Ep 6: Larry & Monica's Story

May is National Older Americans Month, and this year’s theme is “Champion Your Health.” If you want to be inspired by an older adult who truly champions his health… you gotta hear from Larry! As a 95-years-young resident at Compass Point Catered Assisted Living, Larry is a retired pathologist who blazes his own trail by gardening, fishing, and prioritizing his health and wellbeing. When he met Monica, Three Pillars’ Wellness Connection Manager and personal trainer, the two quickly became a dynamic duo. Hear how they motivate each other, celebrate physical fitness wins, broaden their horizons, and champion their health with an emphasis on overall wellness.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey, this is Josh with Three Pillars. Welcome to Life's Just Getting Started, a Three Pillars podcast about all things Three Pillars. If you want to learn more about us, make sure you visit our website at threepillars.org. See you soon.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Thank you for joining us on Life's Just Getting Started. Today, Josh and I are here with our guests, Monica, the Wellness Connection Manager. Hi there. And Larry, resident at Compass Point Catered Assisted Living.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Thanks so much for coming. We're excited to talk to you guys today. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Thank you. We're excited to tell some stories.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Well, that's good because that is what our podcast is precisely about. Yeah. Stories. We um, you know, when planning this episode, we we decided we have probably what, plus or minus eight to ten hours of content, things to talk about. Oh god. So um, you know, we just want to space it out an hour to time. Just kidding. You two have backgrounds in stories and history and laughs and and inspirational things, and we just we're just gonna focus on a sliver of it today. Since it is older Americans month, a national observance.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

I feel like you did know that.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yes, of course. I did know that.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

But we get Nash, it's a national observance honoring older Americans and their contributions to all the great things in our world and society, and this the specific theme this year is champion your health. So, of course, we're talking about health, wellness. So you guys fit the theme because Wellness Connection Manager and Larry, you have such a great story of well, wellness all around and things you do and love, and specifically with Monica in your health and wellness and personal training journey. So we want to touch on that, and there's a lot more to hear.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

There's our 30 minutes of recording. Thank you for joining us today. Thanks for having us. Have a great day, everybody. Bye-bye. Welcome to the intro ever. Happy Older Americans Month. So excited to talk to you guys.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

I feel longer.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

You show it. I'm older.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

You've been qualified. You've all had.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

How old are you, Larry? 37. Yep. Plus a 95.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

95.

unknown 2:17

He's 95 years old. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yeah, I know it. Every day amazes me. Mm-hmm. Every day.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Tell us. Let's start with you two and then we'll go back to each of your students. Okay. How'd you meet you two? Tell us.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Well. We were at Compass Point. Oh, yep. Yep. I was teaching class because I teach over there, not regularly, but occasionally I usually teach at Village of the Square or at my mom's connection. But Larry and I were having a conversation after class, and he had rode up in his scooter, and uh we were talking about legs, and we're talking about strength, and we're talking about his body, and I was like, you know, there are things that we can do because your scooter is not your friend. And that's kind of how we started talking because I knew that he had potential, but maybe was relying on this bad boy for a little bit. So we started working out together every Monday. It's how we start our week. It's the best time of my week. I mean, there's a lot of good times of my week, but we decided every Monday we're gonna meet. I go to his apartment, we stand. For a little while we were exercising a little bit more, but Larry's had a couple setbacks. He's had COVID and there's just a lot kind of going on. So he's also taught me that there's more to physical fitness than you know, meets the eye. Wellness now is for us is kind of turned into gardening. Turned into fishing, it's turned into talking and learning. And he's taught me so much just about life in general, and so sometimes we just sit and gab, and that's wellness right now.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

That's holistic, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Wellness is holistic. Yeah, I look forward to Mondays with Monica because she is the most up person I have ever known. Really? Here's your point. I mean, her bad days better than my good days.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

She has a she certainly has a vibe, and it's contagious, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

And I I gave her one job. So keep me where I'm at. I don't even want to get better, just where I'm at. Maintain away. Yeah, just stay there. Unfortunately, some things like COVID and everything have put a little bit of a cinch into it, but we'll get back.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

That's life. Look at you. Yep, yep. You're moving. You're yeah, we raced over here on your scooter this morning, so it was it was great. Did she keep up okay? Oh, yeah. I tried. Oh yeah.

unknown 4:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

You kept speeding up on me.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

So we're back to the day when Monica, and and I guess for context, wellness connection manager, you do tons of things. You you have the beautiful wellness connection at three pillars that you manage, but you talked about teaching classes. We give us just a what else do you do besides managing the wellness connection physical part of our campus?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

My job honestly is the greatest job on the earth because I encourage and help people to want to move. Like I'm not there to push you, I'm not there to be mean or yell at you kind of like I do with some of my other classes. But I just want people to start to want to move and appreciate that they can and appreciate what they can do right now. I hear a lot of people say, Oh, you know, I used to be able to do this, I used to be able to do that. No, let's not go back there. Let's go to right now and what you can do right now and appreciate that. So it kind of comes to, I mean, I've taught a million classes in my life. I've done a lot of training, I've got a lot of different things, but this demographic, my favorite population right now, are people that appreciate what their bodies can do and want to continue to move and what and know that they can get stronger. I teach a strength class on Tuesdays, and I had to buy heavier dumbbells. I mean, they started with there was a rack of one pound dumbbells, and I was like, hmm, that's not gonna last very long. So within a couple months, I moved up to two pounds. I mean, last week I had a lady say, Can you get me some six-pound dumbbells? And she started with ones. So they know that they can get stronger. It's just me kind of helping and making it fun. You know, exercise, not everybody likes it, I get it. I mean, I don't like to exercise half the time, but as long as I can make it kind of entertaining, then that's my job. You know, have people move, have people like to come to class. We had our little champion your health fitness outdoor challenge yesterday, and half of them were like, I'm not going outside, it's too cold, you know? And then I was like, Go get your jacket, I got some sunglasses for you. And they did, and they're like, We would have never done this unless you would have encouraged us to do it.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Monica's got away.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

So I'm like, Absolutely you're gonna exercise them, come with me.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Yeah, you feel very relaxed, you don't feel under any pressure, no judgmental uh problems, and you do what you can. And uh I find I find the stretching class with her is amazing. I didn't know anything about stretching, I never paid any attention to it. And when I get through with that class, I feel much better. I wish it lasted forever. I mean, uh where I have trouble walking in, yeah. This is before I got the COVID problem, I could walk out with no problem. And I was surprised at how effective it really is without putting a huge amount of weight lifting type of thing in.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

So I've been a real a real champion of stretching.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Yeah, you have you been championing your health, would you say, Larry?

unknown 7:33

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

That's what I've only missed. Like, I think you've only missed two times in the last probably two years because you're in the hospital. That's a valid excuse. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

And that's your other another class you teach is specifically designated for stretching. And that's that class is overflowing.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. So half my people are in chairs, half my people are stand. We never get on the ground because nobody wants to get off the ground. No, that's either going down. Not too much. Yeah, they're not coming back up. That's what I meant, you know, being very clear. Do I have to get on the ground? No, good, because I can't get up. You know, so yeah, half in chairs, half standing, a half hour of just breathing and stretching, and again, appreciating what your body can do. Yeah, so that's a fun class, too.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

That's amazing. And that's speaking of things that aren't big and scary and intimidating, and you gotta keep up for the and Monica's gonna work you, and she is working you, but you doesn't realize. Exactly, exactly. And you're picking up things that I'm sure I'm sure you can, you know, after lunch if you're feeling the tight whatever, you can do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

I do a number of the a number of number of the exercises stuff I do my apartment.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Good for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Unfortunately, I don't think of her as the director of the training of the exercise. I don't think of her as a train, I think of her as a friend.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Oh, Lair.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

And so, you know. But it works.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yep. Uh-huh. That's um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

But like the connect wellness connection, and that's kind of what I want to do is connect with everybody that I touch. And I think that that's what's so important. Again, wellness, but connecting with people. And I think I've found that people that maybe don't feel connected, reaching out and connecting them with somebody else. Maybe they got a buddy, they go walk with a buddy, they go come to the wellness connection with the buddy, just making a connection in this environment makes such a huge difference.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Yeah, one of the many uh holistic elements. I remember maybe Monica, the first week I knew you and seeing you interact with, let's just say, three different people any given day of the week. And it's like that is definitely a Monica gift, in my opinion. Knowing, finding your audience, relating, adjusting your like all about them. That's what you do, right? And Larry, maybe you can you could agree, like it's you just spoke to it, getting to know you. What are your goals? How can I help you? What are your favorites? What are you like? How can I connect you with resources or teach you things or give you skills and then weave in the world?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

And there's been a uh a few things that have come up where someone has a class, I say, Do you think I should do it? Monica says, No. If if she thinks something isn't right, she's straightforward about it. It doesn't do everything you can.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

It's certain limits to what you can do and you should do.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

We have to listen to our bodies. You know, our bodies are the best descriptions of what we can and cannot do.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

She doesn't know anything about fishing, though.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

I know not just. That's gonna change though, right? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, we're gonna fish together. She's going to Larry's school this summer. Larry's school. Well, didn't your son didn't you give Graham a lesson in fishing? Her son?

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Oh, yeah, where you gave him a lesson. Yeah, when I was first started fishing, I see this kid. I don't even well, I don't know if he was seven or nine. And I'm casting and casting and casting. And he casts and catches a fish, he casts and catches a fish. So I got on my scooter and I went over. I said, Could you do me a favor? He said, Sure. I said, Could you tell me what you're doing to fish? He said, and he did. He said, Well, I'm using this bait and he showed me everything he was doing. And we became kind of buddies, fishing buddies. Nice little kid. His name is Graham. He's a nice gentleman.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

He's a nice little kid. I've heard of him. Yeah, I've heard of him.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Did you?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

He's a big kid now.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

I think he was seven when you met him, Larry. Yeah. Because yeah, he's a big one.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

He was ever grandma at the pond.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

That's right. He oh, that boy. Just like, you know, just like you in the summer, spare moments, get out to the pond. I got an afternoon free time, get out to the pond. And that is Graham. Only he has to get a ride from a grandma, so he's begging everybody he can. Can I get out of the phone? Larry's out there. Today's Larry's there. You guys overlap a fair amount in the summer. Yeah, we do. That's a that's a special.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I actually wrote on Facebook, I was a member of a fly fishing group on Facebook, and I wrote about this, and I got 800 replies.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

From your story with Graham?

SPEAKER_00 11:58

It's from the story about me fishing from a cart and Graham showing me how to fish. That's one of the things I'll bet you that I don't know how many facilities like this have the ability to walk out of your apartment and go fishing. I mean, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

That is so cool. And you I love that you get your money's worth out of that pond. And it's endless fun. Catch release. Well, when you're catching, you're catching now. You catch all the time, Larry.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

First cat first.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

I caught my first one of the season the other day.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Monday. Yeah. No, Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yeah, it was it was one decent day. Yesterday I got blown off of the thing. It was one day, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

One day.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Well, you got Graham tried last week and he got skunked. So you've started the season well.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

There was some guy, what did you say, yesterday that got the skunk?

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Graham got skunked, there must not have been fish there.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Yeah. There was the carp guy. Oh. Yeah, the sky. From the river?

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Well, there's a a teenager a year ago was we were talking, and he said, I caught a 20-pound carp, and I thought, brings out his phone, and he had a 20-pound carp in that pond. No. Yep. And one of the residents' brother was fishing there yesterday, and he said something took his line. He said he couldn't control it at all. He said, Are there big carp in there? I said, Yeah, there's a 20-pounder. He said, That must have been what it was.

unknown 13:25

No way.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Would that be the first you've seen or heard of a big carp in there?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

The picture I saw, I've seen carp that are about this big.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

But the 20-pounder, I didn't think there was anything that size in there.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Oh, I wouldn't know.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

I haven't I haven't really tried to fish for it because it would break my rod.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Sure, and you'd go fed and you'd end up in the pond.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Or you're hard to be in the pond, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:47

It's between the big carp and the big turtle. So this is this is also wellness now going for walks and the environment and live animals and environmental wellness. It's gonna be social wellness when you're out there. Well, we also garden now. Well, he's teaching me how to garden now.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yeah, we have uh a patio garden at the edge of the patio that's at Compass Point. And there were a few plants out there, and so when I'd finished fishing, usually I'd go by and water them. And I would, I don't know if anyone else was, but I was watering them almost every day. And last fall I said to Tina, I said, Would you mind if I planned and planted and took care of the garden? She says, That would be fine. And then I thought about it and I thought, you know, a 95-year-old planting a garden, trying to take care of it, is a new definition of insanity.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

No, it's not. No, it's not. It's not. It's incredible. You talk about your gardening days, though. Like you're the master gardener, that's the thing. Nobody else knows how to do it like you do.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Well, I've I I made the mistake. I don't know. I started seeds in my bathroom, in my ex's bathroom. Well, I'm afraid an anaconda's gonna come out of it. I got a jungle going in there with all these plants. And I've got grow lights. Well, I took most of them down to sit in the window today in preparation to taking them outside when the weather gets nice. But I do have I do have someone who's gonna help me in case I didn't count on getting sick, and so you know, I was in the hospital and couldn't take care of the plants, but my my daughters took them. So I've got that now to covered. So we'll see what we get. Come over and eat tomatoes. We're gonna have a lot of cherry tomatoes.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yummy. So you did you started, so you Tina said, go for it, Larry, have fun. So you planned, you thought about what do you want in those gardens, and you started a bunch of them from seed.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, I started I started tomatoes and uh peppers from seed.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Yummy.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Of the other stuff, I'll direct seed when the weather's warm enough. I would have planted some of the coal weather crops if I had had the soil and the containers, but it didn't come in in time, so but I'll get those in there as soon as we get that fixed. I also put in a uh a butterfly garden uh and wildflower at the end of the patio, um, planting a lot of milkweed, hoped we'll get monarch butterflies.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Was that this season?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Yeah, well I seeded it in the fall, or I helped my daughter helped me seed it. Uh we planted the seeds in the fall because a lot of wildflower and and sun and uh uh the uh milky milkweed they call it stratifying. It has to go through a period of cold.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Stratifying. I knew that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

And then when it warms up they sprout. If you don't, if they're if they don't go through cold, they won't sprout. So uh I plant them in the fall and they're so they're coming up.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Oh, exciting.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Big big deal, big deal over here.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Monarchs are fun. You're gonna look for monarch eggs and caterpillars and maybe.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Well, last year someone gave us a couple of cages, like made out of gauze. Yeah. And they put the we would pick sunflowers, put them in there, and the caterpillars would eat them, and then they made chrysalises and hashed into monarchs, which we then released.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

And then you had a front row seat to watch their own. To watch them take off, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

To watch the whole process. So we had a few of those uh in in Compass Point in the lobby. Oh, that's I don't know whether they would do that again, but hopefully we'll get some butterflies going.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Tina, if you're listening, bring back the monarch uh cages, do we call them?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Tina Tina's very, very helpful and very cooperative. Oh, yeah. And so is Paul.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

A lot of good folks. Yeah, they know what they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

That's another thing that's nice to have people that you can work with so easily. I don't think anyone ever knows the word no. I really I I was I've been amazed at the staff that I've encountered. Um, they're just delightful everyone. Um I I said to uh uh Jodi the other day, I said, you don't have enough staff. She said, What? I said, Yeah, I don't see staff, I see friends. And I really do feel that.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

That's a good one, Larry.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

I was telling to someone, if my legs got better, I would stay there.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Like, I'm not going anywhere. No, I'm not going anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

No, uh, how long have you been at Three Pillars, Larry?

SPEAKER_00 18:42

About three and a half years.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

What brought you here? My daughter lives in Sullivan. And she was looking for a place uh for eventually for herself and her husband. And uh she talked to a friend of theirs who was one of the fire rescue squads, and he said, told her about three pillars and said this is hands down the best facility in the area. And so she looked and she says, I said, Well, make an appointment for me. And she did, and I came out here and looked it through him. I said, I'll take it. And a month later moved in. And uh it was time, you know. It was my I liked my house and everything, but it was time to leave. Because I couldn't get up if I fell. Unless I were at the top of the stairs, and that was a little not a great idea, but uh so you were in Madison. I moved in the end of October.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

What you were in Madison at that time?

SPEAKER_00 19:41

No, I'd retired.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

I know, but you were living in Madison.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Oh, in Madison, I said in Madison. Yeah, yeah, I was in Madison. Yeah. Uh the house we had been in for something like 50 years or so.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Oh wow. That's a big that's a big transition, but that's you know, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Some of the people there are, I mean, they're almost in mourning because of their house. I like our house, but it wasn't the house, it was the family. And once I was the only one still there, it's a nice house, but goodbye. Yeah. And I keep getting messages and photographs from the couple that bought it. Oh, it's kind of nice. They've had a couple babies since they've been there.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

It's getting its next chapter of the house, and here you are in your next chapter. And new connections and new memories and new people in your at your Three Pillars family.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

And you know what? All that's part of wellness. All it really is. You know, I know there are people there that I have never seen. They have their meals in their room, they attend no activities, and they're just occupants in their room. I I mean, I suppose all people are different, obviously. But I made my mind up when I came here I was going to be involved, and it sure has worked for me. I feel much better about getting in and doing things than just sitting in a room.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

You made some really good friends, too.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Yeah, yeah. Mindset, how you approach things makes a difference, and well, you know, uh, you realize this is where you're at, and this is probably where you're gonna end up. You don't have I don't have a bucket list any uh you know. It used to be, oh, I want to do that, I want to do that. I have nothing on the list that I want to do. You're just I'm enjoying, I'm enjoying every day, and uh it's been working for me.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Good for you. And you met this one.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

If I could only find someone that would get my legs working.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Well, you gotta fish garden owner. Shouldn't we? We'll get there. You stood up the other day, it was a little wobbly, but you know, uh-huh. We'll get there.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

So now you've got to teach her fishing?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yes, gardening. Have you taught her about pathology? Oh, good God. A little bit. I know a lot of good stories.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

That was your your your career at Madison?

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Right. Um I I was trained at the university in Madison. Okay. And then I went to the University of Utah. I was on the staff there. And then went into private practice in Salt Lake. And then came back to Madison. I was director of the lab at Methodist Hospital, which closed down, merged with Meriner, which was Madison General at the time. So I went to I was a member of the group at St. Mary's, and so I could continue to practice until I decided I was old enough to retire.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

You earned it. Speaking of Madison General, it's funny because I've told him this before, that's where my parents met.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

It was at Madison General. And it was a little bit later than you, not too much later, but my dad was a physical therapist, my mom was a nurse, and they were on two separate floors, and there was a gentleman that thought that they would be really perfect for each other. So back in that day, they had dumb waiters, you know, that they would transfer messages between floor and floor. And this guy, I don't I can't remember his name, but he sent a note to my mom from my dad, which wasn't really from my dad, it was from him. He had the good idea. And he said, Hi Joyce, my name is Phil. I'm up on the fourth floor. I'd love to take you out for a cup of coffee sometime. So my mom got the note and she was like, She was asking her fresh. She's like, Do you know anybody about Phil? Does anybody know anything about Phil? And one of the ladies was just like, Oh, Phil's cute. And so my mom went up and met him and they had coffee and they were married six months later. Wow. Oh my goodness. Madison General. What a magical place. Shout out to Madison General. Yep, exactly. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

Did they include that guy in the wedding?

SPEAKER_01 23:48

He was at the wedding. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. He deserved it. He was at the wedding. He gets credit. He gets credit. He was a matchmaker. He too. You know, they were married for 55 years. Wow. Yep. Mm-hmm. So, matchmaker.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

That's a neat connection.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

In a dumb waiter.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Not don't know anybody else with a story like that. Do you remember the dumb waiters, Larry? Oh yeah. Yeah, pass stuff between the floors, get up to the PT floor, send your lab result, lab specimens.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Oh god, it's specimens? But then a specimen through a dumb waiter, would you? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

Is that would that not be XAMS? Sometimes. Really?

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Yeah, now we advance, we have people carrying them.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Yeah. We've really come a long way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

So so what did you do? What's a pathologist do? What did a a day in a life look like?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

A pathologist has often been defined as a doctor's doctor. Okay. We examine body fluids and tissue for diseases. Okay. That's basically what we do. The big one is we used to do a lot of autopsies, short-to-turn disease processes. Those have dropped off considerably now. But when I was practicing, I did about a hundred a year.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

And we examine all the tissue that's removed in surgery. There's a lump that the doctor wants to know if it's benign or malignant. Or if it's malignant out of the borders included in the specimen. And so we do that sort of thing. And we also supervise in areas like blood bank. Okay. Um chemistry, hematology, microbiology.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Okay. So you're a social person. I mean, and and you're drawn or seem to be super social. What drew you to that line of medicine?

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Um I don't know. Well, I do know. I do know. Okay. When I was a medical student, I liked pathology. We had great pathologists at the hospital, I was asked. Okay. But I kept saying I want to have patient contact. Right. That was important. I thought that was very important. And in pathology, of all the specialties, you probably have less than you know, surgeons, internal settings. And I remember I was as a student, we would work on the specimens that were removed at surgery under the guidance of a pathologist, dissect it, write the report and everything, and they would correct it and figure it out. And I was up in the pathology lab one afternoon, and the surgical pathologist at the University of Chicago was a little old lady. She was prematurely aged, she had white hair, and she was called the oracle on the fourth floor. Absolutely phenomenal. Okay, sure. Well, I was up there one afternoon working on a piece of lung that had been removed for treatment of tuberculosis.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

And we were chatting, chatting about all sorts of things. She was telling me how she used to be a pilot and get lost over Pittsburgh. Oh my gosh. From that second on, I had a picture of this little lady in an open cockpit with a leather helmet on. I can never get that out of my minute anybody mentions Eleanor, that's the picture I get. Well, she finally said, Gottlieb, I think you got the disease. I said, Oh my God. You think I have tuberculosis? She said, No, you're going to be a pathologist. I said, No chance, Dr. Humphreys. I said, uh, I would miss the patient contact. Yeah. She got up to walk out. She says, You'll see. No kidding. She was the oracle on the fourth floor. And the more I was involved in practice, like for a while I thought I'd be a pediatrician. The only trouble is the kids were delightful, but they had mothers. You gotta look out for them. Dealing with the kids was wonderful. Dealing with the mothers.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Not so wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

That was the patient contact. Well, I got to where I said, no, I think I'll go into pathology, and I applied and had a residency at the University of Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Eleanor called it the Oracle.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Yeah, I was amazed. I would have never guessed.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

You got the you got the bug.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

I and I enjoyed every minute for all the years I practiced. It was just great.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Good for you. I so you know a thing or two about wellness.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah. I I also know what happens when you don't practice wellness.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

When you don't take care of your bodies, you sit and you stay sitting, and that's not what we want. That's not what we do around here. Not I just have to tell a funny story for a second. So remember when Beverly was talking about oh, you weren't your typical doctor? This was so funny. Like you wouldn't wear your the ties and the suits and the jackets or whatever. You were kind of marching to the beat of your own drum. So I was talking to his daughter one day, and she was like, I just have to tell you the story about my dad. She was working at the bank at the drive-thru. And uh you you uh walked through the drive-thru line with like holy sweatpants on, like a hoodie, and flipped her the bird. And her friend that was working was like, Who was that guy? And she's like, That was my dad. She's like, I thought he was a doctor. And she's like, he is. Larry's just ignorant. But that's I mean, like, you know, I mean, your typical, like you said, I never would wear my tie, my suit, my anything, you know. This is where you go.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

The day the turtleneck came out was well, happiest day of my life.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

The turtleneck.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

That's a good thing. Uh-huh. Larry marches, you marched to your own drummer.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Well, I guess kind of.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

I always have.

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

What's your best piece of um advice for somebody who wants to be 95 gardening, fishing, planning the garden, going to exercise class, doing personal training, and enjoying life like you?

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Well, first of all, you gotta get involved. You gotta do it. And it takes some effort. I mean, you know, but I set it up so I can do things for my cart. Right. So you have you have to tailor things to what you can do. You can't suddenly say I'm gonna be a mountain climber, it ain't gonna happen. But there are things you can do, and you make them happen, and you'll be better off than just sitting there and saying, Oh, I'd like to do this, I'd like to do it, and never doing anything. It's easy to get into that.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

How much do those connections help with that? So a monica or staff, like you've talked about.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

To me, I I I frankly, I can't imagine it being at another facility. Yeah, my mother was at a similar uh facility in Cleveland. Okay. Um, assisted living in the and I had a good chance to observe the employees, and they they were okay. No, you know, but there wasn't heart? There wasn't yeah, uh whatever it is. And I don't know how they do it. I do know when I was director of the lab, I had about 20 techs. Okay, and I would have loved to have the harmony and the uh helpfulness that I see in the staff here. I never could achieve that. I just I mean, there was always bickering, and I mean, I'd give the speech periodically that we're here to help the patient. Nobody has to give that speech at Compass Point. They're all there and they know what they're there for. And like I say, I only have friends or I don't, I don't have, there's no employees.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

Uh-huh. That's kind of you to say, and for the audience, this that was not a paid advertisement. So he pays for it. Well, we appreciate that. I mean, we we certainly do have a good a good group of people.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

It's a to me, it's amazing. I mean, it's you know, if I had never worked anywhere, never saw anything, I would figure, well, this is how it is. Yeah, it isn't how it is.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

No. Well, and and the thing that I was thinking about just listening to you share your stories too, is how impactful and what is as we uh focus on Older Americans Month and and connections and and exercise and all those things. Talk a little bit about, or can you talk a little bit about how looking forward to those Monday visits, how that impacts your wellness? What what is that what does that do for your overall kind of health?

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Well, what I think you do is when you're working with someone like Monica, you end up with the desire to do better than you might have done if you're dealing with someone who's just there. Sure. I mean, you know, you you have that feeling of wanting uh wanting to please someone. It's kind of strange because you're doing it for you. Yeah, but in a way, you're also saying, well, she expects me to be able to do this, so I'm gonna try to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Um I'm not doing so good at it, but but we're doing great in other ways right now.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we'll get there. We'll get there, you know. We're gonna keep moving.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

That hospitalization really knocked me. I mean, that that took me back.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Yep. But you were able to get to stretch class last Thursday. I mean, getting in the shuttle, that's step number one. And we tackled that and we got that. Yep. Getting out of the shuttle, boom, you know, stretch class, back in the shuttle. So all the little steps that we've done before, and you've hit it.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Seems like not much as someone who has no trouble getting in the shuttle.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Yeah. For me, that was a major accomplishment. That was one of the biggest things too in the shuttle. Well, you had a backup plan, but you're like, nope, I'm gonna try. I'm gonna get in that stupid shuttle.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

And it's just what you said there, you gotta just commit and do it. You can think about it. You could talk, but you could have said, I'll try next week because I'm tired today. And you didn't. Yep. And you both talked about being realistic and knowing what your body can do and not pushing it. And it was like, that's a perfect example. You're doing it, you're doing all the steps. So we're gonna see you, we're gonna see you up in at the garden in a month and fishing. We know it. All that you got motivational Monica Mondays. Let's not get too crazy.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

We do have great, we have great Mondays.

SPEAKER_03 35:05

Yep, yep. I think I know the answer to this. I I don't want to run out of time, so I want to make sure we ask it. Um, we ask everybody that comes on favorite place on campus. So for each of you, where is that favorite place on campus? I don't want to answer for you at all, Larry.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

But yeah, but go ahead. Do you have a favorite? The pond. Yeah. Pond. I there are day, I mean, I weather permitting, I fish almost every single day. Good for you. They just stock them. I don't catch much, but I fish.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

They just stocked them a couple weeks ago, too. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

They put fish in there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Yeah. Hopefully. As the weather warms up. What about you, Monica?

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Probably the path that goes from my wellness connection to other sides of campus. Doesn't have to be just village on the square, compass point, but now even over to the fields, knowing that I get to do something fun, yeah, and then I get to connect with somebody. So every time I'm walking on that path, I just get to think about what I'm doing. And then coming back to the wellness connection, whatever it might be. Walking on the path, having a good time, knowing that where I'm going, I'm gonna make a difference with somebody. Yeah. A path. I'm on the right path.

SPEAKER_02 36:20

To connect with others on the path. We appreciate you both coming on. We gotta wrap up. And we have loved your stories. Thank you for telling us about wellness and connection and championing your health. We really appreciate you coming on the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Thank you so much. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Thank you for enjoying it.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

I'm Kelsey. I'm Josh. And we're signing off.