Far more to come in this Lakewood Ranch story

Lakewood Ranch's Lorraine Robertson was talking about her early days as an artist and explaining her inspiration.

She started painting late in life, after her retirement at the age of 70, and her first instructor was an extremely shy and quiet man who said almost nothing to her that entire first year.

"He was a less-is-more artist," said Robertson, who quickly understood the only way she would learn about watercolors from the man would be to watch every move he made. "I found out that am a more-is-more artist."

After a year, her instructor began to speak, which did speed up the process. She eventually learned more for her meant trying oil painting and acrylics.

The interesting part of the story is that Robertson wouldn't seem to be a probable candidate for nonverbal instruction. In her pursuit of "more is more," Robertson wouldn't appear to have the time to be patient. And yet she is able to turn down the jets when necessary.

Now 87, time is not an abundant resource for a women whose interests cause her to schedule her day by minutes, not hours. 

On this particular day, she had an interview scheduled for her just-released book, "The Saga of a Holistic Physician." Then there was her bridge group, a painting session on her "Heroes" series and a piano recital for 20-something guests she was hosting at her home on the banks of Lake Uihlein.

Oh, and yes, she would be one of the two featured pianists.

If those guests looked around, they would see a home that doubles as an art gallery, with almost all the items created by Robertson's hand.

There are photos of her other interests, such as the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancing Association National Championships in which she competed with her husband, James, who died in 2014. Then there was the Ms. Senior Florida Pageant she won in August 2017 in North Miami.

If busy equates to healthy, Robertson has produced the roadmap of how to live a senior lifestyle.

In short, she is my hero.

My hero used to be Lew Wallace, the author of "Ben-Hur." Wallace was a lawyer, a Union general in the Civil War, governor of the New Mexico territory, author, diplomat, painter and so much more. There is a museum in his name in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where I used to sit for hours, simply looking around in awe at the accomplishments of a guy who must not have slept.

I wanted to be like Lew, without all that work and a whole lot more sleep. I was resigned to the fact there would never be another Lew Wallace.

Then I met Lorraine Robertson.

Her energy for everything becomes unexplainable when you consider she suffered a severe spinal disorder when she was 69. She had owned a family medical practice in Rockaway, New Jersey, when she was told by her physician she could either have surgery, which he didn't recommend, or she could go home and stay there until her condition improved.

Nine months passed before Robertson felt well enough to have spinal surgery. Her medical practice had suffered due to her absence, so she thought it would be the right time to move to Florida in 2005.

Her husband, knowing her thirst for activity, suggested painting lessons and bought her paint and brushes. She then connected with the quiet instructor, and it was off to the painting races.

Meanwhile, Robertson found herself missing her patiences at her now-closed practice, many whom she had for 20 years or more. Although she couldn't connect with them in the real world, she started jotting down notes about them, and that gave her a one-way connection to the past. She found the notes to be fascinating and thought about putting them all together in a book, but her husband became ill and died.

A few years later, she began jotting down notes about her practice again, and her boyfriend, Alan Balfour, began reading them. He was fascinated by the stories and suggested she put them into book form. Inspired, she began writing every day after she ate breakfast,

"I never had to change a word," she said. "His enthusiasm spurred me on, and before I knew it, I had 26 chapters."

The writing was in full force when the pandemic hit, and being more homebound, Robertson spent more time painting. It was 21 paintings she named her "Ain't Love Grand" works of elderly love. Each one captured a couple doing simple things that screamed absolute love.

When she finished writing "The Saga of a Holistic Physician," She added those acrylic paintings to the back of the book.

"Whether or not it was appropriate, I did it anyway."

Like all her artistic work, Robertson hopes people pick up a couple of the book and enjoy the stories of interactions with her patients, her paintings or both. "The Saga of a Holistic Physician" can be found at online bookstores in both paperback and hard cover.

Considering her goal now is to get better at almost everything she does, the future includes some major questions. She admits that her energy level has decreased, which means she might have to cut back on some of her favorite activities. She has yet to reach the point where she needs to choose, but that time is approaching.

It doesn't seem that long ago she was a teen growing up in Brooklyn, New York, one who found boys to be far more interesting than the piano.

One of her lessons to us all now, besides the obvious one about staying active for good health, is to reduce your expectations. That doesn't mean ceasing to attempt to get better.

"I had a (piano) recital not long ago with kids, some of them who were 6 years old and better than me," she said. "It takes a strong ego to know that and play in front of people. You just have to know that it can take a lot of energy to get to a lesson, but once you get there, the enjoyment comes."

Maybe I will try it sometime.