James William McCall has done many things in his life, but as an inspiration to his family, he is one of a kind. McCall was born on November 14, 1910 on the 160 acres of land that his father gained during the Oklahoma land rush in the late 1800s. “My father is the most interesting person I know,” says Linda Long of Garland, Texas. “He has so many stories to tell and all you have to do is just sit and listen. He remembers the places, the people and can recite them all off like it was yesterday.”
What makes Bill McCall stand out as a model for fitness as a lifestyle is the lifestyle choices he continues to make in his 95th year of life. He walks regularly, monitors his consumption of food as well as continuing to perform as much physical work as he is capable of.
It’s hard to imagine a 95-year-old man who is as active and as vibrant as Bill McCall. Yet his endurance and his health are a testament to the way he lives his life. He did not join a fitness club. He did not work out with weights regularly. Instead, Bill McCall lived an active and full life.
In his retirement, he’s worked on his garden, his trees, and his cars and in his tool shed. He walks every day that the weather is not inclement and he plays with his great-grandchildren regularly. Listening to him talk about his life in the early part of the 20th century, his escapades in World War II and his experiences traveling between California and Texas are deeply fascinating.
It’s not just that he walks. It’s that he pays attention to his diet. He knows to monitor his blood pressure and his potassium levels. He knows to take his daily supplements, to drink plenty of water and most of all, to stay active. As long as he can walk regularly, he feels like he will continue to be well.
It’s true that mental health often affects physical health. The feeling that you will get better, that you will be better and that you are better can have a profound effect on yourself. Bill McCall is very much an example of that. Walking, living well and taking care of himself makes him feel better. He feels better and he continues to live well.
Fitness is a way of life and that way of life has served Bill McCall for more than 9 decades. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with my husband’s grandfather and my daughter’s great-grandfather. It’s a real treat and a blessing to know that my daughter gets to know this fabulous gentleman.