For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan.

Now that we were back in Chattanooga, Don admitted he was without a job again. He had been working with a chiropractor in Ringgold, who had planned to have Don replace his brother, also a chiropractor, but with a drinking problem. The brother had gotten his act together and was back at work, leaving no spot for Don. The doctor told Don he would hire him again if he started the branch clinic he hoped to open in Chattanooga, and if Don passed the Tennessee boards. Don was embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know he was out of work, especially Kimberly’s mother, Jane. She was always looking for a reason to put him down.

Don had taken the test for the Tennessee Boards and was awaiting the results. We knew he and Kimberly were deeply in debt, so you offered him a job painting our house, until something else came along. When we bought the house, the exterior was unpainted western cedar, which was being allowed to age naturally. After a few years, it was starting to look weathered, and we’d already had it painted once. The color I’d picked looked pinkish in the evening light, and you didn’t care for the shade. It was also starting to age, so we picked a more neutral color. Our house was large and was a lot of work for one person.  Don pressure washed it to kill the mildew before he started painting. We kept Lauren while he did the work. She was fascinated watching her dad paint. She wanted to paint too, so I gave her a little brush and let her pretend. Our house looked great once the paint and two-color trim was in place.

Don’s test results came, and he was relieved to find he’d passed the Tenn. Boards. At one point, he took off work for an interview with another chiropractor across the river. He was encouraged this might lead to an opportunity in his field. Since he'd sent his resumes out all over the area, he did have one doctor hire him to take his place for two weeks, while he went on vacation. The patients seem to feel Don really helped them and he was becoming more confident the more adjustments he did.

Dad liked to be in bed well before dark, but Christi often came over after work to practice for a karaoke contest she wanted to enter. Dad was not a music fan, and it really irritated him when she played piano and sang. It reminded me of when I’d taken piano lessons as a child. I’d not been allowed to touch the piano when he was home, nor could I play records or listen to the radio. He couldn’t stand noise, and all music was noise to his ears. The intercom I’d connected to his room would broadcast his displeasure when Christi was over. We could hear him cursing in his room, and often I'd have to insist that she end her practice sessions.

It seemed with so much happening in our personal world we weren’t paying much attention to what was happening outside of our own realm. However, some things had made the news recently, which I should mention. Ted Kaczynski was arrested as the suspected Unabomber. He was living off the grid in Montana. He had 16 domestic terrorist bombings to his credit, dating back from 1978 to the present. Dolly the Sheep became the first animal ever cloned, and more recently TWA flight 800 had exploded off the coast of Long Island, NY killing all 230 people on board. Rumors of the plane possibly being shot down were circulating.