A Few Other Things

 With the fun of having the kids from Oregon visiting last week and the gathering of the clan for a little anniversary party I failed to mention a few other things.  Jack and I went up to Lake Erie at the end of August (the 23rd) for a fish fry with friends from Jack's graduating class. We went last year and it was really nice and this year didn't disappoint.

The weather was perfect and the lake was beautiful and the fish was delish.  With our belly's full and after a good time with friends we headed back to Ashland.  Almost home the car started acting weird.  We were almost in the small town of Savanah (8mi from home) when the engine seized up and we were coasting. In a miracle that still makes me shake my head, our mechanic just opened his shop in Savanah on the main drag and we coasted right into his parking lot.  Whew.  Jordan came and picked us up and Scott the mechanic promised to look at the car the next day.  Well, a big surprise to us was that the car was totally out of oil!  No notice on the dash that anything was amiss.  This same thing happened to a coworker and also my daughter-in-law Evelyn. What is the common denominator in this?  Hyundai and Kia have had these problems with oil disappearing with no warning.  In fact, not even any leakage on the garage floor. To make a long story longer, I need a new engine.  We had to have the car towed to a Hyundai dealership for their evaluation.  Cost? $8-12,000!  I have called Hyundai and like my coworker and daughter-in-law, I'm sincerely hoping they are covering the cost.  I'm on the battlefield to get it taken care of as we are down a car and that is not fun.  I was really stewing about the whole thing but there's not much I can do so I have to suck it up buttercup and pray for a good outcome.  In other news, Jack told me back in August that he has decided to retire.  I was surprised at first because we always joked he would leave there feet first!  I know it was a big decision for him but now he's looking forward to some new adventures and these next few weeks will be filled with tying up everything, throwing out many things, saying goodbye to his loyal patients and then taking a deep breath! 47yrs in practice is a long run and he's a really good Chiropractor and has a lot to be proud of.

I'll miss seeing his sign on the corner of Center and Washington St.

The big old Victorian has been the office since 1981 when he and his Dad moved from the old office across the street.  We lived in the big apartment upstairs when our kiddos were little until we bought our first house.  We have many good memories here.

When Craig and the family were here he took a final tour of the office and sat out front for a final pic.  He learned to ride his bike in the parking lot as a 4yr old and told his kids how he and his older brother got in trouble for sledding down the hill in front of the office almost going into the busy street.  I had no clue they were doing that until they came in the apartment and soon after a policeman showed up after people complained about them! You never saw 2 more scared kiddos thinking they were getting arrested and me feeling like the worst mom ever!  Nobody was arrested and the cop was super nice and now we can look back and laugh! So we will take all our memories with us along with the many photos we have of our time there and move forward.  Congrats Jack on a career well done and a retirement well deserved.  It seems like only yesterday when you were a student at National and this was a looonnngggg way in the future.

Jack found this in the office and brought it home.  After dusting it off and laughing about my wonderful crafting I looked at the bottom and it was dated Dec, 1975, a year before he graduated! Again, the phrase that time flies is very, very true.  Congrats Dr. Starkey!