Article September 24, 2007 Issue

'EXTREME GRANDMA'

BY VICKI A. TURPEN

THAT WAS WHAT one of my grandsons called me as he helped pull me back into the speedboat. I'd just been riding on a huge inner tube, tossing to and fro and splashing around on the waves. Sixteen members of our family were enjoying a week of water-skiing, tubing, and fishing together on Lake Powell in Utah.

Since that trip, I've thought a lot about the implication of my grandson's enthusiastic comment. He obviously didn't see me as old or decrepit but as exactly the opposite. Yet, the terms grandma or grandpa are often affectionately used to refer to people who seem to be winding down, becoming less and less active. As I progressed in years, did I have to agree with the commonly accepted thought that there are certain activities that are just off-limits?

When I looked up the word extreme, I found that it means "utmost or exceedingly great" and "exceeding the bonds of moderation; removed from ordinary." As a student of Christian Science, I try to make it my practice to continually reflect God's goodness in "extreme" ways; to see past limits of materiality and embrace a radically spiritual view of life.

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