Retiring Retirement
This senior is still standing … and so is his confidence This is the second in a two-part column.
W
ith barely a step between him and the outbreak of COVID-19, a 76-year-old Delmar man with a fractured pelvis, ribs, punctured bladder and a brain bleed from a motorcycle accident somehow made it from the Bahamas to Tampa General Hospital after a nightmarish five days, some without painkillers. In Part I of this tale, we examined how something so chilling could contribute to confidence. Perhaps the biggest answer was his renewed sense of confidence he had in his fel-
“The medical personnel were knowledgeable, caring and competent. The Emergency low man. In the middle of his Room did a first-rate job. The misery, his motorcycle buddies lead doc was a graduate of Colstayed with him through thick gate, and they had me up and and thin, a passing pickup walking in a couple of truck brought him to days. The rehab was safety, an island great, as was my by doctor with limson and his famited resources was ily when I went able to wrestle to stay there. with insurance companies to And although get him an airlift, it wasn’t a “posian older couple tive experience,” he offered him money said, referring to the at the airport thinking he pain, “many things could have needed it, as did a kind cabby been worse. For example, the who filled in for a missing orthopedist said I had broken ambulance at the airport. my pelvis in just the right spot. Furthermore, I was just ahead “As fraught with trouble as of COVID-19, so I didn’t have this world is, there were good to be quarantined.” people all around,” he said.
Robert LaCosta
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His confidence may not be as shattered as some of his bones, but he has decided to modify his mojo a bit and get “training wheels” for his Harley back in Delmar that will paradoxically allow a little safety in the daring. Harleys don’t need a lot a spin, but the conclusion of this story on confidence has some metaphorical poetry: “Harleys are stalwart,” he said. And so are their riders. Robert J. LaCosta writes a daily blog. Write him at norepcom@gmail.com or call (518) 435-1250. He is also a Hearing Instrument Specialist and has worked with seniors through four decades.
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