Walking Formed a Powerful Bond Between This Group of Women
When Wendy Parise retired after a long teaching career, she wondered how to stay connected with the women in her life and stay active. So, she made the decision to walk once a week with some friends. She invited people from all different parts of her life, beginning with her coworkers, and those people then began inviting others as well.
They call themselves the Sassy Pants Sisters, and are a mosaic of women who share a special bond. And while they met through a common love for walking, the group has changed their lives for the better in ways that reach far beyond the physical benefits of exercise.
Feeling inspired to start walking? Register for our free virtual 5K walk on Saturday, October 1, 2022, and become a part of a community of thousands of walkers! Sign up here. Have your own walking story? We’d love to hear it! Tell us here for a chance to win a Nathan gift card.
“We've met a wide variety of folks, all different vocations, which makes for a really interesting group of women,” Wendy explains. “Some of these women would never have met had it not been through this magnet of different people.” And all it took was a commitment to walking.
It’s been six years since the group began, and it grew from just a few women walking together to sometimes a dozen at a time. They walk along the beaches of Santa Monica four days per week, for about an hour. “The walks are populated with conversation,” says Teri Bernstein, a former accountant and business professor, as well as the group’s “financial wizard,” who adds that “having a group to connect with on a regular basis is just so life supporting. It’s just a gift.”
The bond between the Sisters is what keeps them walking week after week: “I know that I would not be walking consistently if not for these accountability partners, right there,” Wendy shares. And, it’s easy to see why. The Sisters have endless things to say about how they have changed each other's lives.
It’s only natural that a diverse group full of women including a teacher, nurse, business owner, tech professional, yogi, and more have so much to offer one another, thus enriching the lives of everyone involved. “If you have a question, challenge, or story to share, our Sassy Pants Sisters will listen and have suggestions and support,” Renee Glass explains.
The help these women have provided one another is immeasurable. Teri shares that the group helped her persevere when one of her children was facing a health issue. To care for her child, Teri needed to set up a picc line—an intravenous catheter used for administering medication. Luckily, Eve Adler, a retired nurse, was able to help. “It was terrifying to have to give someone an IV at home,” Teri explains. “But having Eve to help me, and the calm, steady way of dealing with it made all the difference.”
“Knowing that even if things are up and down, some things don't change, like the group, which has a steadiness to it, and that’s really helpful,” Teri continues. “On the flip side, being the person who is able to give and share information—that felt really good for me, too,” Eve adds.
“And we need that,” says Wendy. “Because we left our careers, we feel like: am I useful? Do I have information to share?” But, the group is very supportive in navigating retirement, which Eve calls a “misnomer,” as it’s really just a transitional period in life. “I think older women often experience invisibility, I’ve heard many women say that,” Tina Feiger adds. “And in this group, nobody is invisible.”
Eve shares that walking with the Sassy Pants Sisters has changed her view of aging. “I think aging at this time is very different than in the past,” Eve explains. “Especially for women.” There is a false idea that after retirement, you don’t do much at all—and there is a lack of role models for how to age and retire in the current world. The group agrees that they have been wonderful role models for one another in figuring out this process, and supporting each other in whatever aging and retirement looks like for each woman.
“This transition into a different chapter of life has involved many new things for all of us: in dealing with people, ourselves, and how we feel about ourselves,” Wendy shares. “And the sisters have helped a lot. It’s a part of our identity now as a group of women who walk together.”
You Might Also Like
