Social distancing and 94-year-old John Gould do not go together.
Despite the coronavirus all around us, the World War II Marine-turned-piano-tuner graciously invited me to visit with him recently at his retirement community apartment.
As much as I wanted to see his family photos and hear him play his trumpet, I knew it was safer to stick to a phone interview.
Yet, like generations past, we could use the common sense wisdom of Gould and the many others like him — those elders who have lived through decades of ups and downs and gained the perspective of the long view.
Their words and experiences are testament to the belief that, as dire as things might look today, we will be OK.
“When you live a long time, you learn to keep it simple,” said Gould, who has seen the world turned upside down by both by the Nazis and 9/11.
His advice for the rest of us: “Take it easy, pray for each other and look after your neighbors, even if you don’t know them that well — especially those who are lonely or really fragile.”
» Georgia woman reveals secret to long life as she celebrates 101st birthday
Gould is a glass-half-full kind of guy who likes to keep the mood light, but he understands the coronavirus is no laughing matter.
His comparison to the 1940s is stark: “We are at war right now with something that affects all of our lives.”
Gould is determined for now to go about his life as best he can — with a few more prayers thrown in for good measure. He says he’s among the lucky, well-protected ones, thanks to the residents and staff at CC Young retirement community.
Like many senior citizen communities, his has suspended many activities and put stringent restrictions in place, including specifying who can come and go. And necessary visitors have their temperature checked and must answer screening questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gould said the residents he’s talked with feel far from trapped — they are grateful.
“If there’s a good place to be at a time like this, it’s here,” he said.
Gould and his wife, Jeanne, moved into the retirement community after living in Dallas for about 50 years. He worked for the American Heart Association; she was a dental hygienist who for more than two decades volunteered at CC Young’s hair salon.
When they decided the time had come to leave their longtime home six years ago, moving to CC Young was the obvious next step.
» Here's how you can help loved ones at higher-risk for coronavirus
Losing his wife of “68 great years” to a stroke and heart attack in September shook Gould, but not his faith. Their relationship, he said, was built on a sound footing of Christian faith, and the church was always the steadying force in their lives.
Even in the face of his wife’s sudden decline and death, Gould was constantly and consistently reminding others of the need to have faith in difficult times.
“Every single time we talked, we always ended with a prayer,” recalled Andy Stoker, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church. “And when I said ‘Amen,’ he would say, ‘Now, I’m going to pray for you.’”
Stoker, who has known Gould for about a decade, said that each time he serves the 94-year-old communion, they both cry, especially since Gould now walks to the front of the church alone. “I happen to have the sacraments, and he’s giving me back faith. We are both peering into what is possible with God.”
Every Sunday, Gould boards the church van to sit in a congregation where he’s been a member for more than 20 years. “I like to go to First Church because I like to see the children because they are the future of the church,” Gould said. “When they come running out of the pews, it means a lot.”
Then this laid-back jokester was back to lightening the conversation: “Here, we just see a lot of old people.”
With First United Methodist Church’s doors closed these days, Gould expects he’ll make do with an archived online service. He also referenced his “refrigerator billboard” of photos of his two sons, four grandsons and three great-grandchildren. He looks at those photos every morning before he begins his breakfast and says a prayer for each person.
“I put them into God’s hands,” he said. “That kinda keeps you going.”
His experience working for decades with the American Heart Association before becoming a piano tuner at 65 has landed him a number of leadership roles at his church and the retirement community.
Macular degeneration, which has dimished Gould’s eyesight, finally put him out of the piano business three years ago — although he still passed his driver’s license test in October. And the eye disease hasn’t slowed his trumpet-playing, which he took up as a child and practices each day.
The former Marine is regularly asked to play taps at the gravesides of local military veterans, and if Gould knows it’s your birthday, he calls and plays “Happy Birthday” on his trumpet.
“Who else in my life will play me ‘Happy Birthday’ on a trumpet?” his pastor, Stoker, asked, with a laugh. “I’ve got several of those messages saved where John is really belting out a good one for me.”
» Number of US senior citizens using cannabis up 75% in three years
A member of a variety of local church-based bands over the years, Gould performs these days as part of the Old Cowhands, who dress in Western getup and sing Willie Nelson songs. Then they put on dark glasses and fedoras to perform as the Studio One jazz band.
The music gigs — like many of the group activities he enjoys — are on hold for now. “We’ll still practice,” he said.
And he thanks God, literally, for the technology that can bridge people’s lives at a time when physical social distancing is necessary. He and his fellow retirement community residents still feel extremely plugged in, he said, whether to their places of worship or to family members.
When we ended our call, Gould said he was headed to the wood shop. He’s one of CC Young’s “Woodies,” a handful of men and women who repair chairs, craft small items for the retirement center gift shop and put furniture together.
Among the Woodies’ current projects are creating the little crosses that Gould said ministers like to give out when they visit patients. “We’ve made hundreds of them.”
Saturday afternoon they were making even more — albeit safely working 6 feet or so from one another. “We have good ventilation,” he said.
Gould suggested everyone make themselves useful during the health crisis.
“If you are inside for a long time, there are probably things in your house that you haven’t taken time to do,” he said. “Go into a closet and throw out old clothes or bag them up; throw out old bills and letters. It will make you feel a lot better than just sitting.”
About the Author
