Lori and I are talking about him behind his back. For all I know, he may be in that Canadian cabin where he frequently vacations. I’m sure Lori knows because she’s kept up with his schedule ever since she got her head back together.

“I had a car wreck and cracked my skull,” she remembers. “While I was in the hospital, I learned a new doctor in town was looking for a nurse.”

She continues, “Today is my 42nd anniversary. It was on this very day I started working for him. I was 19, and if you had told me then that I would still be here now, I would have thought you were crazy.”

We’re talking about Dr. Phillip Bale who is retiring from practice this month.

“I first came to know him when he came to Glasgow and was often on Barren County High School’s football sidelines under the Friday night lights,” I tell Lori. She nods and recalls he was there for the team in case a doctor was needed in those days.

Lori indicates her job wasn’t always easy in the beginning. She was young and just learning to cope with the demands of being a nurse. “Sometimes I was the defense player protecting the quarterback. But we’ve made a good team. I’m honored and blessed to have worked for such a devoted person to health care.”

“Well, I’m going to miss him. He’s been my neighbor and friend and primary care doctor since those early days.”

“Yes,” she agrees, “the patients are going to miss him.”

“It’s been good for me to have such a long-term relationship with a doctor who is about my age—one of us is a year older than the other. Sometimes he seemed to have insights into my health situations because he understood my age so well. I always appreciated his council because I knew he kept up with the latest studies relating to health issues, and he emphasized preventive medicine.

“I respect him for his knowledge and devotion to science, of course, and I recognize he’s also talented and successful in other endeavors such as woodworking and poetry.”

Then I point to the WKU insignia on my shirt. “Look what I’m wearing. This reminds me of his years of serving on Western’s Board of Regents.”

Lori describes a trip she and her husband and others once made to the Canadian island to be with Dr. Bale as “a wonderful time. The island is a place of peace—heaven on earth. It was special to see him in that setting.”

She’s quiet for a moment, reflecting on an association that’s about to conclude. “I’ve spent so much time with him. I’ll shed some tears.”

I’m sad to see Dr. Bale retire, too. I’ll miss him as my primary health care provider, but I hope I won’t miss him as a neighbor and friend.