Four years have passed since Lindsey and Chris began sharing a two bedroom
apartment in the South Tampa, just a few blocks from Bayshore Boulevard in the South Tampa neighborhood of Palma Ceia.
The long winding sidewalk on Bayshore along the bay is a favorite of
joggers. Tropical storm Andrea manages to produce enough water to cause it to
be closed to traffic part of the week. (Five days in Florida, four of them
rainy days. It’s okay.)
I’m on a
mission of support for the remarkable, incredible, determined and fantastic
Lindsey Morgan. She is down more than 150 pounds. A stomach band, diet, exercise
and now adominoplasty (tummy tuck) are all part of her journey. She is a poster
girl/testimonial for Orange Theory
Fitness; an inspiration for all of those she encounters as youth group director at
Temple Schaarai Zedek; a case study success for cosmetic surgeon Daniel P.
Greenwald and a champion for all of those who may have self-doubt about what
they may or may not be able to accomplish in life.
Dad is surrounded
by vets at Baldamero-Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home in Land O Lakes, Florida.
He’s not keen on the cuisine this evening; Shepherd’s Pie, Corn, Mashed
Potatoes and white bread with butter. He does enjoy his cranberry juice though,
before moving on to chocolate skim milk. Greg makes a note to check with
dietary. He wants to follow-up on medication protocols too. This is a new
location for J. O’C. M. Greg is watching the details. Since being delivered to
the dining area, Dad has a mild obsession with the time. He checks his watch
frequently and comments. “No-one has the right time here. Do you know what time
it is?” Of course, I can’t resist the set up line. My catchy response, (I get
to use it at least a half dozen times as Dad raises the question again and
again): “Well Dad, he (Greg) doesn’t know and I don't care,” offering two
plausible excuses to the irresponsible lack of attention to the passage of
time. It’s true that I don’t care because I know these are precious moments and
I’m not on my at home or in control of anything. It’s not true that Greg doesn’t know what time it is,
however. He is in charge of a long list of time-sensitive logistics at his
household. (He might be in charge of picking Lauren up from a Girl Scouts community
service function or stocking up on groceries for Taco Night at the blended
Morgan-Yoho compound. He might have to meet with a roofing contractor. He might
have to make arrangements for the next Broker Poker Night, Real Estate Lives meeting or Red
Cross fundraiser. In fact, just recently he has been pressed into service
to be chaperone for Lauren’s mission trip to the Dominican Republic, for which
he may need to prepare.)
Uneventful
and rainy for most of the trip, I finished reading Dethroning the King about the InBev take-over of Anheuser Busch and
started reading The Wizard of Lies
about Bernie Madoff and the giant Ponzie Scheme fraud he masterminded (a book recommended to me by Chris
Dewey). Since Lindsey was not very mobile this week we watched a lot of pre-recorded
reality television episodes of Little Miss Supreme pageants; little people
adoptions, pawn shops, pickers, cooking competitions and the dangerous perils of crab fishing off the coast of Alaska.
What time
is it? I don’t care, but it is incredible how slowly it seems to move and yet
how quickly it passes. Maybe I care more than I like to reveal.
*Sarasota, FL - New College’s historic Bayfront Campus sits on the former estate of circus magnate Charles Edward Ringling (1863-1926), the older brother of John Ringling. Charles was one of the owners of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and was in charge of production, while his wife, Edith, participated in the business and was a member of the board of directors of the circus.
*Sarasota, FL - New College’s historic Bayfront Campus sits on the former estate of circus magnate Charles Edward Ringling (1863-1926), the older brother of John Ringling. Charles was one of the owners of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and was in charge of production, while his wife, Edith, participated in the business and was a member of the board of directors of the circus.
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