News

by Jim

New Job

This pretty well sums up the year for me. Last December, I was offered a teaching position at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). I accepted the position and began turning the world upside down for my family. When I accepted the position, I stated that I was seeking a balance to my life between family, recreation and career.

This year has required quite a bit of balancing as I headed out of town for a fellowship.

Single parenthood

Susan gets a taste of what some parents have to endure for a long period. The girls cooperate, the neighbors mow the lawn and generally pitch in, Lillian, Jim’s mother spends two months out in Portland helping. Still, having a husband at home may actually be worth all the aggravation, even if he doesn’t do the laundry.

Girls

The girls turned 4. The brain and the body grow an awful lot during this time. It has been accentuated by my absence. Now they answer the phone and can hold a reasonable conversation. They seem to enjoy going to Montessori school each day and even ask not to be picked up too early so they can stay awhile after classes.

Hershey

Hershey turns 7 this year and as usual will give you a piece of her mind later in the Gazette. She was a little disappointed when I returned from Switzerland with Lindt & Sprüngli dark chocolate and not a drop of Hershey’s chocolate could be found in my duffel bag.

Sabbatical

Fellowship, education, sabbatical, vacation, whatever you call it, I spent a lot of time away from home this year studying and preparing for my new job.

An attic apartment was my home for the past six months in Chicago, a bit hot in the summer and a bit cold in the winter.

My mentor, Robert Bastian, M.D. is a laryngologist at Loyola Medical School.

Abroad

Europe, here we come again. Family history studies in Norway, fashion and international shopping in Paris, Zurich and Lucerne. Gastronomic delights abounded in the burgundian countryside between Dijon and Lyon, France for some palate pleasing sensations. Grindelwald, Switzerland, the town beneath the Eiger toughened our thighs hiking through cowbell country.

Old Friends

My studies in Illinois allowed Susan and I to renew our relationships with those we left behind upon moving to Portland, Oregon seven years ago. I got back in the left seat of several planes with my friend Marvin Miller. He even introduced me to motorcycle riding OH NO!

Susan and the girls visited me in Chicago over Labor Day. They found plenty of wild animals at the Brookfield zoo. We introduced the girls to the children of our friends we left behind seven years ago.

One highlight was a visit to Bob and Lisa Russell Bob was a resident in Springfield with me. They decided to have children about the same time that we did, except they ended up with three daughters, simultaneously, like us. For one summer weekend four parents sat around watching five three year old girls run, play, fight, dress up, swim. Now that was something to smile about.

Camping

Susan took the girls out several times into the Cascades to enjoy the outdoors. On the one camping trip I made we found fields full of Huckleberries.

Garden

Tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, potatoes, squash, herbs; all were in abundance in Portland this year. Every stroll in the yard is a foraging expedition.

Our pond looked inviting to first one, then several tree frogs. When it comes to romance, those guys really turn up the volume. For about three months we could hear their music throughout the house. We caught and observed the tadpoles metamorphosing away.

The garden seems to me to be a nonstop teaching experience as I try to share with the girls some of what I learned growing up in the Pennsylvania countryside. Bugs, slugs, worms, tadpoles, caterpillars - all moving things are of interest.

Hearing

“What? What? What?” (Life’s good fortunes are sometimes tempered by reality. Sydney said “What?” so often when I spoke with her on the telephone that we checked her hearing and she has very little hearing in her right ear, a unilateral deafness essentially. Life throws you surprises sometimes. While I would gladly give up my hearing to give her two good ears, I know it isn’t possible. Yet some part of me believes this medical problem will probably turn out to be a very positive factor in her life.)

Glue

You may notice that when the girls are pictured with me, they are like glue. Our time together certainly was valuable. I suppose fathers and young daughters have a special, unexplainable bond.