Meet Melinda Sortor
I joined Stroller Strong Moms 2.5 years ago and it has changed my life in so many ways it would take pages to explain them all, so here are the highlights; After a 20 year career I decided at the age of 40 that I really wanted to have a baby. What you need to know is that for most of my life I had always said I was never going to have children, I never particularly liked children and the thought of caring for something so incredibly needy definitely did not appeal to me. But there I was 40 years old saying to Travis “let’s have a baby!”
It took about two seconds to get pregnant and then; terror! What have I done? I don’t know anything about baby’s or being a mother! Travis and I both traveled for work so we didn’t know anyone except our neighbors in Savannah and our family members were all 1000 miles away! So I started reading, a lot (probably too much) about baby’s and just hoped for the best.
In April of 2013 we had this beautiful baby girl and the first few weeks were rough but we got through and once I things sort of under control, it hit me, what am I supposed to do with this baby all day long? Travis is gone Monday through Friday every week, it’s just Harper and I all week long. Then one Saturday I wandered into Lululemon and the wonderful Julie Brown (who I did not know at the time) tells me about Stroller Strong Moms.
I was a little apprehensive at first but it has turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have made so many new friends, real friends who will do anything for you. They have helped me through all of the crazy ups and downs of being a new mother and then a mother of two. They have taught me that it’s ok not to be perfect and it’s ok to let your kids cry 🙂 and that at their core, all husbands are exactly the same, mine isn’t the only one who acts like a lunatic.
I have become an athlete again after a 20 year hiatus, and after a lot of urging have become a runner (sort of) which is an outlet that has filled this incredible need as a mother to have something that is all mine. The sense of accomplishment I feel after completing a race is always incredible no matter the length and this is something I would never have attempted without this group and one person in particular.
So I thank you all; Alexa Smith for starting this fantastic organization, all of the instructors who push us every single day to be our best and all of the fantastic women who I sweat with both literally and figuratively daily. This is about so much more than exercise; its about becoming healthier, stronger individuals that are instilling an incredible sense of community, love, support and physical well being in our children.
I sincerely don’t know what I would have done without this group over the past 2.5 years but luckily I won’t ever have to find out. Being a mother has been one of the greatest joys of my life but I know it has been enhanced immensely by this wonderful group of women who have become like sisters to me and favorite aunts to my babies.
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