Every once and a while I think about writing about a person who cannot quite be encapsulated in any other way than to speak about him or her in the way our senses tell us things that are hard to express except in exceptional ways.  Exceptional people often are described in trite ways that cannot convey their essence of goodness.

Now Michael is the leader of our Aquasize group of Wrinkled Prunes who populate the hot pool in Parkway Hospital three times a week.  We are in his first group that was pushed up earlier to 9:00 a.m. and Carol and I have to scramble to get there in time although I think Michael (who loves our class the best) tries to hold off as long as he can until we arrive. Needless to say, he is a muscular, handsome giant of a man. He is soft-spoken, truly religious and IS genuinely humble.

One of the reasons we savor Michael so much is that he is recognized for a whole lot more than just the leader of our group of water calisthenics therapy “patients?” or just simply the gang who gather for this first class.  One in our group has been in the class for over eighteen years while Carol and I who started out as snow birds in this class have been regulars for seven years. All through this time Michael has remained constant although he has grown in stature throughout the hospital for he is the one who is universally called upon to carry some patients upstairs a thing which today he is told not to do because of a knee that had to be operated on. People all over the hospital came to him not because of leadership but of his competency. He knows where things are and has supplies stashed where people in need know where to go to get them.

But, Michael is much more than leader of group exercises in hot water.  He calls us Mom and Dad and we call him son.  He is part of our family in and out of this pool.  His problems were intimate subjects we took to heart and he came to us knowing we would be supportive and let him know how much he is loved.

Michael ends up his instructions to us standing in the pool doing arm exercises when he tells us to hold our arms in the air and then fold them down over the other and hug ourselves.  He tells us that he loves us all and wishes us a good week or weekend and to drive carefully.  But there is much, much more.

We sing together in the pool to the music of the 70’s and 80’s and tell Michael that we love him right back and also that we hold him in the highest esteem!  Michael’s flavor is sweet and consistent.  He cares about people and people cannot keep from caring about him.  We savor him as we would the smoothest comfort food that we turn to when we are in need and know he will come through for us.