11
u
OCTOBER 15, 2002
Smoke Signals
aer and Might Just Be In the Best Shape of His Life
T
7
4 4(
V
f
.4 . ;t n, tr
X
rf M- ...
i , -
7
r4
A 1 jF
" 4,
I
Life Changes Tribal Elder Don Simmons said running saved his life and that he hasn't gotten sick since he started running years ago. Simmons had to cut
ua.i uii ilia luiiiiiny save ins niccj, uui lie oliii puuuuj uui mu j y vjujf.. -.ji -.i,., ,..
rt"' ' " n i
1 v. vi - - r-vJ r I
I ' I 'ft A
I ' . C O J.
.
4
I
t. f J Jif r' E
f mr t 4T t' t
. ..i J4r ..rr.r
' i i- 'J f fit"
4 A
If
V
'TV
Vi
1
1
" '.1.
0 J w
f 1.
Family
The family in
Grand Ronde
for Sam Jr.'s
funeral, July
2002.
Left to right
are: Claudia,
Donald,
William,
Leroy, (in
back) and
Walter.
life. Stress is a killer, but I don't have it," he
said.
A second turning point in Don's life came when
he was walking down the street one day. A
couple of people jogged by him. He looked at
them jog away and decided that he wanted to
take up running.
He walked down to the bus station, rented a
locker to put his backpack in and took off run
ning. And he hasn't stopped since.
"Running saved my life," Simmons said. "My
whole life changed again. I ran every day. I
still do. And I went all out, too. I hit the wall
the first day. But it was such a high. I'd find
the steepest hill in Seattle, Queen Anne Hill,
and run up it. I ran everywhere. I even ran to
pay my cable bill," he said. Don began to change.
He felt better. He looked better. He even slept
better.
He started doing things he never did before, like
reading, going to museums, or going to the coast.
"And now I feel better than I have in my en
tire life. I've never been sick since I started run
ning. And I don't keep a pill in the house," he
said.
Don has toned down the running to save his
knees, now only running two miles a day. None
theless, he can frequently be seen around the
Grand Ronde area, either jogging or riding his
bicycle. He likes to go down to the casino to so
cialize. He recently studied for and passed his
G.E.D. test.
He lifts weights regularly, watches his diet and
doesn't drink coffee.
Now that he's living in the Elder's housing,
Simmons said, he has time to take care of him
self and appreciate the simple things in life.
"I'm grateful," he said. "These places here are
nice. You know what I like about living hert ?
No fences. That's nice. The other nice thing is
that lot of my childhood friends are here wita
me right now Jesse Robertson, Wayne Sells,
Lee Graim, Candy George, a lot of folks. I have
really good neighbors," he said.
We walked outside and looked at the mour
tain. "But the best part is being able to look out an 1
see Spirit Mountain.
I look at it every day. There were times I
thought I'd never see it again," he said.
"I'm grateful every day I see it." D