Luckiest Man Alive!

We saved Sunday afternoon to visit our friend, Mel Kline who had an aneurysm many years ago. He lives in an accessible apartment and has several men who come to assist him during the day. The first time he summoned me to visit him was in the late 1990s and he was adjusting - if you ever can - to this new life. Because Mel had survived, and was still able to think, talk, visit, serve you lunch - he told me he felt he was in fact, "The luckiest man alive"!

I've known Mel for about 35 years. He was a real estate developer and had a Viceroy franchise in Toronto with his friend, Bob Whiddop. I sold them land in Marmora Township where they built up a subdivision. (I was a Real Estate Agent in Barrie and Toronto back then.) For those of you who don't know it, Viceroy is a prefab frame home which is set up on your lot. Viceroy has long been considered one of the finest manufacturers of this type of housing.

Back in those days, Mel drove a fancy green Buick with his initials on the door, ate in the best restaurants and enjoyed the fine life. He married the daughter of a competing developer and they had three children. As he settled down, he created a business of meat pies, something we hardly ever eat in East Texas.

Mel's family still runs the business and his freezer is always stocked with several varieties of these delectable meat pies. He used to always serve us a lunch of these pies and we would bring some salads to go with.

In the past few years, Mel's health has gotten worse but his mind is still extremely sharp. We have fine discussions on world events, his children and we listen carefully to how he feels about the deterioration of his body.

We generally give him a little pep talk and we pray for him. It's a visit we always make. During the year, Mel calls us and asks when we will be up this year. He tells us about how his children are doing. They are all grown now and he even has two Labradoodles that son Jason brings 'round. Since he had Poodles over the years, he really enjoys this.

I have some doubts about how well Buddy the Lhasa would do, but I can tell you, my Shih Tzu were excellent with people in wheelchairs. But perhaps Mel would have thought they were a bit sissy for him and I can picture his laughter when the Labradoodle is jumping up to kiss his cheek. After all these years of being so very handicapped, Mel still loves to laugh, loves to talk and enjoys welcoming his old friends!

How blessed we are to know the Luckiest Man Alive!