At one point in her life, while studying to be a nurse practitioner, she was getting up at 6 a.m. to take two buses to school. Now semiretired from the University of Pittsburgh Student Health Center, she boards buses with friends, to travel around the country.
Her job, she says, "gives me reasons to get up in the morning. I basically use the money as 'play money' to take a lot of trips."
For about two hours a day during the school year, she stands pretty much in the same place at her crossing-guard post. But weekends and summertime, she's off.
One of her constant traveling companions is Shirley. The two graduated from high school together and got reacquainted when Joan returned to Ellwood City in 1995.
"She's retired, and we're both widows," says Joan. "And we sort of found out we like to do things together—so we do." They also started going to Curves® together. "When they [Curves] came to Ellwood City, Shirley and I decided we needed it," says Joan.
Taking care of her health
Working out three days a week and traveling are all part of Joan's plan to stay active and keep in shape. She says she learned she had osteoporosis several years ago at a public health fair, where she got a free bone density screening.
Shortly after going to the health fair, she learned about prescription Reclast® (zoledronic acid) Injection, a once-a-year treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Joan, who suffers from acid reflux, says a Reclast infusion interested her because it bypasses the digestive tract to go to the bones.
So far, Joan has had two infusions. She says she loves the fact that she gets the infusion only once a year, for at least 15 minutes. Plus, from her experience as a registered nurse and nurse practitioner, she says she knows how important it is to get treatment to help protect against hip fractures, which can have devastating consequences.
"I've had a couple of falls," she says. "Luckily, I haven't broken anything. I'm always in a hurry!"
Making it a "good day"
But Joan doesn't let anything hold her back from traveling. She and her friends keep their eye out for interesting bus tours.
They've been on lots of day trips, such as the one that included a visit to Fallingwater, the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house built over a waterfall, a winery and the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel in Shanksville, PA, which honors those killed in the 9/11 crash. There have been other longer trips—to Williamsburg, Nashville and Cape Cod. And one trip outside the country, to Ireland and Scotland, sponsored by the Eastern Star, the largest fraternal organization in the world to which both women and men may belong.
Joan's calendar is packed with more than strength-training sessions and traveling with the girls. She pitches in at a local food bank, and belongs to several social and benevolent organizations, including the Eastern Star and the Ellwood City Saxon Ladies, which raises money for people in need. Through her church, the Ellwood Presbyterian Church, where she's a deacon, Joan helps plan lunches and fundraisers for Habitat for Humanity®.
Even when she's busy at home, she's always thinking of the next trip. "I'd like to be able to make myself save money so I can take a trip to Europe," says Joan.
For now, she thinks positively and remembers something a visiting minister once said. "He said, 'don't have a good day—make it a good day.' And I've made that my thing."
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