In the early 90′s my wife and I went to visit my Grandmother (Laura) in a rural town in Northern California. At the time she was in her mid-80s and her sister (my Great-Aunt Pauline) was in her mid-90s. It was quite an enjoyable time as my Grandmother and Great-Aunt were always very up-beat and positive people. You couldn’t help but look at life a little more optimistically when you were around them. And the difficulties of the lives which they had lived where in no way evident in your interactions. It was as if they had lived a life of leisure and ease, and the result was an attitude that was care-free and felicitous.

As a part of our weekend together we all sat down to play a favorite old family game called Yahtzee. Yahtzee is played with 5 dice over a total of 13 rounds. the object of the game is to score in 13 separate categories like “Full House”, “Large Straight”, etc. It had been a while since I had played and both of these seasoned Yatzee veterans were skillfully dominating the game (and showing no mercy to the youngsters). There was one defining moment in the game when I rolled a pair of 3′s, a 4 a 5 and a 6. As I slid  the two 3′s off to the side (thinking I was clever and was going to “go for my 3′s”), I began to gather up the remaining dice to continue my roll. My Aunt-Pauline said “you should really go for your straight rather than your 3′s”.

Now, I really doubt that my Aunt-Pauline knew that the exact probability of getting a large straight (2, 3, 4, 5, 6), but she did know that it was much more difficult than getting some 3′s. In fact, I believe she knew that even if I did not get my “large” straight, I was assured of getting a small straight (3, 4, 5, 6). When I asked “how is it that you remember all of that?” (since I was much, MUCH younger and did not see these things as naturally as they did) my Grandmother replied quite simply “use it or lose it”.

Now, I had heard that phrase “Use it or lose it” a lot in my life, and attributed to all kinds of things (including my vacation time), but that day the phrase took on new meaning. As my Aunt and my Grandmother had grown older, they realized the importance of exercising all of their muscles, not the least of which being their brain. I believe they had watched a lot of their friends (after all they had lived for decades in the same small town) deteriorate over time, and they were committed to staying as active as possible for as long as possible.

Many people, after they retire, do not live a very long life. One of the key reasons is that they lose their purpose (if who they were was wrapped up in what they did). But another key reason is that they would simply atrophy. Their muscles and their minds.

Use it or lose it, that is what my Grandmother always said.

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