When Mike Stadshaug saw his mom, Lee, struggling to work through the grief of losing her husband, he knew from personal experience how he could help.
Mike had gone through a difficult period in his own life following a divorce. After listening to a friend’s advice, he started attending CrossFit classes and finally began to heal.
Mike wanted to find a similar source of comfort and support for his mom.
“I kind of knew that if I could just get her into the gym and into this place that’s been so special to me that … it could kind of change her life the way that it has with mine,” Mike said.
But Lee was reluctant to follow in her son’s footsteps.
“I was really afraid to come to the gym because I didn’t feel like gyms were for people that look like me.”
Fortunately, Mike and the other coaches at Kitsap CrossFit helped Lee learn that she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Additional reading: “Lifting Bars and Spirits”
Originally published – Oct. 2017
Death, Divorce, and Double-Unders