Remembering a Mentor, a Friend

Part of my daily morning routine is to check the obituary columns. It's not that I have a morbid fascination of the recently deceased. Rather, this is one way I'm able to keep tabs on the old folks I've known who have moved on to other facilities or back home with their children. Sometimes I wonder whatever happened to.....? More often than not I get my answer in this column.

A few days ago I opened up to the page before leaving for work and was totally unprepared for the picture and notice that met my eyes. It was a death notice for my former aerobic dance instructor who took me under her wing, instructed me on the proper use of free weights, taught me excellent body mechanics and opened the door to the pleasures of aerobic dance for me. Her name was Teresa O'Mallon and she was one of the lovliest, kindest, healthiest woman I've ever met.

About twenty years ago, my husband and I joined the local gym to shed some weight and firm up a bit. After a year or so, I met Teresa and found out she taught an exercise class in an upstairs room of the gym. Aerobics were very big back then but I had never tried a class before. Great physical coordination had never been one of my fortes. I told her as much but she persuaded me to come to a class and at least try. I did and damn if I didn't discover I had a bit of a natural aptitude for these routines. Teresa's background was dance; she also took ballet classes and her exercise routines were more choreographic in nature than most aerobic workouts. Her choice of music was superb and even though some of the moves were a bit more intricate than the run of the mill classes, they weren't impossible to follow. Attending her classes became one of the highlights of my day and I attended as many as six classes a week. The workouts were wonderful, so graceful and dance-like; at times I felt I was flying across the floor. It was pure magic. I fell in love--with aerobic dance and, I think, a little bit with Teresa. As a result from taking these classes and working out faithfully on the machines and using the free weights, I found myself residing in the fittest, firmest, best body I'd ever had in my life. I even gained an inch in height from learning to put my shoulders down, stand up straight and imagine a string attached to my chest, pulling me upward. These are the things this wonderful woman did for me.

For a brief time back then I considered learning to become an aerobics instructor; I was that into it and loved it so much. One weekend, Teresa took me to a huge aerobics convention in the Sacramento area where I took part in lots of different classes. It was a fantastic weekend and has remained one of my most special memories. In the end, I didn't pursue the idea but the mere fact that this marvelous woman thought I had "the right stuff" to do so was a tremendous compliment.

Teresa died from breast cancer. I hadn't been in touch with her for a long time but when I saw this notice and began to read, I wept. I was overcome with such a wave of sorrow. I weep now as I type these words. Teresa's birthday was in March. She turned 52. I just turned 52 a week and a half ago. So young; too young to leave this world. I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to meet this lovely woman and benefit from all she gave to me. Thank you, Teresa!