Client Log #4 - The Holy Father

Today's client of discussion is a Catholic Priest in Annapolis, Maryland, in his late 80's from the Virgin Islands. The client and I have been working on improving his balance and core strength. During our training sessions Father would often tell me stories about racism in St Thomas and stories of when he attended seminary to become a priest. According to the Holy Father, black in St. Thomas were just as segregated against as black in the United States. He would tell me that, once a week, the black boys and white boys would stand on opposite sides of the road and throw stones at each other for an hour and when they were through, they would shake hands and say "see you next week."

The Holy Father told me that he had attended seminary at 14, leaving St. Thomas and moving to the United States. According to the Holy Father, there were no seminaries in St. Thomas during that time. He attended seminary in  Pennsylvania for fourteen years where he would study classes in philosophy. catholic morals, latin, exorcisms, history, and bible studies. The Holy Father explained that in that day seminaries were built in isolated areas away from the secular community. He told me that when he was in seminary school he hadn't seen a girl in ten years. He would also share with me stories of his journey to the Holy Land, Jerusalem and Egypt. He expressed his amazement as seeing the Red Sea and eating fish from the Sea of Galilee. The Holy Father spoke about his encounters with both the Pope John Paul I and Pope Francis when he visited the Vatican. According to the Holy Father, Pope Francis was a very humble man who would give our rosaries to those who would visit him. He also always paid for his own hotel stay and dining. One day, my client tells me, that on one of his visits to the Vatican, during Mass, he was invited by a nun to meet Pope Francis.

 Every year the Holy Father and his church would take a charity trip Mexico to help the poor by giving 500 loaves of bread and 500 fish to each family, a miracle that was performed my Jesus in the Bible. He spoke of an earthquake that happened several years earlier that devastated the country and how his church offered assistance.

The Holy Father is another client that I could speak to for hours and learn from. I am hoping that one day I could get him to bless a rosary for me.

Client Log #3 -The Professor

The client that I'll describe to you next is in his mid 60's. He is a college professor as the University of Maryland College Park. We have been working with him on balance in the sagittal and transverse planes. He has a passion in American Colonial and Civil War history. During our training sessions we often discuss his travels to Yorktown as well as other battle sites during the colonial and civil war era. At the University of Maryland he teaches Research and Library Database. On one occasion he presented me with a autograph copy of his scholarly work on religion and philosophy.

Client Log #2 -The Animal Lover

My next client I'll simply call Joe.

Joe is in his mid to late 50's. We have been working on strengthening and increasing range of motion of the left shoulder. 12 weeks prior to training Joe had rotator cuff surgery and spinal surgery. Joe is also a huge animal lover. Growing up Joe told me that he has had over 15 cats in his lifetime. He has also raised his share of dogs as well. Joe could tell me if the cat was a particular color which gender it would always be. I always enjoyed talking to Joe about his current and past pets and learning about how to training them. Joe was always a fun, joyful person to talk to. At some of our sessions he would bring me calendars and magazines featuring different animals.

Joe will always be one of my most memorable clients.

Client Log #1- The Detroit Lioins O-Line Tackle

Every now and then I meet clients who have various interesting backgrounds. The next series of blogs that I will be writing will be of those clients. To insure privacy, names of the clients will not be disclosed.

The first client that I'll be discussing is in his mid 70's. We have been working on strength and cardio. He former Offensive Tackle for the Detroit Lions. He played between 1965-1968. During that time, he told me that, Detroit was not a place for blacks. "There were only five of us," said the former Detroit player, referring to the number of black players on the team. He told me that players bunked together two in a room but because he was black none of the white player wanted to bunk with him, so we slept alone. "When we traveled to other states we had to fine hotels that housed blacks." The former O-line Tackle said that before they traveled each state to play a team, the management surveyed the hotels to see who allowed blacks. Once they were in the state he had to take a taxi to the nearest hotel that would allow him to stay. During pre-season games, the former Lions player told me that the white players would intentionally pick fights with the black players in order to cause conflict and get the black player penalized and cut from the team. After three years of playing in the NFL the former Lion moved to Canada to escape segregation and play for the Canada Football League. 

I was lucky enough to have my client sign a football with his autograph, years played, team, position and jersey number.