Just like reunions, holiday recipes and family photos, healthy habits can be enjoyed and passed down through Black families, too. Nan Paige – Grannie Nannie as her family affectionately calls her – is a trailblazer in her family when it comes to walking for better health. Today at 94, Grannie Nannie is still walking and in her footsteps are generations of walkers. What’s her secret to long life? Her daughter, Faye Paige, shares her mother’s wisdom with BlackDoctor.org.
At age 94, my mother Nan Paige has lots of wisdom she is more than willing to share. One of her favorites about family relationships is, “More is caught, than taught”. She positioned her family to catch the message that walking is a simple, yet radical act of self-care.
When we were children, my family was never physically active. When I gave up jumping rope, that was it, until I started walking in my late 20s. Not even my two brothers played sports.
Yet, Grannie Nannie (as my mother is fondly called) invited her friends for regular walks in Philly’s Fairmount Park, after her 5 girls and 2 boys left the nest, and the family business – The Corner Store – where she worked was sold.
Some joined her. Others cautioned her about doing too much, and opined that her behavior was inappropriate. However, her sisterhood kept walking and enjoying their time in nature and being active.
In 1998 at age 76, my mom and dad joined me, three of my sisters, and friends from around the country (supporting each other by phone and email pre-Facebook) to train to walk the Honolulu marathon and support the Leukemia Society’s Team-in-Training.
My parents walked the first 6.2 miles of the marathon with us. Participation by my mom was no surprise. However, it was huge for my dad. He was not exactly supportive of her initial quest to be physically active.
Only a family of superheroes could get him to not just walk a mile, but to enjoy it. He is no longer with us and I fondly remember how he bragged about his Honolulu accomplishment.
So, when I was recruited in St Louis to be on a virtual 2012 GirlTrek Team out of Kansas City, it was a no-brainer for me to recruit my mom, sisters, brothers, nieces, cousins and friends. The response was enthusiastic. My four sisters and two brothers became trekkers right away.
Fast forward to 2016. My sisters Susie and Barbara and a host of friends I had recruited from Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston and Detroit got on one of 50 GirlTrek buses to Selma. We joined GirlTrek and thousands of marchers on the Edmund Pettis Bridge to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the police attack that spurred passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Susie Paige and trekkers from her church – Team Nazarene – are the persistence and love behind growing the GirlTrek movement in Philly. My brother James put on a GirlTrek shirt and helped Susie launch a team at his workplace several years ago. He reports that this workplace team still walks at lunch.
Okella Paige Trice embraced hiking with Team Los Angeles and her daughter Vanessa spreads the #Harriet message each year with her daughter and friends.
Kathy Paige Cooper (Atlanta) and her daughters (Delaware) also embraced GirlTrek early. Her granddaughter is the 2017 winner of the GirlTrek Next Generation Award and has been a trekker most of her five years on earth.
Kathy’s daughter Ashlee has shed 110 pounds since March 2016. She says, “I definitely contribute much of my dedication over the last year to my family who lives by example. I now trek almost every day.”
Team Houston has Barbara Paige, who has hosted GirlTrek events, and joins group walks in her neighborhood.
My brother Jerome spreads the GirlTrek message on his Facebook Page. He sported his Black Family 5K superhero blue shirt in the GirlTrek DMV Facebook Group.
The Paige Family gathered in Houston for Thanksgiving and 20 joined us for a giggly, huggy Black Family 5K on Buffalo Bayou where a walker asked us what we were protesting. We don’t accept shade, so the festivities continued.
A trek is expected at family gatherings. We recruit for GirlTrek at family reunions and can count a host of cousins among our ranks.
Barbara and I are headed to Portugal. We will add hiking – something we did not do before GirlTrek – to our yoga retreat, beach and sightseeing adventures.
As an OG – Original GirlTrekker – it’s difficult to count the massive love and fun experienced in my roles as a City Rep, past National Field Director, City Captain and Organizer.
My advice for spreading the GirlTrek self-care message is simple. Anyone can be a GirlTrek Organizer. No permission is required. One or two walking together is a huge inspiration and solo trekkers are the heart of the movement.
So, lace up your sneakers and walk, earn your Golden Shoelaces, post your pictures with #GirlTrek and #SelfCare, and keep trekking in your superhero blue GirlTrek shirt because “More is caught, than taught.”
See #BlackGirlHealing in action!
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