David Schriemer’s feature, “Lloyd’s Standing Desk,” triggered in me a wide range of emotions, not only gratitude but also disbelief at how quickly the years have passed. It also reminds me of the importance of a family practice for our community’s health and well-being.
According to “Then and Now, 1911-2011,” a booklet the Family Doctors of Vicksburg compiled in 2011, a family practice has served this area for over a hundred years. This has certainly been valuable to my family. Not only have I been a life-long patient, but Lloyd (and eventually David) cared for my grandparents, parents, siblings, and children. How rare this continuation of care and the health benefits! How wonderful to experience the benefits of community and friendship with our practitioners!
When we started our family, we lived in rural Mattawan and took our little ones to a pediatric group in Kalamazoo. We were satisfied; they offered evening and weekend hours and had a large, accommodating staff.
But when we moved back to town in 1990, we switched our children’s care to the family practice. Lloyd had taken care of us as children. We went to school with his children. And David had just joined the group. It was a practical and logical switch.
The first time I took our little ones for an appointment, they rode their tricycles to their appointment since we lived just a few blocks away from the former office on Kalamazoo Avenue. I remember one of the girls had a mysterious rash, and when we saw David for the appointment, he asked Lloyd to step in to look at it, referring to Lloyd as “the rash king.”
Lloyd was always careful in his advice to me, an earnest, young parent. He was calm. Consistent. Kind. Eventually, I took our three-year-old little boy in. He had morphed into “mean guy,” which he often did when he was sick.
Lloyd entered and asked, “So what’s going on today?”
I responded, “PLEASE tell me he has an ear infection.” I was exhausted and, although I didn’t say it, I was also concerned that our little “mean guy’s” behavior was here to stay.
Lloyd put his hand on my shoulder. “Kathy, be thankful for ear infections right now. Children’s problems don’t go away, they just get more complicated.”
Yes, our son did have an ear infection. Pink medicine was prescribed, my sweet little boy eventually returned, and I always remembered those words.
How time marches on.
We eventually bought a home near the Appells and the newly established Schriemer residence, and our relationships developed and deepened as we shared many joys and sorrows over the decades.
Looking back, I am thankful for this care, friendship, and consistency. I am thankful for Lloyd and David’s commitment to South County: the countless hours they spent on the sidelines of athletic events, the sports physicals, the weekends on call. I am thankful for their continued service on local boards and agencies. These acts show honor and dedication.
Lloyd is an active, involved ninety-something, and David is now “the rash king” in the current practice. Of course he is!
But how can it be that he has begun a gradual transition to retirement?
Yes, how time marches on!
It’s a Fine Life.