Old buddies liven up Moncton walking trails during daily morning strolls

Two old friends in Moncton are spreading smiles along the city’s walking trail. Both men, well into their 80s, have become celebrities of sorts in their travels.

Every morning around 6 a.m., 87-year-old John Melvin and 89-year-old Albert Paradis of Moncton head out with their walkers for their morning stroll.

“I am not dead yet, you know. I have to move around,” said Paradis, who says he’s been walking with his buddy along the Maplehurst walking trail for nearly 10 years.

The two chat about life.

“The world in Florida is having a hard time,” said Melvin as they make their way to the beginning of the trail.

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They have both agreed to never talk about their ailments even though they’ve had more than a few.

Melvin has had two heart bypasses and says he had both of knees replaced — twice.

Yet they still keep moving.

“I call him my bionic friend,” says Paradis.

Why do they do it? Melvin says they can keep each other alive and look after each other while doing it.

“It’s been so long now it’s like he is a second brother,” said Paradis.

They both admit that they often disagree like brothers too.

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Melvin says it’s the people they meet along the way that really put a spring in their steps, and the two have become almost like celebrities on the walking trail.

“They have that desire at their young age to keep healthy to keep on keeping on,” said neighbour Rodney Blyth, who often watches the pair shuffle along the trail.

It may take them an hour and a half to walk only three kilometres, but they say life is not about winning the race. The two old pals know it’s about the people you meet along the way.

“We found a lot of friends by walking,” said Melvin.

Halfway through their walk Melvin will give Paradis a peppermint to keep him going.

It’s not hard to tell they both still have plenty of spunk or the ‘stubbornness,’  Melvin says, keeps them going.

“Albert here, he sees some pretty nice looking ladies and he says ‘well now, all I can do is look. I could not catch her anyway,'” he said.