An inspiration to others - Barbara Andersen - Brief Article - Column

Melpomene Journal, Spring-Summer, 2002 by Nancy Owsianowski

Aunt Barbara has inspired more people than she will ever know about. Me, my walking partner, my walking partner's friends, my husband, his friends, his workmates -- the list goes on. They all sing her praises far and wide.

Several years ago, our whole family went to see Aunt Barbara run the 10-mile CRIM (the Coolest Race in Michigan), and I thought, if she can do it, then I can too.

I wasn't physically active until I had kids. But, when they were ages 1 and 3, I said, "I could sit here and be crazy or drive them crazy -- or do something." So I loaded them into the little red wagon and walked around our country block.

Three years ago, I met a new neighbor and asked her if she ever considered walking or running. She said she didn't know with whom, where or when. So we started walking together, three mornings a week -- three miles in 45 minutes. We've solved all the world's problems as we walked, and I feel much stronger. I have more endurance and my clothes fir better.

Aunt Barbara's influence on my husband, Pete, began at the CRIM too, as well as with a family trip to Chicago. Up until then, he had played golf and occasional co-ed volleyball, but he was too busy being a corporate climber to exercise regularly. While everyone else went to the Chicago museums, Pete and Barbara stayed back at the hotel to watch baseball and talk about running. Then she bought him Jeff Galloway's "Book on Running," and he's been running ever since -- three or four times a week.

We've walked in the Walt Disney World Marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team-In-Training (an experience of a lifetime), run a half-marathon in Chicago and run and walked in lots of regional 5Ks and 10Ks.

We might not have done it without Aunt Barb. She's a neat lady and I feel very fortunate to have her in my family.

Nancy Owsianowski is Barbara Andersen's niece. She lives in South Bend, Indiana, with her husband and two children.