Retiring the Champ

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A Story Written and Performed by Judith Black About Coaching Life's Last Big Bout The bell sounds. This life-long prizefighter bounds from her corner throwing jabs and hooks. The eldest child of immigrants, teacher, and union organizer in the New York City schools, Trina, a fierce and valuable ally, was not to be danced around. The paradox is that at 83, she was still throwing punches, but forgetting which direction her opponent's were coming from! This is a story about coaching a feisty prizewinner through her last big bout, only this one is visited by landmarks of laughter and redemption.

When Michael, who always referred to his mother as "the little Pitt Bull," discovers he is the only one available to guide her through the maze of Alzheimer's and into death, he feels the same thrill you and I might at the prospect of going for a root canal. Like the necessary dental work, you enter with your fists balled up and your breath held. The process, we learned, can bring more than relief. You are hereby invited to take this journey; the physical one from downsizing and dealing with the medical and elder care establishment, the social one involving the delicate weave of family relationships and the spiritual one that takes this son from angry boy to soulful adult.