Joy in Retirement: Tom

Customer Spotlight

Read time: 4 minutes

For the first 50 years of adulthood, we’re often defined by our roles for others, and the responsibilities that come with those roles. To our family, we’re caregivers, providers, confidants, advice-givers and so much more. At work, we wear as many hats as we do at home. And then ... just as our working life is complete, our new life is here.

Retirement.

We can finally live our life more on our terms. And health withstanding, we can find the joy we want in our lives — whatever it is: spending time with grandkids, swing dancing, turning that side hobby into a small business ...

At Physicians Mutual, we share in that joy our customers find in retirement. Today, we introduce Tom K., an artist who breathes life into the world.

At 74, he could easily pass for decades younger. When he smiles, more.

Tall and broad, his shoulders square, with eyes that scintillate. He brings absolute wonder and boundless curiosity to the room he’s in, and the people who inhabit it.

And where he goes, he finds friends. And why not? He’s a natural. The sparkle in his eyes. The smile. The genuine friendliness … he’s so easy to know and like.

Each conversation, a celebrated opportunity to bask in the warmth of imminent humanity. He listens, laughs and delights — one-legged imps have flashed less devious grins. But gosh … if you’re fortunate enough to cross paths with Tom, you’re in for a treat.

Today, he’s dressed to the nines. Fresh cut. New poplin — with the most subtle blue and yellow accents you’ve ever seen — neatly pressed. A navy sweater and new jeans complete the look. Craning his neck, eyes widely surveying the scene before him, he pauses. Pearly whites in full view, he smiles.

“This is awesome.”

With Physicians Mutual, I don’t have to worry about a thing.

As an artist and illustrator, Tom does not depict his subjects in his work. He reveals them.

His style is a loose realism, defined by the ability to capture a likeness or a moment not just from line, but equally from light and color. It’s emotionally precise but not restricted by linear meticulousness or hyperrealism’s emotional sterility.

In short, it’s infused with an enchanting dollop of chaos.

For example, colors burst and roll in unkempt pools and streams, revealing size, shape, color, texture and essence. An occasional splotch of untouched canvas surrounded by bright hues and small bleeds (beyond black outlines) lend charm.

But taken as a whole, it’s a singular, cohesive vision of tones, shades and negative space — an unrestrained canopy of kindness, intelligence, and yes, whimsy.

Most of all, it reveals as much about himself as it does his subjects.

If not for Mel Blanc, Tom might have been able to claim the title of the man of a thousand voices. Over the span of a few minutes, it’s not uncommon for him to pull off a mean Scottish accent, an endearing falsetto, or even sound effects.

So, what’s his favorite voice?

“Colonel Lafitte.”

As a teenager, he created the fictious British officer to hurl friendly barbs at his friend, Robin Williams, as they reenacted the Battle of Waterloo with tin soldiers in Rob’s basement. (Back then, he went by “Rob,” Tom reports.)

And yes — that Robin Williams.

Over the course of their two years together at Detroit Country Day School, they practiced their improv skills. And Rob matched Tom’s friendly faux-British vitriol with equally biting insults … but this time complete with a French accent.

“To me,” Tom says, smiling, “he was the embodiment of pure imagination.”

“Retirement means being afforded the time to look, see, smell and choose what is important and meaningful,” Tom says.

And he lives by that creed.

His mornings include coffee and breakfast with his wife, Mary. Then his daily routine can best be described as a dizzying buffet of social and self-development activities.

Depending on the season and his fancy, the day could include everything from Pilates to bridge with friends to lunch with friends to reading/drawing/painting, to walking to golf to volunteer work. And if he and Mary are planning a dinner party for friends, toss in meal planning and cooking to his itinerary.

And when it came to choosing his health care in retirement, he went back and asked around: “A friend of mine told us about Physicians Mutual. They just loved it.”

So, Tom and Mary looked into us. Ten years later, they’re still confident with their coverage, and most importantly, they’re happy customers. “With Physicians Mutual,” he says, “I don’t have to worry about a thing.”

And because he has coverage he can count on, he can continue doing what is important and meaningful.