ELECTRIC SCOOTER

As my father got older he was restricted as to how far he could walk to go fishing. He resigned himself to the “M” St. Beach near his home. One day he called me and was so excited he had trouble getting out what he had to say. “I saw an ad in the American Legion magazine about an Electric 4 Wheel Scooter.”(My father was made an Honoree Member after 50 years in the American Legion…that‘s a story for another time.) “I can get back to Castle Island where the real fish are caught” Whoa, that is not the news you want to hear from an elderly parent. As much as I tried to dissuade him, it was to no avail. He had made up his mind and that was that.

For about a year he made it to and fro without incidence. He travelled on the sidewalk along City Point Beach, fishing rod and gear in tow all the way to the newly constructed pier at Castle Island where he made new friends doing what he enjoyed most…. Fishing. One day he called me and it was obvious that something drastic had happened. I had to pry it out of him and he told me this story.

After fishing for several hours he was headed back home and about a third of the way back his Electric Scooter died. Now if you lived or are still living in Southie you know we are a community of great Samaritans. Two guys in a pickup truck saw my father’s plight, stopped and put the scooter in the pickup bed and escorted my father back to his home and made sure he was settled before they left. My father never used the scooter again.

I had mixed emotions. I was sad he lost more of his independence but happy he was safer close to home.