We - the members of the Greatest Generation and the baby boomers they begot - have had more advice about how to achieve long, healthy lives than any generation in the history of human existence. We've been told what to eat and what to drink, how to exercise, what vitamins and pills to take. The pharmaceutical industry and medical science have made extraordinary advances, all in an effort to help us live as long as possible.
And yet, with all that, some day, we reach this place, where my old friend Louie - who seemed to be kicking a soccer ball to his grandchildren just a couple of years ago, who always seemed to be somewhere between working a hoe in his garden and rolling balls on his bocce court - needs instruction in getting from the bed to the walker, and from the walker safely into a wheelchair.
The therapist is great through all this, talking him through it, cajoling him a little, kidding him. I stand by and watch her and become profoundly grateful that such people exist and love their work and are satisfied when their patients achieve even a few groaning feet of success.
