"I should have done this a long time ago."
Like many lifelong Trekkies, I've been remembering Sir Patrick Stewart today. My mind keeps going back to his final scene in The Next Generation, where Captain Picard finally sits down to play poker with his crew and says those words. He spent seven seasons keeping everyone at a distance out of duty or self-protection. Sitting at that table was the moment he realized he had been holding himself back from the very things that make life worth living.
I grew up watching The Next Generation when it first aired, and I would have followed Picard into battle. I still aspire to lead with his grace. My life has followed a path a lot like his as captain: a career at the center, and no family of my own. In "The Inner Light," Picard gets to live a whole other life, with a wife, children and grandchildren, and he comes back holding the Ressikan flute he learned to play there. One of my dearest friends gave me a replica of that flute, and it's something I'll always cherish. I'm 45. Patrick Stewart was 47 when The Next Generation premiered, and he married the love of his life at 73. It's never too late to sit down at the table.
"I should have done this a long time ago." That line has been stuck in my head because it's the exact thing people say when they finally get care they've been putting off for years. It is also exactly what my family and I said.
For years, my mom smiled with her lips closed in photos because she was ashamed of her teeth. The dental quotes she got in the US were completely out of reach, so she just lived with it and hid her smile. My dad and I were putting things off too.
Eventually, we took the leap. I went to Istanbul for a hair transplant and Bangkok for LASIK. My mom went to Mexico for her dental restoration, and my dad did the same in Thailand. We saved 70 percent even with travel, but the real change was psychological. Finally having a full head of hair changed how I carried myself completely. And seeing my mom actually smile with her teeth in photos now changed everything for me.
When you finally cross that threshold, the biggest emotion isn't just relief. It's waking up to a version of yourself you didn't know you were holding back. You look back at the years lost to fear or the sheer expense of US healthcare, and you say those exact words.
Remembering that scene reminded me why I'm building JetWell. Our family's experience showed me how many people are leaving their best lives on the sidelines. Life is too short to wait. 🖖
Photo: Poker scene from Star Trek: The Next Generation, "All Good Things…" (1994), © Paramount.
