With the recent death of Jimmy Buffet, I'm about to take a dive into something deep about life, which plunges me - per my life and work experiences - into some below sea level memories, from work, my swimming pool and to resurrection reflections - especially per Jimmy's recent "Bubbles Up" song.

Montage Pic: Public Domain

With the recent death of Jimmy Buffet, I'm about to take a dive into something deep about life, which plunges me into some below sea level memories, from work, my swimming pool and to resurrection reflections.

And Jimmy recently produced a cool song, “Bubbles Up,” which certainly “dives into” what all of us “swim through” in life as we resurface many times with “the bends” like experiences and help one another in our “recovery chambers of life” to ultimately resurrect us to new life.

Some of my former hospital patients took dives three times a week.

Most of them had diabetes, kidney disease, circulation and wound healing problems.

Many of them also made other mandatory trips three times a week.

Usually, they would depend upon family and/or public transportation to and from the hospital.

Their only day off was the Lord's Day, Sunday, and I would pray with them many times if they requested for their health and many other needs that I would become aware of.

Scuba Divers paved the way for them – from when the former had needed treatment for the bends.

Keith Van Meter, MD really dove into wound healing, was a pioneer in hyperbaric therapy based upon treatment for the bends and helped save so many of my patients limbs which otherwise would have been amputated - almost like Lazarus in a recent Lenten Gospel account (John 11: 1 - 45), these folks sometimes told me they felt like being "brought back to life!"

Dr. Van Meter also had a big heart and would give so much slack to non-compliant patients, as well as almost his scrubs off his back to help them!

Jo Ellen Smith was a small hospital, the first one I worked at, as Social Services Director from 1988 to 1991, where I was blessed to work with Dr. Van Meter.

The hospital was named for a great nurse who was unfortunately killed in her generous outreach work to a needy area.

Every day I went to work, I would see her picture by the elevators, and she inspired many of us to emulate our own “Florence Nightingale” hero!

I would also transfer many of these successful hyperbaric patients to inpatient or outpatient rehab services at another now-closed hospital affiliated with Jo Ellen in Algiers, named for U.S. Rep. F. Edward Hebert, who represented the New Orleans-based 1st Congressional District from 1941 to 1977.

Fast Forward to some past swimming pool experiences that I had - it has been hard lately not to enjoy the cool, refreshing invigoration daily anymore of my in-ground pool after 16 years– especially after cutting the grass!

We converted our pool into a bigger garden, where we grew some more veggies and flowers with the blessing and hope given by Spring!

This was a big job, but I will had some expert help from a friend and choir friend to “jackhammer our way” through the work!

Back in 2017 right after Easter Sunday, Rudy Mann, a former fellow St. Francis of Xavier Catholic Church Men's Choir member and all round handy-dandy fix-it dude, helped me to take out our pool liner, open the cemented bottom of the pool and then fill it in with dirt to make a Pool Garden.

Sure, I missed the dives (I actually was about to cut down the diving board when we first moved here for liability reasons, but was glad I didn't, as it made for a great rule to all swimmers NOT to dive into the pool anywhere but off the diving board into our 9 ½ foot deep section of the pool!), but that was nothing compared to the dives I took with patients back in the late 80s at Jo Ellen Smith.

Back to my resurrection encounters with patients ... I would sometimes visit my hospital patients in those Hyperbaric tanks, carefully putting covers on my shoes and observe other protocols needed.

These patients would many times be going 3x/week for dialysis and 3x/week for hyperbaric dives – talk about a commitment to one's care!

I learned so much about faith, perseverance and trust from these humble folks, that it almost brings me to tears now when I recall some of their stories – many of whom loved to fish like me, and we shared so many great catch accounts.

This all ties in so well with what JC demonstrated in John 21, when the Apostles were “re-treating” to fishing to cope with the Crucifixion, and were treated to a "Happy Meal" by Jesus, after getting a bountiful fishing catch, and Peter (and all of us) was/were forgiven for having denied Jesus 3 times per the threefold questions about whether he (we) loved Jesus or not!

And Jimmy Buffet's new “Bubbles Up” Song's lyrics ties all this in, including:

… Bubbles Up They Will Pоint You Towards Home
No Matter Hоw Deep Or How Far You Roam
They Wіll Shоw You The Surfaсе
The Plot And The Purpose
So When Thе Jоurney Gets Long

Just Know Thаt You All Love
Тherе Iѕ Light Up Abоve
And The Joy Is Always Enough
Bubbles Up …

https://youtu.be/6j3jDTOG7yI?si=ccNNGwczthodnOVg