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Marilyn Beckner, then 86 years old, with her medal haul at the 2025 National Senior Games. The medals don't tell her story. Humor and grace tell her story.
By Ray Glier
In March 2011, Marilyn Beckner had bilateral mastectomies because of breast cancer. Marilyn, a competitive swimmer, couldn’t get back in the pool to train until May that year. A month later, In June, Beckner swam in the 2011 National Senior Games and placed seventh and eighth…
…in the breaststroke, 50 meters and 100 meters, respectively.
“My surgeon and I have laughed about that ever since,” Marilyn said. “Me, after breast surgery, competing in the breaststroke.”
This is how you puncture upheaval in your life.
With humor.
And sometimes you find grace is a good shock absorber.
In the 2025 National Senior Games in Iowa, Beckner was entered in the pickleball women’s doubles tournament (W85-89). She didn’t know who her doubles partner would be until Nora Nickson made her way through the thick crowd of players and onto the court…
...with the help of a walker.
Marilyn, 87, was delighted at Nora’s courageous effort, even though it caused a stir. Some games in progress on the cramped courts had to be stopped as Nora made her way to their assigned court. Beckner noticed some annoyance from players in the midst of a point-run at having to suddenly stop their momentum. Marilyn, meanwhile, went from surprised to proud.
Nickson’s daughter took the walker away when the match began and Nora stood at the kitchen line, or at the back line, and tried to hit shots.
“We didn’t win a match,” Beckner said.
I sensed a wide smile across her face.
“I hope Nora goes to Tulsa (in 2027) so we can play together again,” she said.
And just one more bit of humor from Marilyn in the face of mishap.
On June 15, eight days before the 2026 Tennessee Senior Olympics where she needed to qualify for Tulsa and the 2027 National Senior Games, Marilyn stepped off a curb and fell flat on her face severely bruising her chest.
“My daughter said I was trying to take up ‘concrete surfing’,” said Beckner, who lives in Collegedale, Tennessee. “I thought that was pretty funny.”
**
Marilyn said she isn’t sure where her brand of humor comes from but, she said, “humor adds a little spice to life. Like a little salt on watermelon.”
(It is culinary custom in the U.S. South—and other hot, humid regions—to add a dash of salt to watermelon. More juice is created when a bit of salt is added to the fruit’s surface.)
Marilyn isn’t relying just on humor or watermelon juice to overcome the injury and get herself ready for the Georgia Golden Olympics (Sept. 22-26). It might be her last chance to qualify for Tulsa.
In keeping with Geezer Jock's consistent motif of HELP, here is some.Lean in. After all, Beckner was a physical therapist for 61 years.
When she fell June 15, Marilyn broke her glasses and bruised her cheek. The worst part was she hit the asphalt flat on her chest. Severe pain in the sternum radiated straight through to her back.
“It’s mostly just muscular soreness, but it has been very difficult to do anything with my arms, like swimming,” Beckner said.
Beckner got organized and, of course, being a physical therapist, she was well-equipped. She started with cold laser therapy, which has a sound head similar to ultrasound. A PT friend gave her treatment the first few days because Marilyn could not use her arms much.
That is how you break the containment that comes with injury, the dejected feeling that insists only time will heal. Get techy with the injury and get expert help.
From the internet:
Cold laser therapy (or low-level laser therapy) is a non-invasive treatment that uses specific wavelengths of light to penetrate the skin, stimulate cellular function, and reduce inflammation. It is commonly used by chiropractors and physical therapists to relieve chronic pain, arthritis, and muscle strains.
Beckner is also relying on HIVAMAT (Histological Variable Manual Technique) therapy to relieve the trauma of the fall.
From the internet:
Also known as Deep Oscillation, HIVAMAT is a non-invasive treatment that uses electrostatic impulses to create gentle, deep-tissue vibrations. It accelerates healing, reduces post-operative swelling, alleviates pain, and enhances lymphatic drainage.
The severity of the injury, especially for a 87-year old, could have been a proper time for Marilyn to stop competitive play, but her faith would not allow for it.
“Christ told me HE came that I might live life abundantly, and abundantly to me means I should be enjoying life,” Beckner said. “So sitting back and doing nothing is not appealing to me.
“I've just always found that the quicker I start moving again from whatever the injury issue, the quicker I start feeling better. The more I do, the better I get.”
**
Marilyn won eight gold medals in Iowa at the 2025 National Senior Games, including gold with Nora in pickleball because they were the only 3.0-rated players entered W85-89 (they played matches in W80-85).
“Nora had an injury so when she came on a walker, it was a pretty big surprise to me because it was the first time I met her,” Beckner said. “She was very determined.
“We were the only 3.0 entered in the tournament (W85) and they tried to give us the sliver and Nora said, ‘No, no, I want the gold’.”
Marilyn said her graciousness to Nickson was another “God thing.”
“I've always tried to I be generous to people because somewhere along the line I'm going to be on the receiving end of it,” Beckner said, “and if I haven't treated people nicely, I don't expect anybody else to treat me nicely.”
This is the soul of many Geezer Jocks, right? Good humor sprinkled with grace. 
Nora Nickson (left) with Marilyn flashing their gold.
Geezer Jock is a reader supported newsletter. The truth is the stories Geezer Jocks tell me support me mentally in my fight with ALS. Please support the work with a $5 monthly donation, or $25 donation every six months here.
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