In this episode of Boomer Banter, we meet Bill Sepe, a spirited 73-year-old whose zest for life inspires everyone around him.

Bill's story is a heartfelt one, showcasing his transition from a full-time caregiver to starting 3-Wheel Therapy in Ohio, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free three-wheel bike rides to those who can no longer ride on their own. These rides are not just about mobility; they are about connection, joy, and rekindling the spirit of adventure.

Bill shares his personal journey, detailing how he found purpose after retirement and how his love for cycling has transformed into a beautiful mission. The conversation is filled with laughter, touching moments, and the realization that it’s never too late to make a positive impact.

Bill’s infectious enthusiasm serves as a reminder that life is all about seizing opportunities and saying yes to crazy ideas that can lead to something extraordinary.

Takeaways:

• Finding purpose after retirement often begins with saying yes to new adventures and ideas.
• Caregiving can be a transformative experience, opening doors to community and creativity.
• Volunteering not only helps others but can give you a sense of fulfillment as well.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Subscribe to the Boomer Banter Newsletter. Click on Age Well With Us
• Support the work Boomer Banter is doing. Buy Me a Coffee.
• 3-Wheel Therapy
• Reach out to Bill
• Check out Fading Memories Podcast

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Wendy Green: 00:00:17

Hello and welcome to Boomer Banter, where we have real talk about aging well. And I am your host, Wendy Green.

And if you've been part of our community for a while, you know that we often talk about finding purpose and connection, especially in life's later chapters. And sometimes purpose finds you in the most unexpected ways, like a simple bike ride. Today's guest, Bill Siepe, knows that firsthand.

At 73, Bill could have settled into a quieter life as a retiree and full time caregiver for his wife. But instead he found himself launching a non profit where he lives that's turning heads and turning wheels.

It's called three Wheel therapy and it's a volunteer powered movement giving free three wheel bicycle rides to people who who can't ride on their own anymore. So it's for nursing home residents, kids with disabilities, and even his own wife. These rides are more than just a spin around the block.

They're moments of joy, freedom, and human connection. So today we'll talk about how caregiving, creativity and the love of cycling sparked a movement Bill never saw coming.

And why finding purpose after retirement may just start with saying yes to a crazy idea. I can't wait to hear his story and share it with you.

But first, if you want to stay connected with the work we are doing on Boomer Banter, then you can go to our Facebook page, hey Boomer Biz and click on age well with us. And if you want to support the work that we are doing on Boomer Banter, you can buy me a coffee.

buy me a coffee.com hey boomer: 0413

do buymeacoffee.com hey boomer: 0413

Bill Sepe: 00:03:04

Good afternoon, Wendy. Thanks for having me.

Wendy Green: 00:03:06

Oh, I'm so happy that you were willing to join us today or that you reached out. I think you reached out to me. Right.

Bill Sepe: 00:03:13

And I think it was through a mutual connection on LinkedIn. And I saw one of your podcasts and it resonated with me.

Wendy Green: 00:03:20

Well, I'm so glad that you did because I think this is an important story to share. But let's give some people the history of where your love for cycling came and how you were cycling as a family.

Bill Sepe: 00:03:33

Sure. Well, you know, it goes back to when we were kids. I mean, everything we did was on bikes. We went everywhere on our bicycles.

And when we first got married, my wife actually, when she moved down to Delaware where I was living, she had a bike and I didn't. So she went out and bought me a bike.

Wendy Green: 00:03:49

That's sweet.

Bill Sepe: 00:03:50

We would go biking together. And then as children came along, we bought one of those plastic seats that fastens behind, you know, my seat.

And the first, first boy, our son Dave was in the first. He got the first ride. Then when the second one, Brian came along, we gave, we gave Brian to Betty and she was, he was riding in a seat behind her.

And then when our third son, Christopher came along, well, David was old enough to ride a bike on his own. And we would leave from our house and ride down, you know, the little town we lived in.

We would ride along the sidewalks downtown and, you know, maybe stop and get something on ice cream or something.

Wendy Green: 00:04:31

Fun.

Bill Sepe: 00:04:32

Yeah, it was fun. And then, you know, that, that was really how it got started. And we love, we loved doing, doing, you know, bike riding together.

Wendy Green: 00:04:39

Yeah. And then you went on to become like a long distance cyclist.

Bill Sepe: 00:04:45

Yeah.

So, you know, after the boys had, you know, grown up, had gone through college, I had started getting into my first long distance cycling opportunity was with MS.150 ride here in Ohio. You know, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, I think one of their major fundraisers, they, they promote these MS.150 rides all around the country.

They have different names. And we, you know, we, we decided that I was going to try to do this, and I did very little training.

And I realized after doing 150 miles in two days, plan was really not that good and that I needed to really work on my training.

Wendy Green: 00:05:23

Oh, I bet.

Bill Sepe: 00:05:25

Yeah.

And then, and then I think the other thing that I learned was my good friend Ron Brubaker, he, he said, you know, you really ought to try a road bike, because I was using a hybrid, which is not really the best bike for a long distance. And he let me try out one of his road bikes for a week, and I was sold.

I really, really, I think in: 2009

And I was just pushing myself for endurance and to see just how far I could ride a bike.

Wendy Green: 00:06:06

Yeah, yeah. So are you and Your wife still riding?

Bill Sepe: 00:06:12

where. Where we are today. In: 2007

And so after she recovered from that, and she had a very nice recovery and was pain free, that was the big thing. She was in so much pain that I said to her, I said, all right, we got to get you back on the bike.

And so the first thing we did was we got her bike out of the garage, and we were in the driveway, and she just freaked out because one of her knees just couldn't do that 360 crank. And she just was worried about falling.

Wendy Green: 00:06:53

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:06:54

So we tried several things. The first thing we tried was a recumbent tricycle. And she really liked that because she didn't have to worry about falling off a trike.

And then she didn't have the pressure of having to do the full 360 from that height. But she couldn't keep up with me on the bike trail with the recall.

Wendy Green: 00:07:18

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:07:19

So then I said, well, what about a tandem? Let's try a tandem.

Wendy Green: 00:07:23

Good idea.

Bill Sepe: 00:07:24

And so we. We looked at. We went and looked at a couple of used tandems that were for sale off the Internet, and we didn't see anything that we liked.

But we ended up when we were on vacation down in Hilton Head, South Carolina, one spring, we. We went to a bike shop, and they had a tandem that she felt more comfortable on. So we rented that for the week. And she says, I like this.

I like this bike. I. I don't feel unsteady on it, and I feel like I can. I can ride with you.

So when we came back to Ohio, we went to our local bike shop, and we said, can we get one of these Trek tandems? And we bought one.

And we even bought a very expensive rack that we could put on the roof of our suv and we could haul that bike wherever we wanted to. So we took it everywhere.

Wendy Green: 00:08:16

Great.

Bill Sepe: 00:08:17

And this was in the summer of: 2013

Wendy Green: 00:08:28

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:08:28

And in September of: 2013

And I kept asking her, you know, what's wrong? Why. Why are you so. Why are you so restless? And she couldn't really tell me what was going on. She goes, something wrong with my leg?

And I really didn't know what was going on. All I knew was I wanted to get to sleep because I was commuting to work on my bicycle.

And I normally got up at 4:15 in the morning, okay, to meet my buddies at 5:30 to. To bike 18 miles to downtown Cleveland. I just wanted to go to sleep.

Finally, when I realized something was really, really wrong, and I suspected it was a stroke,911 was called, and they came and they said, you know, you're a very sick lady. We need to get you to the hospital. So the next day when the neurologist came in to meet with us, she literally was paralyzed on the left side.

She couldn't move her left leg. She couldn't move her left leg or left arm. And so that kind of took us to someplace we just were not expecting.

Wendy Green: 00:09:48

then have to retire, Bill, in: 2014

Bill Sepe: 00:09:58

So I stayed working.

We were very fortunate that my wife had a number of friends that said, hey, we'll come and we'll help Betty in the morning and in the afternoon while you can go to work. I did a lot of traveling for my job, and so that kind of came to a stop.

But I was very fortunate to have a team of very experienced engineers that worked, you know, in our department that carried the load. And I really didn't have to. I really didn't have to supervise them. They just. They knew what their job was. They went out and they got it done.

effective the end of April of: 2014

Wendy Green: 00:10:45

Okay. So a couple of years early. So that had to totally refocus your idea of what retirement was going to be like. What was.

What were your thoughts at that point?

Bill Sepe: 00:10:56

So our plan for retirement was, you know, we had. We had, you know, I talked to you about how we vacationed in Hilton Head, South Carolina. We had actually bought a villa that we would vacation down.

And we were using the villa as an opportunity to go down and really explore the island, make friends, and, you know, get to the point where when we were ready to retire, to sell here in Ohio and move there full time and, you know, pick up our lives there, that. That really changed. That just. That went out the window. We. I had to learn a lot about caregiving. I had to learn a lot about what her limitations were.

It also required us to take a look at where we were living. We had a center hall colonial with bathroom on the second floor. Our bedroom was on the second floor.

t. So we made the decision in: 2016

And that shook a lot of our friends, especially our close friends that lived on our street that hated to see us go, but was something we had to do.

Wendy Green: 00:12:12

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:12:14

And so the other thing too was, you know, my two passions as far as recreation were concerned was, was golfing and riding my bike. And Hilton Head island is just the perfect place for both.

Wendy Green: 00:12:26

Absolutely. Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:12:27

My wife loves the beach. She calls herself the beach girl.

Wendy Green: 00:12:31

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:12:33

So we said, hey, this is what our retirement is going to look like.

I'm going to go to the beach, get some sun, you go play around the golf and then you can come join me on the beach in the afternoon, or you can go ride your bike and then, you know, you can join me on the beach or whatever. Or we'll do, we'll do bike rides together. You know, there's bike paths all the way around Hilton Head Island.

Wendy Green: 00:12:54

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:12:54

And you go. The kind of speed that she was used to doing that was out the window. So people had told me, many people told me, you can't just do this 24, 7.

You, you need to recreate. You know, you need to, the caregiver needs to take care of themselves.

So I was fortunate enough to be able to find a caregiver that I could pay for to come in every Monday so I could go play golf with all of my, my buddies. And on Tuesday mornings I started a bike riding group for. We want to do like a two hour short bike ride.

It's not, not a long ride at all, 20 miles maybe.

But she's, she's, she's self sufficient enough that she could take care of herself in those two hours that I was gone and just, you know, sit there and read. She's an avid reader. She blows through 50 to 60 books a year. I don't know how she does it.

Wendy Green: 00:13:48

Oh, gosh.

Bill Sepe: 00:13:51

But I always felt bad whenever I would walk out the door because I was leaving her by herself.

Wendy Green: 00:13:56

Yeah. So, so tell me then how you came across three wheel therapy and what, and well, tell me what it is too.

Bill Sepe: 00:14:06

Well, okay, so let's start with my search to find a bicycle that she could go on a ride with me. And, and these thoughts started popping up on the Internet, I started finding them. The first one I found was a group called Cycling without Age.

Wendy Green: 00:14:20

So was this something she wanted to do? I mean, she had been a little nervous about riding when her knee was bad. Did she want to ride with you?

Bill Sepe: 00:14:28

Well, the first time I saw the Cycling Without Age videos, I showed it to her and I said, what do you think about this? And she goes, oh, that would be fine.

And the Cycling Without Age model is there are two people sitting in the front, so it's a little bit wider, a little bit more cumbersome, but it's room for two people and the peddler is behind. I actually investigated and talked to people over in Europe about starting a chapter here.

And in fact, there was a chapter started by the local metro parks here in our, in our, in our area. But they do very, very limited rides at one specific metro park, which I felt was under utilization of their assets. So I kept looking.

And then I saw a video online from a couple in Australia, similar situation. The husband was taking care of his wife. She had dementia. They had been riding from the time they were dating way back when they were teenagers.

And he built this custom bike called the Bike Chair.

Wendy Green: 00:15:28

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:15:28

And everybody was raving about this thing. And I'm like, I'm wondering if anybody's going to make this thing.

And well, eventually, a few years back, some family members of his, I think he's since passed away, decided they were going to try to start a business in Australia to build the Bike Chair.

And they kept coming back every four or five months with a, you know, a video or an email update saying, you know, that they were, you know, they were working, they were here, they had a, they had a timeline, but they weren't seem to be making progress. But they, they said that the price tag was about $4,000 for one of these, whereas the Cycling without age was like 11, $12,000.

And those are electric bikes. And I said, well, certainly for $4,000, this can't be an E bike. It's got to be a, you know, you know, only, you know, leg powered only.

But I didn't have a lot of details, so we kept pushing on looking for the right vehicle. Now, I told you about my Tuesday morning bike ride group, right?

So every, every Tuesday I'm a leader of a group called the Grubers, which stands for grown up bicycle riders.

Wendy Green: 00:16:36

Cute. Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:16:37

And it's sort of an organic group that's kind of, we've added people over the years. My best friend Ron rides with us.

Most of the time we've met some really interesting people, picked up people, people that I, I knew from the Sherwin Williams cycling team that I was part of. And a couple of years ago, we did a bike ride up the bike trail to downtown Cleveland, kind of reminiscing of our commuting to work rides.

And one of the gals that was with us, I said, you know, I said, you know, the company's building a new headquarters downtown Cleveland. Let's take a ride by there and we'll take some pictures. So we did a selfie in front of the new building and we posted it on the retirees page.

And I made a comment. Is anybody interested in joining us? We do a ride every Tuesday morning.

riding with us. And that was: 2023

Well, then fast forward to: 2024

y email for the first ride of: 2024

And so we're going down the, the trail and Craig is talking to Ron and he's telling him about this, you know, bike that they encountered because Diane's mom, I'm sorry, Kathy's mom, Diane needs a wheelchair for going long distances. And they were on the beach when this guy came up behind her and said, we have a bike for her.

Wendy Green: 00:18:26

Oh, we have a bike for her.

Bill Sepe: 00:18:28

We have a bike that she can ride.

So, so they followed this gentleman who happened to be Ken Kohler, and they were so impressed and then found out that because they were there for, for the rest of the winter, they said, hey, if you need some help volunteering, we'd love to, you know, help you out. So Craig's, you know, telling Ron, and Ron says, you got to show Bill this video. So he shows me the video and I'm like, I was just blown away.

Wendy Green: 00:18:59

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:19:00

I said, this is it. I want one of those bikes.

Wendy Green: 00:19:04

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:19:06

So. So anyway, I asked him about, you know, how I could get in touch with this three wheel therapy and we could.

We were not friends on Facebook, believe it or not, at the time.

So he sent me a friend request and then I reached out to Nicole Kohler, who is the executive director of Three Wheel Therapy in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.

So we exchanged a couple of emails, and she was telling me all these stories about how they got started, how, you know, her and Ken had moved to Carolina from Chicago, got out of the cold of Chicago and moved to Carolina Beach. And the genesis of Three Wheel Theory came from an organization called Healing Rides.

And then she also reached out to a group in Maine, in Portland, Maine, called the Portland Wheelers.

Wendy Green: 00:19:59

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:19:59

Who ride the same type of trike that. That we're using at Three Wheel Therapy.

And now Nicole is a licensed recreational therapist, and she had worked with a lot of Parks and Recreations people. And this was her. Her idea that. She's the one that developed this model for therapy, Freewheel Therapy.

Wendy Green: 00:20:20

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:20:21

Got it started in: 2022

Wendy Green: 00:20:30

Oh.

Bill Sepe: 00:20:31

ion, bought a second trike in: 2024

And so my initial thrust was just I wanted to buy one of those trikes from the bike shop that they. They were getting their trikes from. I'm going to stop here because there's. All of these things I think are directed by God.

I said, well, where's this bike shop at? She says, it's in War, Rhode Island. Well, lo and behold, we're from Rhode Island.

Wendy Green: 00:21:12

That's where you and Betty are.

Bill Sepe: 00:21:15

Rhode island. We graduated in: 1974

Wendy Green: 00:21:22

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:21:23

And Betty lived a good part of her life in War, Rhode Island. I'm like, this is weird. This is really strange. So what's the coincidence that, you know, this.

This and this bike company called Bike on only sells bikes for people with disabilities and handicaps.

Wendy Green: 00:21:44

Wow.

Bill Sepe: 00:21:44

That's their specialty.

Wendy Green: 00:21:45

Yeah. Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:21:48

You're not going to go into a. A traditional bike shop that sells, you know, the traditional bikes that.

Wendy Green: 00:21:53

Right.

Bill Sepe: 00:21:54

Rides and find these bikes. They're.

Wendy Green: 00:21:57

They're hard. Yeah. So let's get to where you got your bike and you started. You took Betty on her first ride. What was that like?

Bill Sepe: 00:22:07

at was. That was in August of: 2024

And so we made arrangements to go to the. To bike on that Weekend we drove out to Rhode island and he met us there at the bike shop, the salesman. And we did the bike ride in the parking lot.

That's all we did. We just did the bike ride in the, in, in the parking lot. And I said, well, what did you think? And she's like, thumbs up, two thumbs up.

Wendy Green: 00:22:44

She loved it.

Bill Sepe: 00:22:44

She goes, this is, this is, this is good. She goes, this would work.

She says, I, I just, I was a little bit afraid at first because I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel in it, but she said it was, it was good.

Wendy Green: 00:22:57

Yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:22:58

And, and the, and the young man that, that, that, that met us there, Kyle, he took a picture of us, he took a video of us.

And the one picture we have of her in the front seat of the bike sort of became the poster for a local article that appeared in one of the local newsletters, newspapers here in town.

Wendy Green: 00:23:18

And so you start, you said, well, you know, this is, this works for you and Betty, but you wanted to do more than that. I mean, you could have just done for the two of you, Bill.

Bill Sepe: 00:23:29

Right. Well, well, but that's exactly right. It was like, it was like, you know, initially my, my initial thrust was I want to buy one of these for myself.

m bilateral hernia surgery in: 2024

And I got to talk with some of the residents there and just observe residents and how sometimes how lonely they seem to be.

So I said, I asked Craig, I said, do you think that Ken and Nicole are interested in starting a, another chapter of this, you know, kind of like a franchise? I don't know. You know, have they given any thoughts? And Craig thought that they, that they did.

And so we, we did a zoom call with them and they were absolutely 100% behind doing it. And we decided, they decided, agreed that Ohio would be their first expansion of three Wheel Therapy.

And they helped us with the paperwork to get registered in the state of Ohio as a non profit under their flagship.

Wendy Green: 00:24:42

Wow, that's great. So how many bikes do you have now?

Bill Sepe: 00:24:47

So that was the next step. We get a fundraise. We, we. These bikes, These bikes are $13,000 a piece and that includes the free freight from.

Because they are sourced out of the Netherlands. They, they come from.

Wendy Green: 00:25:00

Really? Wow.

Bill Sepe: 00:25:01

And then they're shipped by boat to, to Rhode Island. And then the nice thing Is that bike on, Kyle? He loads those trikes into a trailer and he hauls them, he hauled them here for us.

We raised, we raised money. We threw a number of small donations and family foundation donations were able to purchase two trikes and they were delivered in April of this year.

Wendy Green: 00:25:31

Wow. So tell me about some of the rides that you do with, with people other than Betty and what kinds of reactions you get.

Bill Sepe: 00:25:40

Well, let's, let's stop and we'll do one step real quick. Okay, then beyond just me, Craig and Kathy, because we weren't going to shoulder all of this.

We, we knew that three Wheel therapy in North Carolina had an army of about 25 or so volunteers that Ken and Nicole had recruited. We needed to start recruiting volunteers, and that's what we did.

And I have to say, we have a group of just absolutely fantastic, loving, caring people on our team in Ohio.

Wendy Green: 00:26:15

I can see that this moves you a lot because of who you are too, you know, and, you know, the impact. So how did you. Let me help you. How did you find these wonderful people?

Bill Sepe: 00:26:30

You know, the publication and the, in the, in the newspaper help. The articles in the newspaper help. People saw that, they know our website, they Facebook.

I was, I was on Facebook until February 22nd when I got booted off. But that's a story for another day. I haven't gone back.

And people just saw posts and they, they, you know, just different outlets, different media outlets that we, you know, advertised what we were trying to do. And we had some people that, you know, we said we didn't necessarily. We weren't looking for Bill Sepes.

We weren't looking for people that are crazy cyclists that want to do 30, 40, 50, 100 mile bike rides. We wanted people that were compassionate and cared.

Wendy Green: 00:27:17

Did you find most of your volunteers were also somehow associated with somebody with a disability?

Bill Sepe: 00:27:24

In some cases, yes.

But we also have recruited some people that were therapists, people that had either worked in occupational therapy or physical therapy, had worked in, in facilities, done some sort of caring for someone and said, I want to be a part of this.

Wendy Green: 00:27:42

Yeah. Well, I'm sure it is an emotional experience for both the, the cyclist and the rider. Yeah. Share some of that.

Bill Sepe: 00:27:57

So. So we have.

And one of the things that sort of surprised me is I always thought that this would be a slam dunk, that I could walk into a nursing home or senior living facility and say to the activities coordinator, hey, this is what we do. I'm showing some pictures, show them a video, and they say, sign me up.

And sometimes not that easy because some of them are under the auspices of a corporate office. A lot of corporations have bought some of these senior living.

Wendy Green: 00:28:28

Oh, for sure, yeah.

Bill Sepe: 00:28:32

But we have gently nudged and we've, we've, we've, we've now added several senior living facilities and we have two organizations that work with developmentally disabled youth and adults. And everybody loves the ride. I mean, we get comments from, especially the seniors. Oh, the sun feels good on my face. The wind blowing through my hair.

Oh, this trail is beautiful. I didn't know this. I mean, the first place we went to, the bike trail passes right behind the facility. They didn't even know that bike trail existed.

Wendy Green: 00:29:16

Wow.

Bill Sepe: 00:29:17

And said, oh, this is beautiful. You know, oh, did you see that deer just jump out?

Wendy Green: 00:29:23

They would see that.

Bill Sepe: 00:29:24

They see deer. And we point out different things. We go by a lake and point out the Canada geese out on the lake. The funny story. This is great.

I always bring Betty with me when we go to these facilities and she sits there and Nicole basically has given her the title. You are our rider advocate. Special chitchat with the folks who are waiting for a ride.

Because we can only give two rides at a time and we can give six to eight rides in a two hour period. So she might chit chat with under the canopy or she might, you know, just chit chat with our, our site coordinator. We always have a site coordinator.

So a few weeks ago, what I always do is I wait for our volunteers to harness the people in and buckle the seatbelts and then I come off the bike and I get in front of them and I introduce myself and, and this one lady, I can't remember her name now, she said, oh, you're a handsome one. And turned to my wife and I said, Betty, you've got competition. I said, that's my wife over there. You're still handsome.

Wendy Green: 00:30:31

And Betty says, I know he is. That's cute. Now, when you're riding, can you talk to the person in the front? Can they hear you back and forth?

Bill Sepe: 00:30:41

Yeah, that's such an important part of the, the experience. We, we generate conversation with our writers. Sometimes they don't have a lot to say and that's just kind of the stage of life that they're in.

That doesn't necessarily mean that they're not hearing us and what we have to say and, and what we're telling them as we go down. Yeah, I like to ask them about their life story. I like to ask them, you know, where in the area they grew up, whether they are From Ohio. In one case.

I had a lady who grew up in Michigan and then her husband moved down here. I was very moved by one widow who told me that her husband received a purple Heart for his service as a marine at Iwo Jima.

Wendy Green: 00:31:29

Oh, wow.

Bill Sepe: 00:31:30

Yeah.

Wendy Green: 00:31:32

So certainly this has given you a sense of purpose.

Can you reflect on how this might have changed you personally, this whole experience of building this nonprofit and getting the volunteers and sharing this experience with so many different people?

Bill Sepe: 00:31:49

Yes, Because I will tell you that there was a point in time, and it was probably right around Covid, when, you know, I think we all were when we were in lockdown and we didn't have interaction with other human beings in a live setting. And human beings need that. We need that interaction. And my wife needed that more than anybody else. She needed that.

And she sort of shut down during COVID She was not really a talkative person to begin with. I tend to be the more outspoken one of us. And it just drove me crazy that we weren't having the kind of conversations we used to have.

And I literally had to go to counseling for and try to work through the issues we were having. And I remember my counselors telling me that somewhere along the line, I needed to find redemption.

I've written that word down in my notebook about, you know, redemption. I asked her about redemption, and she said, I see nothing. Redemption, no redeeming qualities in this. In this journey that we're on.

You know, I think three wheel therapy is the redemption. I think it gives me the reason to get up and, you know, go, go to set up.

I mean, we're getting ready to set up with a new facility this coming Wednesday. Every time we send out the invite, our volunteers just flock to it.

It's like sometimes I think we have more people than we need because we do have these co pilots that ride their own bikes to get in front of and behind the trikes for safety purposes. And they. And they chit chat with our riders, too. And they just do a fantastic job. They come, they know what they have to do.

We obviously have trained them very well. They know how to get these folks fastened into the front of the trike.

They know how to fit their helmets on them, and they talk to them and engage them. And that's so important for these people. Well, like I said, may not have family members that come to visit them on a regular basis.

Wendy Green: 00:33:54

Right.

Bill Sepe: 00:33:55

Very, very lonely life.

Wendy Green: 00:33:57

Very lonely life. And what a gift you're giving them. It's a beautiful thing.

What would you say to People that might, you know, entertain an idea like this and then go, no, I'm too old. I'm too old to do this. What would you say to them?

Bill Sepe: 00:34:16

You know, I never thought about. I mean, a couple of times I thought about, what am I doing?

You know, when I, you know, I started this, you know, at age 72, and I was thinking, what am I thinking? Why am I doing this? For what reason am I really built at this age to want to do this?

And I've always, because of my bike riding and being an active senior, kept myself in good enough shape that I kept. I had to keep telling myself, no, you can do this, you can do this. And beyond that, it's, what are you giving back to people?

Because my belief, and I think we had this discussion, the happiest times I've ever been myself personally is when I'm doing for other people, not necessarily thinking of self gratification myself. And that comes from a book that I read by an author that I really love called Matthew Kelly. You wrote a book called Holy Moments.

Wendy Green: 00:35:12

Okay.

Bill Sepe: 00:35:13

And the concept of Holy Moments is. Is taking that time to reflect to God and say, I want to put my self interest aside. What do you want me to do for someone else today?

Wendy Green: 00:35:27

Which is so important, Bill? Because, you know, we. I talk to so many different people about what to do in retirement, right?

And some people, they gave up things when they were kids, right? Like they wanted to be a musician or they wanted to be an artist, or they wanted to be whatever, a cook. And so now they're doing it. And.

And some people are saying, well, but just. Just volunteer just to help. That mean that's not tangible. That's not something I can do. And.

But it's one of the most important things, in my opinion, that you can do. Because giving for others is also so helpful for yourself, too.

Bill Sepe: 00:36:08

Yeah. And, you know, I think I may have mentioned this to you, I think when we first spoke.

My friend Donna Kastner from Age well, Dayton, she does a podcast down there, and she had a guest on her show last year, and he said something that struck me very well. Three stages of life that we go through. We learn, we earn, and we give back. That's pretty. Pretty simple. But I believe in it.

Wendy Green: 00:36:38

I believe in it, too. So what do you want people to take away from your story, Bill?

Bill Sepe: 00:36:46

Well, I think that what I want them to take away from it, a couple of things. Number one, that if. If something that's out there, a volunteer opportunity as you're looking for something to do in retirement.

If it's speaking to your heart, consider that a sign. Maybe it's from God. I don't know. I mean, some. Some people are spiritual in that way and some others are not.

But I'd consider it a sign that I believe God is leading you in that, in that direction. And I know when I look back at this path, this journey that I'm on, I can see God's hand in everything. Everything.

Wendy Green: 00:37:29

Well, all the serendipitous moments that you met the right people at the right time from the right places and Rhode island played into. I mean, it all seemed to fall into place.

Bill Sepe: 00:37:40

It all. And, you know, when you're going to do a volunteer, I mean, it's always good to get along with the people that you're working, volunteering with.

I cannot speak highly enough about the Kohlers, Ken and Nicole, and our partners here in Ohio, Craig and Kathy, you know, four of the most giving, loving people you'd ever want to get into business with. You know, and this is not a business. You know, we're not here to make money. It's. It's a nonprofit. We give these rides for free.

And the other thing, the message I would like to give the audience is that, you know, support, you know, if you feel that you, you know, can't volunteer. But if you see an organization that's a nonprofit that, you know, is tugging at your heartstrings, donate. Donate money to them.

Because we don't exist without our volunteers and without generous donors who give their, their money away to support what we're doing. And it's. It's a blessing.

Wendy Green: 00:38:44

Thank you. Thank you for that.

So if you want to learn more about Three Wheel Therapy, they have a website, three the number three wheeltherapy.org and you can see videos and you can see pictures of the rides and learn more about Nicole and Ken.

And if you would like to speak directly to Bill, he has offered to share his email address with you, and that's Akan, Akron, O H@3wheeltherapy.org so even just reach out and let him know how much you loved this podcast. That would be amazing.

Before I let you go, and we thank Bill again, I just want to take a moment to remind you that you can connect with us at heyboomer Biz and click on Age well with us. You'll get a weekly newsletter, hopefully very inspiring articles, and what's coming up as far as the next show.

ee@buymeacoffee.com hey boomer: 0413

And so Fading Memories is a podcast that offers valuable insights for aging well and supporting your aging loved ones. My friend Jennifer Fink is the host and she discusses brain health recommendations, effective caregiving techniques and self care strategies.

Jennifer's mom had dementia for many, many years and so Jennifer does so much work with Alzheimer's and dementia and her podcast shares so many wonderful tips. So check out fadingmemories.com no fadingmemories podcast.com and next week, next week is August. Can you believe it?

And our theme for that month is health. Mental, physical and emotional health.

And so speaking of dementia, on Monday, August 4th, our guest is Nicole Smith, who wrote a book called Diagnosis Dementia, your Guide to Elder Care Planning and crisis management.

Her journey was fraught with challenges exacerbated by distance, confusion and her mother's anger as she was getting more and more ill with the dementia. So, so Nicole wrote the book she wished had been there for her when she started on this journey. Bill, this has been fabulous.

Thank you so much for reminding us that purpose doesn't have a finish line, but finding ways to give back, stay connected and keep moving, literally and figuratively, no matter what stage of life we're in, bring a sense of purpose and fulfillment. So thank you so much.

Bill Sepe: 00:42:07

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

Wendy Green: 00:42:10

It's been wonderful. I hope to see you all back next Monday.