Life, Death and Cheerleading 100 Women


Life, Death and Cheerleading

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I don't think they know what to expect. Here a bunch of old ladies

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with shiny costumes and a a bunch of old ladies with shiny costumes and

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they a lot of make-up, and, what are they going to do? Then as we start

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getting into it, oh! People go, how can she do that?!

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It makes us feel young and everybody applauds.

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When I do the splits that really gets the attention.

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It is like you are back in high school.

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You feel special because that is how everybody looks at you.

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Look at those old ladies, they can really go.

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Sun city. An active new way of life. The concept of retired living,

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embraced with enthusiasm, looking ten years younger, it would be great

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to live there for the rest of our lives...

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This is my normal path from my home when I go to golf practice. Here in

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Sun City golf carts are not just use for golfing. We use them as a second

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vehicle. They are basically totally rebuilt the golf cart. Excuse me

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while I watch the traffic. Then they put in a different rear end,

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normally a golf cart only goes about 12 mph. Right now we're pretty close

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to 28 mph. The speed limit is 25, but they never drive 25.

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OK, let's go dance. Let's see you take the pyramid...

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Just go up, it will be fine... We are a senior dance group in Sun

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City, Arizona. We are 55 years old, or older, most of us, older, and we

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do choreographed dance routines, acrobatics, flying Angels... I just

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learnt how to do the splits. Oh, my goodness! People are so surprised. I

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am surprised also! I do the leg lift, and I do an angel, which is

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when we get somebody's back and stretch out. I used to do a

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handstand but I don't do that any more.

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I was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis and 26 years old and

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they told me I would be crippled by 45. I said, I will not let it

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happen. This is as tight as I can get it. My palms are big enough that

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I can hold on to them. Arms have to be straight, up, down,

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you do the twisting, and that. It is really quite vigorous and very, very

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hard. We have been practising a routine

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and we will be performing that for the Veterans' Day parade, which goes

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through central Phoenix. It is viewed by several hundred thousand

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people. Three years in a row we have taken the outstanding marching group

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award. We are hoping to make it four in a row this year.

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I choreographed all the marching routines. I instruct the girls on

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how to do what I choreographed. They might be somebody just walking

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along, you don't realise it, they are a judge...

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The challenge right now is there's just a couple of weeks until the

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routine, we will do our best and show these people that we can get

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out and do tricks and shakes for two and half miles, nonstop.

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You have to get those 80-year-old feet...

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We are the bad girls. I mean, she really got mad at me yesterday, she

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yelled at me. I said, God, don't let her yell at me anymore!

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Actually it was not her fault. They gave us the wrong directions and we

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were running late. She is saying, we have to go right, it is on seventh.

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I said Ginger, what is that street? I keep my costumes altogether. In

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here, and this year is really... They like the shaky shaky.

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Especially the men. And these are poms. You never know

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when you are going to need them. This will be worn with the red

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earrings and red tassles. You feel very attractive. I feel young. You

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really do. And you feel special because it is how everybody looks at

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you. I was forbidden to dance when I was growing up. It was just a

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profession that my mother did not want any of us to have. My husband

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was very old-fashioned. I was not allowed to work until we had our

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three children in college. So when we moved here, we got here on

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Thursday, by Monday I was in class. I was going to learn how to dance

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event was the last thing I did in my life! Years of blood, sweat, and

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tears, let me tell you! This is a picture of me when I was

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little. Me and my sisters. That is my grandfather. I was petrified of

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him. He was a very big man. He was from the old country, as they say,

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he was an immigrant, he came from Bohemia. Modern-day Czechoslovakia.

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I am a first-generation American. Nowadays women are stronger and more

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sure of themselves and not afraid to fail. That is important, not being

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afraid to fail. Because a lot of people do, they pick themselves up,

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shake themselves off, start on the path, not the path they were

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supposed to be the first place, but they succeed. And that is what I

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seen young now. A courage that we were never even allowed to have.

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This picture, I was 18 years old, my brother had the picture taken.

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Although everybody cringed when I got out the baton, they didn't trust

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me X? Here it is, there are many miles on this one! I don't dare

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break another light. When I was a junior in high school I

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was diagnosed with polio. In those days there were polio epidemics. My

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back is affected, my left leg, so my paralysed.

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My diagnosis was to exercise a lot, so baton twirling became a therapy.

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This was my first group. Right out of high school, I started teaching

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them. Then we went on to Pat's Paraders in Milwaukee. When I first

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saw the cheerleaders perform it piqued my interest, but my husband

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said, over my dead body. He had seen enough of me in show business and

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performing for 20 years of our married life. So it was not until

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after he passed that I realised, this is the time now for me, the

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poms will be my new life. I should not say this, but I broke my

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mother's knows! I was in a parade, she came up behind me, and I did not

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know she was there, so I picked up my baton, and my mother was there,

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and cracked her on the nose. Not one of my finer moments! A year ago I

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was diagnosed with stage for breast cancer, which has missed aster into

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my liver. It is like, well, I better catch up on all the things I should

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have done before now. Chemotherapy just knocks your socks off. You just

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have to make up your mind that you were glad to get the best of you.

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I have been doing this since 2014. I absolutely love performing. And I

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absolutely love being part of a group, with all the women. Hi,

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honey, how are you? Ten litres? They took ten litres! I'll get back to my

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car, OK? All right, I love you. SHE SOBS.

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My husband is not in good health. He is pretty ill, almost bedridden.

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But he wants me to have as complete a life as I possibly can. If I did

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not have this... And is so fortunate to have so many friends and family

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that can help, because it can't be him. They will come in and watch for

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a while, it just means so much. I am going over to the recreation

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centre, it is about 6am, and I will be on the elliptic machine for an

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hour. Then I will do some strength exercises for about 15 minutes. Then

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normally dance practice for two hours. But I will still do the

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elliptic in the morning for an hour. Ageing is for wine and cheese. It

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does not mean anything to me. At the Veterans' Day parade I play to the

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audience. When I start moving out, I will say to the spectators, you

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know, I'm pretty tired. I wonder if I should rest for a while. And then

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they suddenly get concerned. Is there anything we can do? Do you

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want to sit here? Then suddenly I will be down in a split. Oh, look at

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her! I lived in Chicago all my life, until I moved to Arizona 20 years

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ago. I don't have any immediate family. I was an only child. About

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all that I have now is my husband and myself. I was pretty much a

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career lady who went and did my own thing, in a field of men, mainly,

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being in mathematics, there were men in my field and not very many women.

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We spend so much time together it is like a sorority. So much a part of

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my life now. My husband thinks it is a little frivolous, silly, for a

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lady of 80 years old to be doing this, but of course, I don't think

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so! Hello, hello. I have been at the doctors all afternoon. We are going

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away and I wanted to get a shot of some kind before we left, but that

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is not going to work. So I'm going to go away with the pain. So... Why

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won't it work? Because you cannot get in. Once I see him it takes

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another three, four weeks, before the insurance approves things. I

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have a lot to look forward to. I have a crew is coming up to

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celebrate my 85th birthday. Just fancy, glittery things, but the

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black pants, and... Well, this will take care of me for the next few

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weeks, if you can see all those, there are at least 15 in every

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container. So this, it is not fact, this is all pills! That is what I

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keep telling myself! I keep saying I'm going to retire. But I don't

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know how. I just don't know how to retire. But little by little I will

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edge out of it. Let's say that I hope I am around for the next grade.

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Everything I do, every day, I think, I hope I am able to do this next

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year. It is a funny feeling, when you are diagnosed with cancer. And I

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have liver cancer, stage four. So, who knows? Did you see that? No, I

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heard about it last night... Front page! And I kicking my leg right?

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Get the elbow out to the front. I still seeing elbows over here.

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We really have to get up to speed. We go practice in the morning,

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walking. So we really give the neighbours a show.

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They are always better in a parade. But they are out of practice.

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Practice usually stinks. We will see you tomorrow, good luck.

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I had at the other way the last time... I am feeling OK. It is a

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little early, but I am anxious. All right, as we march, making sure

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you are in a straight line. You have a smile on your face, and you are

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not talking to anybody. Candy, gum, anything in your mouth, get rid of

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it. Watch the spacing between lines, so you don't get too close. All

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right, we are ready now. There is the flyover.

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They look gorgeous. That is girl power, right there! It was euphoric.

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You have two one half miles of crowds, yelling, waving flags,

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cheering you. It was euphoric, really. You push yourself to do

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things that you never thought you could do before. Sometimes you think

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you cannot do it, but you like the little Indians that could. You know

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that book? I think I can, I I can. It has fulfilled all my dream. I

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would be lost without this. It is important in life to make as much of

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a contribution that I can, in any way that I can. You feel like you

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have a purpose, no matter your age, you have a purpose.

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Most of my life I have prepared the end. I always think dying as a part

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of living. Just do not let illness, age, anything else get you down.

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Just keep going and do would you have got to do. The rewards will be

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many. Do you want to hear my philosophy? I

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was Miss philosophy among the Arizona seniors. All you can do is

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sit down and laugh. And then do all they could you can, for all the

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people you can, in all the ways that you can. In all the time that you

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can, and as long as you can. And now that I have reached my golden years,

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may he continue to aspire, to inspire, before I expire!

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