How did a little girl born in New Jersey end up as Jean Bullard on a ski slope at nearly 84 years of age? Easy. Her father never left her out of all the exciting things that sometimes only boys are allowed to engage in.

There wasn’t anything she didn’t want to try and so at 9 she saved up the money she made walking dogs—sometimes three at once-- until she had the $5.95, at 5 cents an hour for each dog, that a new pair of wooden skis cost. That wasn’t an easy job as each dog wanted to go around each tree in different directions, pulling her this way and that. She traveled to New York with her mother to pick out her precious skis and begged for permission to sleep with them the first night.

When she was in the 9th grade her world changed when the family moved to the country, away from all her friends, but her dad repaired an old canoe on the place so she could paddle it on the mill pond anytime she wanted. She never forgot skiing and years later she made the ski team at Mt. Holyoke College and there was no stopping her.

Later, at age 76 she won a silver medal in the Sun Valley Nastar ski races. Nastar racing is a program where recreational skiers of all ages and abilities can test their skills on courses set up at resorts across the country.

After she and her husband moved to a retirement residence in West Seattle with all their precious collections reminding them of their travels, Jean’s beloved Bill died and not many months later Jean suffered a heart attack.

Fortunately her daughter was with her at the time and called 911. She was revived and after weeks of healing and therapy her first question to the doctor was, “When can I go skiing again?” He replied, “After you improve enough to balance safely on skis.”

Well, Jean wasn’t to be denied her favorite sport and so she set up a ski exercise machine in her bedroom and every day, without fail, she practiced.

The previous ski season was shortened at Snoqualmie Pass because of snow conditions but at last Jean passed the balance test that her doctor required before he would allow her on skis again. One day an acquaintance at her retirement residence asked her if she could teach his young relative to ski.

He had heard that Jean had once taught beginning skiing up on the smoother slopes. Jean could no longer drive since her doctor had told her it was too risky after her stroke and she needed transportation to the mountain. That was her chance to get back on skis again so she once more was a ski teacher—this time with one student but it gave her the chance to feel the exhilaration of skiing carefully down the slopes before the season ended.

Now she can tell her Raging Granny friends all about it when she sings with them about social change. Recently she attended a writing conference in Alaska and after returning suffered a heart attack which she fortunately came through with a doctor’s prescription to take it easy for a while.

But her heart is still on the mountain slopes as she spends time continuing her writing career of short articles and stories with the hope of finally writing about the time she and her husband took their four children around the world.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer and public speaker.