Seth Margolies Finish:

Saturday, May 19th I was invited to the Finish line, at Flagler Hospital in Saint Augustine with Seth Margolies. You'll remember I met Seth near Independence, TX. He joked about it , as he also watched us get ripped by the man that owned the tree company and thought he owned the road. Seth and I road into the Hospital to the cheers of hospital administrators, nurses, and the chief surgeon and director of Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Robert T. Marema. Additionally Seth had fans from Northern Florida, that had come to cheer him on! I on the other hand was doing this ride so I didn't become a patient of the Bariatric ward! In fact if I ever got that bad in shape with the blood pressure I have and other health issues, I'd most likely be a patient of the heart ward!

I got to meet one lady in particular, who I failed to make a note of her name...so sorry... but is in the picture below to the far left , but her story was more remarkable. She had the surgery over 5 years ago, and is holding her weight down and had lost over 125 lbs. She carried a picture of herself in a before mode to remind her of the awful condition she was once in and help her to control her habits and desires to over eat. Like any other type of addiction she said it was going to be a life long battle the rest of her life to maintain herself. So to her and countless others, Seth is a walking , real life hero of how life can be. He is very passionate about his cause and sincere in his desire to motivate others. Just meeting the people was invigorating and motivated me to want to be get even better.

Seth, Dr Marema, and fans..Lady on far left is former Bariatric patient also. __ __Seth, The Hospital PR officer, and Dr Marema.

Seth, his parents Will and Florence, and me---------------------------------------Seth and AL

Final comment: There is a common quality to holdup in high esteem and reverence those people that have overcome some personal challenge that is life threatening. Obesity, drug addition, are but a couple of common and pervasive problems in our society. The people that make these "Saul into Paul" transformations in life are celebrated as heroes. We all need heroes and examples of good clean living. For those people suffering some self induced malady, their hero's are the ones that have overcome some particular issue pertinent to that person suffering from the same addiction and has been to date impossible to overcome. They now can have and claim for themselves hope. If we but believe that God was no respecter of persons, and by that I mean that every human has the same ability to live up to their personal best, whatever that is for them, then they have a right to hope that they can, through hard work, and perseverance, change and become better than what they are today. The real life Seth's of the world are the proof that if he or they can do it, you can do it. If I can make a change and I have, and I'm 56 almost 57 as I write this, then you can. It is never to late in life to be better.

We have the right to have outrageous and bold dreams. One of my new goals is to ride a double century ride in the mountains. Why not? I've dropped 40 lbs, and then take off the trailer with 60lbs. of gear and my bike feels like a feather. So I'm looking at the Sierra mountains and thinking of riding form the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe, Non stop! A little over 200 miles.

Finally I want to congratulate all the people in life that have the discipline to just be normal! Working out and staying in shape, not smoking and making healthy choices in life is just a part of their NORMAL life. Sometimes we forget there are millions of people that seem to get it right by habit. Sadly they offer little in belief to the addicted in life that a normal life is possible. Seth and others in life that have had to change, are a lot more relatable to the people in life that are looking for that faint whisper and glimmer of hope. I think that is one of the reasons he I made friends right away. He has suffered and changed more than I will ever have too, and he did it anyway, besides he really is a jolly fun guy and cool to hang with.
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