Lisa had a conversation with someone earlier today about Soul Sherpa. One of the questions she was asked was whether or not I’m a real person.
“Yes,” Lisa told the interested party. “Henry is one hundred percent real and so is every word I transcribe for him.”
When I met Lisa four years ago this month, she began working as a hospice volunteer for my late wife, Sylvia, who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease.” Lisa and Sylvia knew each other almost three years before Sylvia died on her 92nd birthday, January 4, 2012. Lisa and I were by Sylvia’s bedside when her suffering ended. At that time, I was six weeks into recovery from my stroke and living with Lisa and Bob because it wasn’t safe for me to live alone any longer.
It was after my 100th birthday on July 4th of last year that Lisa asked me to be her blogger (something I had never heard of before.) She felt my stroke recovery had progressed so well, it was time for me to get a job and keep myself busy.
Everything that has appeared in Henry At 100 & Beyond is accurate. My DNA truly is being studied. I love doughnuts. I work out with a physical therapist twice a week. I have a Rapid Rewards account with Southwest Airlines. I love football, and watch all the good games with Bob and Lisa. My email pen pal is Dennis Morris of Murietta, Ohio, 106 years young. We met through the Archon Genomics X Prize studying our centenarian DNA. An article about us appeared in The Wall Street Journal in September 2012 in honor of National Centenarian Day.
Finally, Lisa is my Soul Sherpa, my 24/7 healthcare advocate. Without her help I never would have lived this long. When hospitalized with my stroke, it was Lisa who monitored my care and never left my side. She looks out for me in a way every older or ill person should be. She “has my back” as is commonly said today. She is real, just like me. And life is good!
