Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Category: Uncategorized

  • The Final Goodbye

    My brother Kenny spent his last morning with Dad a week ago and he captured this sunrise at the lake and showed it to Dad:

    I was fortunate to be able to spend the last two weeks with Dad and grab some precious time. I jokingly asked him to send me some glass calm water this summer so I could barefoot. He laughed. On the morning of his memorial, this is what we woke up to:

    Dad’s Memorial service:

    After the memorial, we went inside the VFW hall for a luncheon and I shared a few words:

    I would like to thank all of you for joining us today.  It means a lot to us to have each and every one of you here.

    You’ve probably heard the saying it takes a village to raise a child.  Well it took a village to get through this cancer journey with my dad.  I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who visited and lent a helping hand.  We could not have gotten through the last two years without you.

    Tom Pursley has been a friend since he built my parent’s home almost twenty years ago.  Tom and his crew built a roll in shower and a ramp and this enabled Dad to live his last months at home.   Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to have Dad at home.  Thank you Tom, for all you’ve done.

    Roger and Mabel thank you, for being great neighbors and  for all the projects you did around the house, especially the generator.  Mom didn’t have to worry about the oxygen machine if the power would have gone out.  Thank you for taking care of the house when we were gone.  Mabel came down every day at the end and provided great support.

    When Dad first began treatments two years ago, Mom was worried about keeping up with the yard at the house and the shed.  Dick jumped right in and said,  don’t worry about it– I will take care of it.  And he did.    Dick and Lorraine, thank you for all the help you have given us.

    We could have done it without all if you who pitched in and supported us.  Thank you.

    Thw first night that Dad was gone, my sisters and I sat with Mom and we started sharing some memories about Dad.  Soon we found ourselves laughing, because my Dad had a wry sense of humor.  So I wanted to share some of that with you today.

    Every now and then, Dad liked to play with the telemarketers that called in the evenings.  After a long day at work, the phone would ring and it would be someone trying to sell something.  On one particular call, a guy tried to sell him some siding.  Dad listened to his sales pitch and asked him questions… What color … payment plans and so on. Just as the guy thought he had a sale,  Dad said, “I’d really like to buy what you’re selling,  but I don’t own this house.  I’m just renting.”  And then he’d hang up.

    Another story involves Mike Radtkovich who owned the cottage that the Bires now own.  Mike was an insurance agent. The first time Dad called him, he didn’t recognize his voice.  He wanted to insure a hang glider, for towing behind a boat.  Mike explained that he couldn’t draw up a policy just for a hang glider. How about the boat– Mike tried to sell him a policy for the boat. “Oh, I don’t have insurance on the boat,” Dad told him.  “I just want insurance on the hang glider.”  On and on they went.   Mike wanted to hang up on this difficult customer who just wouldn’t take no for an answer.  “Mike, this is Norm,” said Dad.  “You know sure as hell that I don’t own a hang glider!”

    My cousin Marilyn received a call one day out of the blue.   It was the electric company, threatening to shut off the electric because they were behind on payments. Marilyn insisted that she paid her bill, and they went back and forth.   She had two days to pay her entire bill or they would shut off the electric.  “How could this happen?” Marilyn wanted to know– and then she heard,  “This is Norrrrrm!”   Marilyn fell for it again, in another call, where Dad attempted to sell her new windows. But she quickly turned the tables and said that she had new windows put in.  Before she could hang up, she heard it again, “This is Norrrrm!”

    Marilyn finally got new windows… A few years ago.

    For the last two years, cancer took away the one thing that my dad loved, and that’s food.  During the first visit to the doctor, he was asked what he hoped to achieve from treatment.  Dad said, “Well, my wife is a good cook. I just want to be able to enjoy her food again.” Mom nearly fell off the chair, as dad mostly took her cooking for granted all these years!

    Well, after two years of being on the feeding tube, a miracle occured for a few weeks. Dad could eat again.  And I mean, he could eat! So whatever he asked for, Mom cooked it or baked it.  Pies, cakes, cookies, fish, you name it.

    A month ago, Dad joined us at the table for what would be one of his last full meals with us.  Lauren, my daughter, suggested that we say grace. We all began to join hands and Dad gruffly declined to join us. None of that touchy-feely stuff for this tough Marine.  In the middle of grace, I felt a hand reach for mine. In the corner of my eye, I saw him reach for mom’s hand , and Dad joined us for the rest of the grace.

    Thank you Dad. I will always cherish that memory.

    Please join me in saying grace.

    After the memorial, we went back to the house and everyone remarked at what a beautiful day it was and how rare for the lake to be so calm the entire day. All I could think was, “Gee, thanks, Dad. I meant ‘glass calm water’ when I have a boat to ski behind, not today.” Gotta laugh at Dad, the joker:

    To finish off the day, Jen and I went for a walk and came across one of the most brilliant sunsets that I can ever remember seeing in all the years of being up in Michigan:

    On my Facebook page, Claude St. Onge shared this thought, a fitting end to this post:

    Dear Karen, You are so lucky, lucky to have an Angel of light that was with you to touch on this earth plane. Now you still have his Angelic memoires to hold you over till you meet again. Release comes when the heart opens. The word heart is really HE ART. He is. You Dad still is. Remember this always. Love CSTO

    Dad’s Memorial Video:

  • My Dad’s Memorial, Norman Griffard

    “Eighty-six years… that’s a good, long life,” a friend remarked.  Indeed, it is, yet it still feels too short.   Dad’s cancer journey came to an end this morning.   If there’s one thing that I’m thankful for, is that cancer gave us time to say goodbye.

    But goodbyes are never easy.  How fitting though, that the post that I wrote for the Chicago Tribune TribLocal was printed in today’s edition:  It’s Not Easy to Say Goodbye.

    We are gathering for the burial and memorial of Norman J. (That’s J as in Jesus, as he always said) Griffard this Saturday at one p.m. at the VFW Hall, 560 N. Phelps Street, Decatur, Michigan.  There will be a memorial luncheon following the military salute service.

    In lieu of flowers, donations would be greatly appreciated for the two organizations that have given selfless service:

    Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan,Paw Paw Office

    801 Hazen Street, Suite A

    Paw Paw, MI 49079

    VFW Post 6248

    560 N. Phelps Street

    Decatur, Michigan 49045

    Goodbye, Dad.  Thanks for 45 years– I’m going to miss you.

  • What Are You Capable Of?

    “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” — Thomas Edison

    I came home from Florida today to find the quote above on Kevin Hall’s Facebook page.   Kevin is the author of one of my absolute favorite books:  Aspire, Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words. Kevin is full of inspirational quotes on his Facebook page and I’ve treasured many of the quotes he shares in his book as well.   His quote today by Thomas Edison made me think back to a year ago this month.  I went down to the World Barefoot Center and got back on the water again.  Life hasn’t been the same since.

    How many of us hold back because we have a million and one excuses of why we can’t accomplish something that seems so beyond our reach?  How many of us even try?  How many of us wishfully want to do something but we resign ourselves to the idea that it’s beyond our capabilities?

    Yeah, that was me a year ago.  If you told me back in March of last year that I would be barefoot water skiing backwards on my feet a year later, I would have slapped my thigh a couple of times and laughed you out of town. “That’s impossible,” I would have said.  “I’m not capable of that!”

    Because you see, this was me a year ago, hanging on the boom and putting my feet in the water for the first time in many years:

    Now remember that quote by Edison above? I’ve learned some incredible lessons in the past year. I had no idea what I was capable of until I started to explore the limits and push past some of the boundaries in my mind. How do you know what the limits are, until you push past them? It wasn’t just barefooting, it applied to many other areas of life as well. “You’re just having a mid-life crisis,” one friend told me as she shook her head. I couldn’t quite agree with her. I call it a mid-life “awakening,” and I’m thankful for it. I’m thankful for the people who’ve crossed my path and joined me on this awakening– the ones who push me to new limits and tell me “Yes, you certainly can!” Because you see, Kevin Hall has another inspirational quote that he often shares, one by Joseph Campbell: “When you follow your bliss, you put yourself on the track that has been there all the while… you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open doors to you.”

    How true this has been in the past year–I’ve met so many amazing people in the path of following bliss that so many doors flew wide open as a result. And little by little, I began stretching the limits of what I thought I was capable of with the help of the wonderful folks who have crossed my path.

    A year ago, indeed, I would have thought it was impossible to even imagine myself barefooting backwards on my feet, but that’s just what I found myself doing this week:

    So let me ask you, what are you holding back on? Let yourself be astounded by the things you can do. Start today to move yourself toward your bliss.

  • Karen Putz in Suburban Woman Magazine

    You know those thick magazines that you find in the doctor’s offices around town?  Well, you’ll find me in Suburban Woman:

    Deaf Mom Barefoots Her Way to Weight Loss

    And in other news, you’ll find me talking about drive-thru access using the Order Assist at Culver’s restaurants:

    Culver’s Program Helps Deaf Place Orders

    A bit ironic, since the drive-thru is a rare thing for me now.  At least Culver’s has some good salads!

  • Karen Putz Interview –The Pearls

    On June 4th, I will be heading to LA to join 19 other deaf woman for the The Pearls event.   It is a wonderful honor to be included with such an amazing group of deaf women and I look forward to meeting them all.   The event is modeled after Oprah’s The Legends Weekend, where Oprah honored a group of African-American women who made history by paving the way for other women.   

    Here’s the video interview that I did for The Pearls (captions, ASL and transcript included) :

    Karen Putz Video Interview

  • Karen and Judy’s Story: Growing Bolder on PBS

    Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Shafer from the TV show, Growing Bolder, which is broadcast on PBS stations nationwide.  Bill, and cameraman, Jason Morrow, were on hand at the World Barefoot Center to capture the story of how I met Judy “The Old Lady” Myers and went back to barefoot water skiing after becoming deaf from a barefooting fall as a teen.   Bill is the Executive Vice President of Growing Bolder Media and was a news anchor for WESH Channel 2 for 25 years.  From the moment I met Bill, I was instantly comfortable with him and it was easy to see why he is considered one of America’s best storytellers– within minutes, he was entertaining us with stories of people he interviewed over the years!

    I first discovered the Growing Bolder website while doing some research on Banana George for a book that I’m working on.  From the first moment I set eyes on the site, I was intrigued by the stories of people living bold, exciting lives.  Growing Bolder is about folks who break the boundaries of ageism, and it’s reflected in their motto:  “It’s not about age, it’s about attitude.”  Growing Bolder reminds us that we don’t have to settle for ho-hum lives as we get older– we can break the stereotypes and reinvent ourselves along the way.

    After interviewing me and Judy– Bill and Jason joined us in the boat with Keith St. Onge.  “Watch me fall in front of the camera,” I dryly remarked to Judy as we walked toward the dock.  Sure enough, I went tumbling in the water on the first deep water start.   There’s a lesson right there– don’t go entertaining negative thoughts or you’ll put them right into action.

    “Watch what she does on water,” I told Bill, as Judy got ready to do some barefooting.  “You won’t believe she’s 68!”   It was amusing to watch Bill’s mouth fall open as Judy did one foots, toe holds, tumble turns and backwards.   When it was my turn, I shakily lifted my foot for a short one-foot ride and then did some backwards barefooting on shoes.  I ditched the shoes to try a backwards start on my feet and made it up for a very brief ride before falling over.  Judy claims it is an official “you got up and rode it” start, but I’ll have to wait to see the evidence on the Growing Bolder show.

    Growing Bolder is broadcast on over 250 PBS stations.  To check if it will be shown in your area:  Growing Bolder TV by Zip Code.  If you don’t see your local station listed, you can contact your station and ask them to add the show to their line up.

    “I feel like I’ve known you for fifteen years,” Bill said as he hugged me goodbye.  “Except you’re not that old!” he grinned.

    Karen, Bill and Keith

  • Women’s Barefoot Week Featured in Waterski Magazine

    Back in November, 2010, I spent a week barefooting with gals from all over the U.S.  We gathered at the World Barefoot Center for a week of fun skimming on the water.  Waterski magazine joined us for a morning and took a snapshot of all of us barefooting off two booms, two boats (see below).   The article and short clip about my return to barefooting are in the March issue of Waterski magazine.

    Waterskier magazine included a blurb about Women’s week in their newsletter (reprinted below).  The World Barefoot Center will host another Women’s Barefoot Week in November and it promises to fill up fast, so reserve your spot!  This is your only chance to see Keith St. Onge, David Small and Swampy in a dress!

    WOMEN’S BAREFOOT WEEK

    Judy “Old Lady” Meyers, 67, is on a mission to prove that barefooting is not just a sport for the physically young, but is a sport that everyone, especially women of all ages, can safely enjoy.

    Judy organized the recent “Women’s Week” barefoot clinic at the World Barefoot Center, Nov. 1-6, in Winter Haven, Fla. Fifteen women’s barefooters – 12 over the age of 40, with four of those being over age 60 – enjoyed a week of barefooting and camaraderie.

    World Barefoot Center

    ‘Footers pictured above are (back row, left-to-right): Keith St. Onge and Lauren Lindeman, World Barefoot Center; Karen Putz, Chicago, Ill.; Claudia Landon, Post Falls, Idaho; Judy Myer, Alpine, Calif.; Coach Gary “Swampy” Bouchard, World Barefoot Center; Valerie Shinn, Redmond, Wash.; David Small, World Barefoot Center; Lorraine Piskura, New Fairfield, Conn; (Kneeling, left-to-right): Charlene Portman, Clearwater, Fla.; Joann O’Connor, Oshkosh, Wis.; Kay Wiser, Winter Haven, Fla.; and Lisa Browning, Winter Haven, Fla.

    For information about women’s barefooting and future events, contact Judy at oldbarefooter@mac.com.

  • A Size Six? You Gotta Be Kidding

    Over on AOL That’s Fit, I shared my story of losing weight and taking up barefoot water skiing again.   Here’s the link:

    Karen Rediscovered Her Passion

    The story was posted earlier in the week and was featured on the front of the AOL website several times.   Emails, tweets and Facebook messages have been coming in, mostly with people expressing shock at the before picture.  At a recent ZVRS presentation, a senior citizen came up to me and said, “Wow, you lost weight!  That’s much better!  You were so fat before!”  Gotta love those seniors, they tell it like it is, in colorful sign language.

    My oldest son even did a double-take at the photo of me.  “Mom, I didn’t realize you were that… big,” he said.  He glanced at me and then came over and gave me a hug. 

    Debra Poneman, the gal behind the “Yes to Success” seminars, said, “I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the photo of you at 220 on the That’s Fit article.”  

    Well, Debra, you and me, both.  I guess that’s why I avoided the scale and the mirror for a long, long time.

    I still have a ways to go to get rid of the rest of the pounds.  It’s a work in progress.  During the last couple of weeks, I have been going to Bikram Yoga.  Most days, I actually enjoy the challenge of getting through 90 minutes of poses in a hot, hot, hot room.   Then there are other days when I want to run screaming out of the room into a tub of ice.

    The most amusing part of the whole losing weight saga has been the comments left on the That’s Fit story.  Here’s one:

    I am really happy for her and her weight loss. But somehow I find myself wondering when I read this article and many magazine articles where people are said to “finally buy a size 6 jean” at 168 lbs??? I bobble between 158-162 and I am in a 12 comfortably and can still squeeze in my 10’s on a good day. I might get one leg in a 6. Exactly what kind of jeans are these people buying??

    I have two pairs of size six jeans, one from St. John’s Bay and the other from Target.  At 168 pounds, people are scratching their heads trying to figure out how that could possibly be true.  I wonder the same thing myself at times, because I weigh exactly the same as I did back in November when the barefooting photo was taken, yet have gone down two sizes since then.  But then again, jeans vary in sizes like crazy.  I can’t get into a size six in jeans from Eddie Bauer. 

    So to give you an idea of my jeans one year ago and my jeans today, take a look:

  • Chicago Tribune TribLocal and Chicago Now Posts

    I’ve been writing for the Chicago Tribune TribLocal and the Chicago Now blog since fall of 2010. It has been fun seeing my stuff in print and online.

    Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview Kristi McNaron and Laura Ball from The Dave Ramsey Show about their weight loss success. This is a wonderful, inspiring story of friendship:

    Co-Workers Lose 150 Pounds Together

    To read the rest of my Chicago Now posts:

    Barefoot in the Burbs by Karen Putz

    From the TribLocal:

    The Importance of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Role Models

    To read the rest of my TribLocal Articles:

    TribLocal by Karen Putz

  • Michael Janger, Business Consultant

    Tell me about your job. How did you get into this line of work?

    I am a strategy consultant who provides finance, strategy and marketing advisory services to clients in the assistive technology industry, including nonprofits that serve people with disabilities. A finance industry veteran, I worked at American Express, Thomson Reuters, and IBM, and was the second profoundly deaf student to receive an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to my work, I write about disability issues and business at michaeljanger.com.

    I was born profoundly deaf, and not having the sense of hearing in a world full of hearing people presented me with challenges on an almost daily basis. Socially, academically and professionally, it was very difficult to communicate on a functionally equivalent level with my peers. The saving grace for me were innovations in technology that have enabled me to prosper in my career and my personal life. So, it is a passion for me to work with companies to better market products that make a difference for people with disabilities.

    With my finance and strategy experience in Fortune 500 companies, it was a natural progression to a line of work where I could offer my skills in a market I know well, as a person with a disability.

    What is the best part of your job?

    I enjoy working with clients to solve their business problems. It feels good to know I am helping them perform better, and more importantly, provide consumers with disabilities with better choices when evaluating products that enable them to function in a non-disabled world.


    What are some of the challenges of your job?

    This is my first entrepreneurial role. It was not by choice that I left American Express in 2009 — the Lehman collapse and credit crunch resulted in major layoffs at American Express. In a difficult job market in finance, I decided to lay the groundwork for a consulting career where I could provide my substantial finance and strategy experience to companies in a market that I know intimately. But it is a lot of work. You have to be disciplined day in and day out, and network as much as possible to build your business and get to know the major players in the amazingly diverse world of people with disabilities.

    What was it like growing up deaf?

    An important starting point — especially for those who are hearing — is that as someone who was born profoundly deaf, I did not lose anything. I have no memory or knowledge of what it is like to be fully hearing — to speak easily on the phone, listen to a podcast, or appreciate the finer points of music. The experience I have every day is of someone with a limited sense of hearing growing up in a world dominated by people who can hear perfectly well.

    This meant adapting to situations where the odds are always stacked against you. In high school, I did not have a real social life in a day and age when there were no cell phones, e-mail, or Internet. My hearing classmates called each other by landline phone, and I could not use the phone on my own. Sometimes I had to ask my parents to make the calls for me — which was very awkward to do in the image-conscious world of adolescence. It was not until college, where people see each other constantly in dormitory halls and campus greens, that my social life flourished.

    My childhood experiences have given me a strong desire to be connected to everything, to have access to as much information as possible. Which might be too much of a good thing today, in the age of information overload. But it has come in handy for me in my work, as I tend to be pretty good at collecting and analyzing data, and doing exhaustive research on the various business issues I face in my work.

    What advice would you give a deaf/HH person who is looking for a career like yours?

    As a finance industry veteran, it is important to build up substantial credentials in your field of expertise before venturing into a business of your own. Unlike marketing or creative writing, finance tends to be a pretty conservative industry where intelligence, trust, and solid academic credentials are key success factors. To shift from finance into a business of your own requires a strong network of people who can help you make your business work, and a vastly different approach to work that relies less on analyzing numbers and more on creative, team-oriented problem-solving.

    In whatever you do, it is important to follow your passion. A friend of mine, who is also deaf, put it very succinctly: “The best job is one where I can work for free.” And when it comes with a paycheck, it’s even better.