Bill

- I'm Bill Brewster, I live in Gig Harbor. Well, I woke up another year older. Yeah, it's pretty significant. I feel like I'm in a club I feel like I'm in the 60 club today. Like, I'm automatically in, you know. I don't even have to sign up. I guess I consider myself kind of active, and, so, I like doing bicycling is one of my number one things. Backpacking is actually my favorite thing to do in the whole world. So, my morning routine is get up, make the coffee, and kind of putz around a little bit. And, then, I come over to my desk and I typically like to do a Bible study. I get kind of distracted a little bit. So, if have my phone handy or the computer on, I'll check email and go on Facebook and different things like that. I'm just doing that. And, so, I might not accomplish too much in my Bible study, but I'm there and I'm trying to do it. It's just a good way to start the day pretty much. And, then, I'm trying to get ready for work too. I'm taking a shower and getting my bag ready.

My spin class is, it's really fun. I've been doing that for a few years now. It's kind of low key, in the sense of it's real simple. The bikes aren't fancy or anything. The people are really cool. I'm just encouraged by the dedication that people have to exercise and to working out. After my spin class, I typically like to go to a coffee. Sometimes I go to to Starbucks, sometimes I go to Cutters Point. Cutters Point has a real good coffee on Thursdays, and it's called Dark Harbor. And, so, it's sort of like a signature thing for me to do on a Thursday morning, to go to Cutters Point for Dark Harbor. So, my commute on bike is, I think it's really cool, and it's become, it's changed over the years. I used to bike on the freeway the whole way, Highway 16. Now, I'm taking trails and the Cushman Trail, I'm riding on that, and then the Scott Pierson Trail over in Tacoma. And, it's, I like kind of the freedom of being on the trail 'cause it's just me on the trail with other bike riders and walkers and runners. The people at work know that I'm a bicyclist and, like, I don't know if they just tolerate me or whatever, you know, I'm in my bike shorts and in the summertime I'm in a tank top and I'm trying to just make a beeline to the shower through all the people. It's a physical and it's attached to the spiritual part of me. There's a real spirit to it.

If you think about bicycles, a lot of times, you know, we start learning when we're kids, riding bikes. There's times when I'm riding my bike that I have to remember that, hey, I've been doing, this is what I used to do on the streets of Yelm when I was a kid, riding my Stingray and popping wheelies down the street, and it was all about fun. I mean, it wasn't really about going from point A to point B. It was all about fun. The biggest spiritual part of my commute happens on Sixth Avenue. There's more homelessness going on in our community, and, so, there are people out there that are struggling and they all have stories. And, I'm not able to take the time sometimes to hear their stories, but I'm aware that there's a hurting world out there. And, so, I'm right in the midst of it on my bicycle, and, you know, so I'm not just out there having fun. But, there's an opportunity to pray for these people and to be present for them. That's really helped me to be a part of a community. And, one that I wouldn't experience if I would just be driving to work by myself.

So, my wife has a physical therapy studio in our home, and that's brand new. We just started out there this year. My wife's desire to do her own brand of physical therapy in her own space, it's nice having my wife as a physical therapist, mainly to, well, I get treated once in a while, and then also she tells me what to do. So, there's things that I, you know, you talk about discipline, that I need to do, which I'm not very good at sometimes. My wife and I have raised our family here, and we know our neighbors, and our neighbors have actually helped us raise our kids. And, we've done the same for them over the years, and we have some new people that have moved into the neighborhood, new families. I think what it takes to be a good neighbor is to be yourself, namely. It's a matter of respect. It's not all about just doing whatever you wanna do any time of the day.

So, I guess if I'm 60, I might have a secret of, you know, how to stay youthful and happiness and all that stuff. But, I'm not sure if I do. I think anything that I have has been done before, and I still, I think, looking to others is really important. You know, how are they living their lives and what are they doing with their lives. So, I also know, you know, there's courage, it takes a lot of courage to live life and to suffer and, in the midst of suffering, still be joyful. Whatever I have, it's been given to me already from other people. And, I think that's what I find.

My commitment and discipline to bike to work and to keep that going all these years, part of it comes from my wife. She's really always encouraged me to do that, and if there are days when I don't feel like doing it, just her questioning me, you know, "Hey, Bill, are you gonna bike today," puts it out there. "Oh, yeah, you know, I don't really want to, "but, yeah, I think I will." Bicycling doesn't seem to be too mainstream. If it became mainstream around here, I might not do it as much. So. I would just really want to take care of the temple as much as possible. To be able to provide and work in whatever capacity needs to be done. ♪ That I can't let go, oh whoa ♪ ♪ Images of you, ooh ooh ♪ ♪ That I can't let go, oh whoa ♪ ♪ To you ♪