SHELBURNE, Vt. (WCAX) – On a crisp November afternoon, Jack Devine finds solace above his garage in Ferrisburgh.
Call it ping pong or table tennis, Devine cranks up his training machine for some practice.
“I don’t care what you call it, as long as you come out and play, Devine said. He started playing table tennis with his dad when he was a kid. “He loved the game.”
That love of the game volleyed to Devine. Now at the age of 80, he’s still in full swing.
But there were times when he put down the paddle. “I started having trouble with blurry vision because my eyes wouldn’t move the way it supposed to,” he said. “And you want to talk about a frightening thing… my jaw wouldn’t work at all.”
Devine had myasthenia gravis — they call it MG for short — a chronic autoimmune disorder that weakens muscles.
During hard times, his wife Gloria was by his side. “She would make me foods that I didn’t have to chew,” Devine said. Medication has also controlled the effects of the disease. However, Devine would be tested again. “Very hard time. Probably the hardest time I ever had.”
For two years, Gloria endured ovarian cancer, spending her last days at home. “You know, when you’re going through something like that, I had no idea how bad I was,” Devine said.
After his wife died, Devine was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Gloria’s hospice worker is now there for him. “You know, I thought I was a big old guy who didn’t have to talk to anybody about things like that. As a society, we don’t talk about grieving,” he said.
Reporter Joe Carroll: How are you doing now?
Jack Devine: I’m actually doing quite well. Obviously, I can play table tennis.
That he does — every week with the Champlain Valley Table Tennis Club in Shelburne. “Walking back into that gym was one of the best things I did,” Devine said. “There’s a lot of movement.”
Devine and his late father founded the club more than four decades ago. It may be just a game, but it has served Devine well. “It gets better all the time, Joe,” he said.
