"No," said Dr. Segal, "I need to keep practicing until I get it right."
"You took care of my baby for me."
"Wonderful. How old is your baby now?"
"He's 58."
Dr. Segal laughed when he recounted this story. But, then, Segal laughs a lot. Maybe that's how he practiced medicine for more than six decades. Because he found pleasure in his work. So many people are in a hurry to retire so they can start having fun. Segal never understood the reason to wait.
He had fun going to the office every day, had fun saying hello to children and making them well.
Segal got an art degree from Memphis State. When World War II broke out, there wasn't much demand for artists. So Segal went to medical school.
Six decades later, he's not one of those doctors who will tell you how much better things used to be. Sitting in his office during his last week of work, Segal mostly wanted to talk about how good we have it now."
References:
Geoff Calkins: Retiring Dr. Segal didn't wait to have fun — he worked at it. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group, 2010.
Geoff Calkins: Retiring Dr. Segal didn't wait to have fun — he worked at it. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group, 2010.
Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.
