While on a recent trip, I had the opportunity to visit with the majority of my relatives living in Colorado. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my Uncle Henry. Despite his advanced age of 97, his mind is as sharp as if he were twenty. In talking with him it is as if you are listening to a talking encyclopedia. The stories that he has of the past one hundred years of American history is taken from the prospective of an individual that lived that history. Several years ago, his drivers license was revoked due to his age and driving habits. He still enjoys visiting the local tavern for a few brews each day and to visit with his neighbors.

Not having a drivers license was curtailing this activity until he was finally provided a motorized wheel chair by the good folks at Medicare. Each day, he would drive to the tavern in his moving chair although the local law enforcement officers eyeballed him on a regular basis. However, Uncle Henry is a very smart man and learned that as long as he remained on the sidewalks, the jurisdiction of the law could not enforce any traffic laws or drinking and driving laws as long as he was not utilizing the highways. Having had a large number of traffic violations in his life time he was well versed in the law. Although his number of moving violations was much higher than the normal driver, only 21 of them involved alcohol.

Although his motorized chair provided him access to his favorite past time at the local tavern, the chair was not high enough that he could sit at the bar and enjoy visiting with his friends. After giving it some thought, he went to work in his garage and by stripping down his old Montgomery Ward lawn mower and borrowing a stool from the bar, designed his own motorized chair suitable for his needs. He refers to the new chair as his "recreational vehicle" and the only day he does not use it is on Sunday. Each Sunday morning, he takes his fancy motorized chair to attend church.

While there, he invited me to accompany him to the tavern but I would have to ride in a little red wagon towed by his motorized stool. I declined the offer, although, with the emergency flashers on my rental car flashing, I followed him down the street as he propelled himself down the sidewalk. At the tavern, we sat and I listened to his stories intently as he enjoyed a good number of his favorite brew. I look forward to my next visit, as he is considering patronizing a new tavern down the street because they have girls that dance there that actually take their clothes off. My Uncle Henry leads a good life.