When And How Did THAT Happen??

Before I get into the purpose of this post I have to step back a few decades and explain that my generation (or at least speaking for myself) didn't go to the Doctor very often. During the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's I don't think I knew anyone that had health insurance. Maybe some folks had it but not in the world I lived in. Isn't that unbelieveable? In this day and age when that is the main topic of discussion, I can remember when it just wasn't in the conversation at all. I often wonder how that changed. Was it because people started expecting to live long and healthy lives until at least 100? The society I grew up in was one where you went to the Dr when you got sick and it had to be a serious sickness to warrant it. If you couldn't pay all of your $7.00 office call you sent a check when you could, brought cash to the Dr's office, or you paid half of it and the rest when you got the next paycheck. Of course, I was young then and the Doctors were always older than I was and commanded a certain aura of respect that I pay to them to this day.

When my oldest daughter was born in 1953, as a young struggling couple we had no money. The bill was $150.00 for Dr. Krieg and $150.00 for Saint Mary's Hospital. We set up a payment plan at each office and paid it off monthly. That is so far from the reality of today it sounds like a fiction story. This little side story is simply to explain "where I come from."

On June 4th I visited my cardioligist after my procedure at Medical Center of the Rockies, pictured above. I feel very fortunate to have access to such excellent care for my heart, both at the Hospital and at the Doctor's office. As I sat in the room I couldn't help but wonder what has happened that now the Doctors look so young? It was a rather silly thought, but since my past experience was that Doctors were older than I was, it struck me that something (like many years) has happened since I last thought about it. I couldn't help but pry a bit, and I found out the cardioligist is just a couple of years older than my oldest grandson. Suddenly I thought, "When and how did THAT happen?" It was a "Rip Van Winkle" moment

It surely couldn't be because I am now one of those older people I used to see in the Dr's offices so long ago. It is a wonder to me how Dr's went from being older than me to being my grandson's age. I guess "life" is what happened and it is a natural progression of things because we are human. The new soon outnumbers the old. It has to be this way but it still leaves me with the question, "When and how did THAT happen?"

At any rate, I appreciate very much the younger generation with their wisdom and commitment to care for others, even us oldtimers. I am your biggest fan!!

I will leave the deeply philosophical thinking for another day. patj