Pro surfer Tanner Gudauskas might never win a world title, but his recent out-of-water performance was nothing short of epic, placing him among an elite few world-class human beings doubling as top athletes. Read his touching blog post below, about an encounter inside a doctor's office, and see if you agree:

What is it about waiting rooms? People take the first part of that description too seriously. Waiting. It's like they are allergic to the spoken word. I have been in and out of doctor's offices for the past month and have tried to strike up conversation in every "waiting" room. Crickets. I feel like I might as well be getting treated for the Bubonic plague more than my ankle. Nobody talking. That is until today. When I met Shirley.

I was early for my appointment and apparently so was Shirley. She was seeing a different doctor at the practice. We have something in common. Ankles. Well we get to talking and conversation starts to run. We are sprinting now, and we talk about music, traveling and staying active. She said that the ankle injury has sidelined most of her activity but the treatment was helping bring her back. What a lovely person Shirley is. The other people in the office start to laugh at our jokes, and see that we have broke the mold. Normality isn't for us.

The door opens with the doctor standing, calling for Shirley. We say goodbye with a wave and go our separate ways. I think to myself that this is what life should be. Harmless. Talking to strangers and laughing. Man some people take this whole life thing too serious. Looking at the lady in the far corner of the room whose face is stuffed in a magazine, I head in for my last laser session feeling like I accomplished something. It was a conversation in a waiting room. Small success.

After a fairly uneventful session I open the door to see standing in the hallway, it's Shirley. She had just finished her treatment. I ask, " feeling better?" She replied with an enthusiastic, "Yeah, I feel great!"

So I pay up and notice that Shirley is taking a couple of business cards from her purse. She was going to call a cab. So I offered my phone if she needed it. She explained that last time the cab driver took a full hour to arrive and pick her up. I asked if she lived close. "Yes, I live a couple of streets south on National, would you mind giving me a lift?"

Of course.

Shirley's birthday is coming up. She will be 91 years old. Laughing she says it's a real "Killer!" Taking the elevator down she is looking up at me, I think she stood about 4-ý feet tall. She reminded me of my grandmother. Awesome. And sure enough she lived about a 10-minute drive from the office. I couldn't imagine this little lady with blue tinted coke bottle glasses waiting on the side of the corner for an hour. She was sharp though. Chatty.

Pulling into her suburban driveway I wished her well and thanked her for the warmth. But she wouldn't let me leave for home without hearing one song on her harps accord. It was beautiful. I laughed inside thinking about THE WEDDING SINGER, when Adam Sandler gets paid in meatballs for voice lessons. But here I am on National street, inside Shirley's house admiring the look and music of the Harp's Accord that she gives lessons on. Was it music, ankles, or was it positive energy? I don't know. But connection to other human beings is a miraculous thing. I am thankful for my meeting with Shirley, however short it was. It was simple.

-- Tanner

Images of Tanner Gudauskas are courtesy ©ASP 2010 Kirstin Scholtz. Drawing of Shirley is courtesy of Tanner Gudauskas

-- Note: To visit the Gudauskas brothers' blog please click here