Story Submitted by Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

Between retirement and the pandemic, I find myself with a lot of free time these days. Plenty of time to clean, but only if prompted by a still, small voice (who historically doesn’t speak up very often). One day in April, I was led to organize one particular shelf of a unit in my home library. I found a framed photo of Cathee, a dancer-teacher sister-friend of mine. Only after I finished said organization would I allow myself to email her. In her reply she included a link, , and told me to type in VIRTUAL to access a variety of exercise classes, some of which she was teaching. As I went to my computer, I thought of the times I completed the information survey at a doctor’s office and had to “fess up” that I exercised maybe 0-1 times a week – Non-Impact Aerobics (NIA) with Gail – and she moved in March, then the facility closed due to COVID. Well that facility, Optum (formerly DaVita) is now offering virtual exercise classes, too. Go to The pandemic provides no room for excuses as to why I can’t exercise. I do NIA with Gail every Wednesday morning and a mid-day Wednesday DESKERCISE mini-class with Cathee. And I’ve always wanted to study Tai Chi and Martial Arts, so Steve, another one of the Instructors at Baptist, is helping me to do just that on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. This is yet another reason why I’m so glad I listen to that voice!