Fun Mall Walking Memories especially during Christmastime!
Pic: Keith with Kiandra at Mall of Louisiana, Bath & Body Works, December 16 2022
What fun it is to stroll through the Mall of Louisiana at Christmastime!
I work nearby to the mall so after work sometimes, I'll take my daily 1 mile walk in the controlled environment – especially when dealing with inclement weather.
One tradition I've started a few years back is to take a promenade at the mall on Black Friday after work – and get some good extra walking in having to park quite a bit farther away than usual!
In my early Social Work career during the late 90's when I worked at the Baton Rouge General, I helped to supervise their LifeSpan 50 senior membership program.
Some of the health promotional activities we would sponsor for mainly retirees was mall walking at the then only main local mall, Cortana, as well as some excursions to the Hammond Mall.
So now that I am Council on Aging's “Meals on Wheels” age-eligible, that is, 60+, it is neat to think how I have come full circle to participating in my own health promotional activities.
This includes my daily neighborhood walks, the mall walking and taking a few jogs weekly at LSU Lakes or sometimes at the neat, free (we pay our taxes!) indoor BREC Sherwood Park Track – where 7 laps = a mile!
So as I was prancing the other day through the Mall of Louisiana and passed Santa, who was taking pictures with young and old alike – and maybe even a dog or cat at times, I waved and he gave me a thumbs-up since I was wearing a Santa hat over one of the fedoras I wear daily!
I like to tease my elderly clients in the following way when they remark, “It is so good to see someone wearing hats again:”
My reply: “It helps me to cover my receding lines well!”
And Santa was glad when I told him that people love to see me driving with a cool inflatable Santa “Car Buddy” in the passenger seat that plugs right into the vehicle lighter.
So if you are “kids from 1 to 92+,” as Nat King Cole so greatly sang in “The Christmas Song / Merry Christmas To You,” * keep active, walk on in the malls, playgrounds and all around to share the hope and joy of the season to all, including us “seasoned citizens!”
I haven't been to a mall in years. But you made me remember going to Sharpstown Mall when I had Christmas packages to wrap and I couldn't do it myself. People had set up tables in the Promenade where they would wrap packages for you. It was a nice convenience for me and for many others buying Christmas presents at the mall.
'Catholic Voices in a World on Fire' Anthology, includes 'The Poorest of the Poor'; by Judy Joy Jones which is a chapter from her upcoming book about her volunteer work at Mother Teresas houses around the world including her house in Washington DC w
Pic: Keith with Kiandra at Mall of Louisiana, Bath & Body Works, December 16 2022
