Grandma's Ninja Training Diary: The Anniversary That Lives in Muscle Memory
Today would have been our 56th anniversary.
We never got to celebrate our 50th — COVID locked the world down, and then 2021 took Carl with it. The grand plans we had for that golden milestone evaporated into hospital protocols and masked goodbyes. Life doesn’t always give you the ceremony you earned.
But ninjas adapt.
Ninjas restructure, reorganize, recalibrate.
Ninjas keep moving.
And this anniversary belongs in the Grandma Ninja series because Carl was part of the training long before I ever called myself a ninja.
He went to every single one of my sessions with trainer Brittany. Every one. He’d sit there like my personal cheering section, amused, supportive, and absolutely determined not to be recruited into anything that looked like effort. If Brittany tried to rope him in, he’d grin and say, “You must stay up late at night thinking up the next marvelous torture.”
Meanwhile, I was sweating through hours of drills — because it does take hours to go from flabby government worker to Grandma Ninja. It’s not an overnight transformation. I overfulfilled her plan with gusto.
Carl, on the other hand, found even the simplest assignment — “stand up and squeeze your butt every half hour” — unbearably boring. He underfulfilled her plan with equal gusto. But Brittany understood. He wasn’t there to become a ninja. He was there to champion one.
That was his role:
steady, loyal, amused, loving witness to my evolution.
I miss that.
I miss the way he watched me with quiet pride.
I miss the teasing.
I miss the partnership in the room — even when only one of us was doing the work.
Anniversaries after loss are strange things. They’re not celebrations, not exactly. They’re markers. They’re muscle memory. They’re the echo of a life built together, still vibrating in the present.
And so, on this 56th anniversary-that-isn’t, I honor the man who cheered for Grandma Ninja long before she had a name. The man who didn’t need to lift weights because he lifted me — through decades of caregiving, crises, reinventions, and the long, slow climb toward strength.
He’s gone.
But the support he gave me is still here.
It lives in my balance, my confidence, my resilience, my stride.
A ninja never forgets her training partner.
Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary is the inspiring true story of a septuagenarian grandmother who dared to dream big—by training for American Ninja Warrior. Teaming up with her coach and trainer, she embarks on a three-year journey to build strength, resilience, flexibility, balance, and endurance—starting from scratch.
Told in a dynamic mix of diary entries, coaching insights, and behind-the-scenes reflections, this book chronicles the ups and downs of late-in-life athletic training. From gym workouts to rock climbing, yoga to injury recovery, sleep to mindset—every aspect of the transformation is explored with honesty and humor.
Grandma shares what she’s learning; her coach explains why she’s right—or wrong. Together, they offer a realistic, encouraging look at what it takes to pursue an extraordinary goal at any age.
Part training manual, part motivational memoir, Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary is packed with practical tips for readers over 50 who want to improve their fitness, health, and confidence. You’ll also get insider insights into the world of American Ninja Warrior, strategies for balancing real life with ambitious goals, and hard-won wisdom about success, failure, and the joy of simply showing up.
To read more precerpts from Grandma's Ninja Training Diary, click HERE.
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