![]() ![]() In the 10 years since I joined, in addition to the regular workouts, Jacuzzi soaks when my muscles needed them, swims in the Olympic-size pool, and detoxifying shvitzes, I have benefited in myriad unexpected ways. He is a quiet inspiration not just to the rest of the silver-haired exercisers but to the teenagers, young parents, and others, like me, who are on the brink of middle age. A Holocaust survivor from the former Czechoslovakia, this man rows, lift weights, and walks on the treadmill. That distinction goes to a small, fit, handsome man who is on the way to his 101st birthday. Saul is not the oldest member of the gym by a long shot. “Racquetball player, 80-plus, seeking partner. I was moved one day when I noticed a cryptic message on a bulletin board outside the weight room. None can escape the inexorable effects of age, and while there are 20- and 30-somethings, young parents, and middle-agers, many at my Jewish Community Center gym in North Bethesda are fighting a steeper decline curve. Well past 80, Saul retains a thick mane of white hair and a sharp mind, but his legs and arms are thin and weakening and his gait is more of a shuffle than the purposeful stride I am certain he had not too long ago. One woman, jogging on a treadmill a few feet away, shook her head in frustration and plaintively asked Saul to, “Please quiet down!” But his headphones prevented him from hearing her. I get it, though admittedly not everyone appreciates an operatic assault on their nerves when they are trying to listen to their own music, read a book, watch the news, or just daydream during their morning workout. “I can’t help it,” says the ebullient octogenarian when I tell him later that I enjoyed his impromptu concert. ![]() Saul, a retired doctor who loves opera, walks on the treadmill while singing in Italian with a favorite diva, who serenades him via noise-cancelling headphones. I don’t have to look up to know who’s singing. A resonant male baritone emerges from the cacophonic hum of treadmill pounding, sporadic chatter, and piped-in background beat music. I am climbing aboard the stationary bike at the gym one recent morning when I hear a burst of an aria soar through the air. ![]()
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