Thursday, May 03, 2007

Life and death in Louisville

"I'm in pretty good shape, except I can't hear, can't see, and can't remember anything," announced the patient perfectly cheerfully. "I had two great-grandchildren last month, and they weren't twins, either. TWO of my daughters became grandmas. That made me feel old."

As he went out the door, I yelled, "Have fun in Louisville!"

He stopped. "I am goin' to Louisville for my granddaughter's graduation. She is graduating from the Baptist Theological Seminary to be a pastor and a missionary, and every time I see her she tries to convert me. She hasn't done it yet. She's goin' to Peru to convert all the heathens there. And then in June I'm goin' back to Louisville to swim in the Senior Olympics. If I stop swimmin', I know I'll never start again, so I better not stop. The other day a little girl asked me if I was swimmin' in the Special Olympics. I know what those are. I must have looked really bad that day!"

After the door closed behind him, Lisa-here-at-work said, "He told me that at the last meet, a man much younger than him set a world record for the 200-meter butterfly, got into a different pool, had a heart attack, and died. He said it was the second-best way to go."

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