For the Morrisons, It's All About Love

A.B. and June Morrison, are perfect examples of people who may have started late in life but are finishing strong.

A.B. and June play tennis regularly at the Lexington Tennis Club. “I started playing tennis in my late 40s,” said A.B., who is 86. “The reason I started is my sons picked up tennis and they didn’t have anybody else to beat, so they picked on me. I was a good subject.”

“And I wasn’t going to sit at home, so I joined them,” added June, who’s 81.

A.B. was successful at his newly chosen sport, playing in local, regional and national U.S. Tennis Association tournaments for 24 years. “Most of the time I was playing very competitive singles,” he said. “I’m not bragging, but if you get on a tennis court with me, you’d better be ready to play.”

June generally plays with people much younger than she. “I’m the oldest in my group,” she said. “They’re all in their 60s, but I can outrun them.”

The couple added weight training to their fitness regimen, especially after A.B. encountered some physical problems. When he received a new titanium hip about eight years ago, nerves in his left foot were damaged, leaving him unable to lift it.

“I spent eight years of therapy that most people would not believe,” he said. “I brought the therapist over (to the club) from Cardinal Hill and I said, ‘You show me the things I can do to get my foot to move again.’ I came over here every day for four years, seven days a week, and my foot began to move just a tiny bit.”

Encouraged, A.B. decided to take up tennis again. He still does physical therapy to help his foot, but he has cut back somewhat. “I don’t come over here seven days a week,” he said. “I do six days a week now.” His foot is slowly improving, though he says he still has a long way to go to get it fully functional. “If I live to be 150, I think all those nerves will come back,” he said. “That’s all I have to do.”

June also enjoys working out at the club. “She just started personal training with me last July,” said Christy Herring, who works primarily with the 10-and-under Quickstart program at the tennis club and is a personal trainer. “She would walk on the treadmill and do aerobics. Then she started working out.”

“I like it better than tennis,” June said. “We do all kinds of functional training.”

A.B. still weighs the same as he did when he was in the Marines, but it is a challenge because June is a good cook, he says. “How I can keep my weight, I’ll never know. I have to keep moving.”

That’s the advice he wants to share with other seniors. “If you’ve got a real physical problem – and I say it because I’ve been there – don’t give up,” he said. “It may look dark and dreary and you may think, ‘I’m not going to get any better,’ but you’ve got to keep on going no matter what.”