercise every day, even though she’s so wobbly on her feet I fear for her just walking across the room. Looking at her EKG, one cardiologist said she has the heart of a 70-year-old.

Couch potatoes, pay heed: jogging in place in front of the TV every night pays off.