Doctor Dick

We have been walking around Spring Lake several times a week for almost five years now and as we walked along this morning we found ourselves naming some of the people we see regularly but have never met...Aftershave Man, who leaves a trail of scent behind him and Singing Man, who rides his bike and bellows out off-key songs to accompaniment only he can hear. I thought as we walked along that if we ran into the man with the walker and the helmet I would strike up a conversation and find out his name. He would be the first in a series of the people of Spring Lake. It's time to get to know some of these people and compare their real stories with the ones we make up about them....

Sure enough, as we were nearing the car we saw him. He hadn't gone very far, but a considerable amount of effort is needed for him to walk at all. No matter how hard the going is for him, he always has a big smile, a cheerful "Good Morning" and without fail a "have a good day".  There used to be an older lady who drove him to the lake and accompanied him, but she was never really with  him as he soldiered unsteadily along.

As I caught up with him this morning he was deep in conversation with his new companion, discussing the derivation of a very long word, my opening to strike up a conversation. He introduced himself as "Doctor Dick" and his new companion as Kumong. The very long word described a  rare condition he had diagnosed in one of his patients. Kumong told us she is from Bali but has been in this country for 25 years. She is lovely and outgoing. We chatted about some of the people who come to the lake, and Dr. Dick said the Singing Man is a corporate lawyer! I think Kumong is very good for him. He was more upright, and engaged. She asked my name and thanked us for stopping to talk to them.We talked about her village in Bali and some of  the places I had been there.

As we parted ways, I couldn't help but comment on what a wonderful leveler nature can be. A lot of people use Spring Lake  yet we are all just people....people fishing, biking, walking with kids, doing ordinary things without the usual badges of status and profession. 

We said good bye and Dr. Dick said, "Have a good day"....
OilMan said to me, "I'll bet he was a really good doctor...."