The Marcus Barometer

I noticed that he paid quite a bit of attention to the newer people, in a way that seemed to fit just right with each person’s personality. For example, he seemed to be able to sniff out those of us who were a little more self-conscious, so he’d move just close enough to make sure we could see the moves, but he’d stay far enough away so he didn’t draw attention to us.

Eventually, I became a regular to his classes and I actually mastered a lot of the moves. My body changed, but more importantly, how I felt about myself changed. I could keep up with the perky, fit women! I was a contender! I began to chat with Marcus occasionally after class and I learned that he rode his bike to Nashville from Murfreesboro, Tennessee (thirty-four miles!), then taught step and spinning back to back, then rode his bike back to Murfreesboro. I was awed. I noticed the effect he had on people at the gym (people waited ten or fifteen minutes after his class just to say hi to him). I liked how encouraging and friendly he was to every single person he talked to: “Those squats are paying off!”

Marcus always made his classes special. Every once in a while, we were prompted to look on the bottom of our steps for an envelope. The person with the envelope won a prize: a bottle of champagne, a bottle of wine, or maybe a gift certificate to a bookstore. He brought cakes for us to enjoy post-class to celebrate students’ birthdays, weddings, new babies, or relocation. There were poetry readings on special days (like MLK Day), book recommendations while we were stretching, and even invitations to rugby parties (he played).

Then one day, the bad news came: Marcus would no longer be teaching because he’d taken a new job that would prevent him from teaching at his regular time. When he announced this, there was a collective gasp in the room. What? No more Marcus? What would we do? How would we exercise without Marcus to guide us? It occurs to me now how selfish we all were, thinking only about how this would affect our lives and not about the opportunity that Marcus had in front of him. Apparently, mine wasn’t the only life he’d made a dramatic impact upon.

There was a party for him on his last day and I was determined to tell him how much he’d changed my life by making exercise less intimidating for an average-bodied girl like me.