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| Colin Horricks, MD |
Life at almost 75 is a life of less. Relatives and friends
die. I no longer have Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid pack film, wide track
Pontiacs or even Oldsmobile Achievas. And somewhere in my past they stopped
making bacon flavoured Eggo Waffles.
Life at almost 75 is more. It is more noise, more choices
(that should not be), more concerns and more health issues.
Of that latter I have been informed by our family G.P. Colin
Horricks that he is retiring on August 24.
My guess is that we will now be at
the mercy of walk-in clinics.
This leads me to reminiscing about our first family GD in
Buenos Aires (the type that went to my home). As a child when I liked something
I would eat it until more than full. I particularly liked apples. In Spanish when
you eat something as of there were no tomorrow the ill-feeling effect is call
an empache. My mother would call Doctor Imperiale and tell him, “Alex se
empachó.”
I remember that he had a thin moustache and wore dark-rimmed
glasses. His treatment was always the same. For breakfast it was Melba toast
and for lunch and dinner a soft cheese, soda water and (yes!) apple sauce.
The GPs that came after I have no memory of but I do
remember Eliot Mintz who was our doctor in Vancouver until he died.
Dr. Mintz was not your usual GP. He drove a Lotus and bred
blue Chow dogs. He had another special talent. I took my oldest daughter Ale
when she was around 12 to see him as she had a mass of warts on her knees. Dr.
Mintz sat her down and produced a penny. He told her to rub each wart with it
and then bury it in the garden and to make sure nobody saw her do it. Within a
week the warts were gone.
Dr. Horricks when I first went to him made me smile. For one
he is friendly. But his name reminded me of my Filipino
uncle, Tió Luís Miranda who would offer me (I was full grown adult at the time)
Horlicks telling me it was very good for me.
Horlicks - Wikipedia
Horlicks is a
malted milk hot drink developed by founders James & William Horlick. It was
first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food," soon adding
"aged and travelers" to their label. In the early 20th century it was
sold as a powdered meal replacement drink.
No matter how busy Dr. Horricks might be Rosemary and I
could call him on short notice and he would see us. We will miss him.
Dr. Horricks wore my mother’s red shawl and wrote this. Read it because it is lovely,