Midlife Oasis
When You Don’t Have Time for a Crisis
I get bored easily. I always have. At one point in my early days as a footwear designer I wondered what else I was missing. I would ask veteran designers how they managed to stay fresh over the years.
The best answer came from Eric Avar. “Designing footwear is what comes naturally,” he said. “Discovering new problems will keep your mind churning.”
About two years ago I started working on a project for my heroes — teachers, doctors, veterans, journalist. At the time I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be and I was in no rush. I had other projects to keep me entertained. Along the way my 63 year old brother became deathly ill — undiagnosed diabetes.
My family came to his aid and nursed him back to health. My sister and her children are angels. He’s back to being disgruntled and agitated by everything that anyone does — back to normal.
Along the way I learned more about the world of health care and long term illness and hospital billing and insurance coverage. A lot of it was troubling considering the additional tax added to older men of color — especially black men. Thankfully I was surrounded by conversations on the understanding of mental health and colonoscopies and general fitness and CBD oil and finance by men and women that were tackling these same…
