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My wife and I have traveled the world, but "Tempus Fugit," we are getting old. I am now 84 and counting, so I am limited to a once a year vacation. Although I am semi-retired, I do a little service work for my older clients. It seems as we get a little older we look backwards and see things a little clearer, so we have taken to visiting old friends and relatives.
Recently, I attended my 65th high school reunion and found that out of a class of about thirty-five, we had about sixteen still remaining. However, they seem to be going quicker as we have lost four since the last reunion. This year we are looking to rent a cabin in northern Maine near the Canadian border and do some salmon fishing.
My mother taught me to play golf when I was fourteen. I played off and on throughout my career, but business always came first. When I went into the insurance business, golf was a way of meeting people, so I took it seriously. I joined an exclusive country club and became an avid golfer. I played to a 12-13 handicap. When I reached age eighty, my game began to deteriorate, and I became very frustrated and summarily gave up the game. Actually, I became so mad at myself I walked off the golf course and never returned.
In the year 2007, I was diagnosed with arrhythmia. I went to a doctor that was said to be the best heart doctor in the city. He nearly killed me! I was at his office weekly with him trying to control my heart rate with medicine. He finally decided that I needed a pacemaker. Well, that didn't help. My blood pressure was sky-high and my heart rate was always around 150. My golfing buddy is a retired pharmacist, so I asked him to recommend a doctor. He got me an appointment with a cardiologist from New York. This doctor came into the room and I told him what the problem was, and he left and came back with a goofy-looking machine and attached it to my chest and in ten minutes he made a few adjustments and told me, "There, I don't think you will have any more problems." My blood pressure and heart rate are normal and have been ever since. Can you imagine the difference in doctors?!
Other Comments:
My Navy Service:
At seventeen, I joined the Navy. I never told anyone about my preteen and teen years because of having a penchant for getting hurt, so no one knew of my broken bones and injuries. I was just a very healthy seventeen-year old. I loved the Navy and being on board ship. The food was great, and the sights were many to see. We were members of a unit called the Armed Guard, and we were a gun crew on mostly Liberty Ships. We were all teenagers or in our early twenties. The idea was we were less likely to get sick because there were no doctors or corpsmen on Liberty Ships. If you get wounded on a Liberty Ship, you either die or get better. That's why we were called "Cannon Fodder".
Sea Story:
One day as we were approaching the Irish Sea just off the coast of England, I had an accident. It was one of those days when the clouds were high in the sky and the sun was shining brightly through the clouds. There was a stiff breeze from the northeast and the sea was very choppy. The Commodore of the convoy ran up some flags to send a message and each ship had to answer. I was on the bridge and the Signalman went over to the 'Flag Box' which looked like an oversized coffin, to run up the flags, and he forgot to lock the cover in place. I immediately saw it and jumped forward to grab the cover so it would not come down on the Signalman. I stumbled and flipped in the air and came down on my head. You guessed it! I came down on the same spot where I had the plate put in as a boy. I felt I wasn't hurt, but I was to learn later that a scalp wound bleeds profusely and this sure did! They took me to my quarters and the Ship's Purser came and bandaged my head. I looked like a Turk! I was given two aspirins and then went to sleep. The next morning they could not even wake me up! They thought I was in a coma!! They waited another day and were about to notify the Commodore when I finally woke up. They asked me how I felt, and I told them that I felt great, and I stood my regular watch that night.
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