Conversely...

On September 7th I wrote a column  on soccer star Jean-Pierre Adams who had just died after 39 years in a coma.

Coincidentally, Lawrence Brooks, of New Orleans had celebrated  his 112th birthday becoming the oldest WW2 veteran so far on September 6th.  

He was born in 1909, one of 15 kids.  He and wife Leona went on to have five kids, 13 grand kids and 22 great grandkids.  Leona died in 2008.  Today Lawrence lives with a daughter at her house in New Orleans.  When Hurricane Ida rolled in he was moved to a hospital to made sure that he would have fresh water and electricity.

The Museum of  WW2 New Orleans holds an annual birthday party for him,.  Pandemic necessitated a parade of honking cars and marching bands due to Covid19 

When asked about his longevity, he remarked that his Daddy always told in "Be nice to people."

The highlight of this year's celebration his body responded to the music and he stood up from wheelchair (formerly a cane) and danced a bit.  I can understand that - I love the blues and if I could get up at that kind of age, my feet would start movin'.

This is the ironic part to me - both men were prisoners of their own bodies.