Byline: Sandy Meindersma
HOLDEN - At 78, Betty Hanlon is going stronger than many women half her age.
Despite having had breast cancer in 2002 and the challenge of living with osteoporosis, she maintains an active lifestyle, walking four miles in her neighborhood, working out at the Greendale YMCA, gardening, golfing and hiking.
She has hiked all over the country, including Yosemite National Park, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park and Custer National Park in South Dakota.
"I hike every chance I get," Mrs. Hanlon said.
She frequently hikes Mount Wachusett, and on Columbus Day, she made it to the top of Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, N.H., as part of an annual trek her family makes.
"I first went to the top when I was 70," Mrs. Hanlon said. "We've done it four or five times since then."
tag heuer replica Mrs. Hanlon's daughter, Kathy O'Connell, lived in Keene, N.H., for 20 years, but has since moved out of state. Mrs. O'Connell returns to climb Mount Monadnock every year for her birthday.
This year's climb included Mrs. Hanlon, Mrs. O'Connell, her three adult children, stepdaughter, daughter-in-law and her husband, Joe.
"It's the second-most-climbed mountain in the world," Mrs. replica rolex O'Connell said. "But it's an intense climb - it's all rock at the top.
"The fact that she can do it at 78 years old is pretty amazing."
In 2002, Mrs. Hanlon's cancer was caught via a routine mammogram, when it was still small enough to be treated with only radiation.
"I don't think it's affected my life in a negative way," she said. "I'm probably busier now than I was before."
According to Mrs. O'Connell, it was the diagnosis that caused her mother to adopt such an active lifestyle.
"She's become really active," Mrs. O'Connell said. And she has stayed committed to it."
Mrs. Hanlon's husband, John, called his wife "Wonder Woman."
"She started hiking after her diagnosis," he said.
"She just keeps going. She's a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother," he said. "She's a good neighbor to everybody."
ART: PHOTOS
embroidered patches PHOTOG: (1) T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN; (2, 3 AND 4) SUBMITTED PHOTO
CUTLINE: (1) Betty Hanlon sits in the backyard of her Holden home. Ms. Hanlon, 78, is a breast cancer survivor, and she climbed Mount Monadnock with her family on Columbus Day. (2) Betty Hanlon shows her spirit. (3) Betty Hanlon climbed Mount Monadnock this year, her third trip up the mountain. (4) Betty Hanlon and her family hiked Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire on Columbus Day.
Other articles:
http://www.amcathome.com/Nothing-but-the-real-thing.htmlhttp://www.keyvac.com/JCPenney-Reports-September-Sal.htmlhttp://www.hychina.net/Blog/View/?367
