Wistful Wednesday: Chuck and Ardith

A month ago I told our youngest daughter.  “I have some sad news for you, your bestest friend in the whole world died.”  She replied “Oh Chuck died… that is sad.”

Chuck was a thorn in her (teenage) side for two weeks every summer.  He would come to the door and ask  “Can Jenny come out to play?”  When she hollered “NO” at him he would press his nose against the window of the piano room until she would draw the curtains and play piano so loudly she couldn’t hear him.  He would walk away shaking his head saying “I don’t know how they put up with that racket.”   He irritated her and she irritated him.  When he would first show up for his time at the lake she would greet him by saying “Aren’t you dead yet?” He would answer her “No and is that anyway to talk to your bestest friend in the whole world.”

Chuck was from Indiana, he was a Deputy Sheriff and a Jailer…one time he even ran for Sheriff.  He and his wife Ardith would vacation up here the last couple of weeks in August when it was the warmest in Indiana.  Chuck fished everyday he could, Ardith sewed. Ardith was a banker and the church organist, they vacationed with children and grandchildren for one of the weeks and the other was usually their quiet time.

High on their list was going out for supper.

 

Chuck, Gene, Me, Ardith, Sue and Keith (Chucks brother)

The waitress took this photo at Y’s Steakhouse in September of 2000.

We found our way to Chuck and Ardith’s home in Indiana one Fall and had a wonderful visit with them.  They had the cover on their pool and Chance thought it was just a blue tarp…and walked right out on it. Talk about a confused looking dog!

Sadly Ardith would suffer with large cancerous tumors in her abdomen that eventually took her life in 2011.  Chuck was very lonely after Ardith died.  He called a few times to talk and then the calls became fewer and fewer. He came up on vacation a few times but his last visit two years ago he didn’t even attempt to go fishing. Chuck joined Ardith in heaven on October 10 2015.

Chuck had a wonderful sense of humor and could tell stories for hours. Sometimes you didn’t know if he was pulling your leg or not.   He used to kidnap Captain one of our Shelties, Captain could be found in their cottage quite often …for nap time and a snack.

Chuck and Ardith were good friends. It is sad that they are both gone…times change and people die.  But it is still good to have friends that can make you smile long after they are gone.

I wrote about Chuck before Straight Lake: Legend of the Cap.

Straight Lake: Legend of the Cap

This is an important photo..this is Chuck.  Chuck is a long time friend from Indiana.  He and his wife, Ardith used to come to my parents resort every Fall.   When my parents sold their resort, they starting coming  to ours next door.  One year Chuck and his son Mark, and daughter in law Kay had been fishing early in the morning. Fall fishing was best in the mornings or late afternoon.  Ardith was on vacation..sewing in the cottage..instead of fishing.  I heard a big racket, the dogs began to bark, something was amiss.  I went to see what the problem was.  I saw two drowned rats, Kay and Chuck. They were totally soaked and Mark was dry as a bone laughing his butt off.   They had been fishing on the other end of the lake when Chucks boat seat broke, in his attempt to stay out of the drink..he grabbed Kay and took her in with him.  Mark fished them both out of the lake.  They retold this story and laughed half the day..everyone that came by had to hear it.  Chuck complained that he had lost his best cap.  Well I thought he was pretty lucky..neither of them had any injuries...other than they were pretty cold..a hot shower fixed them both up.   Chuck bellyached about the cap that he lost.  His life was never going to be the same again without his favorite cap. 

A few days later early one morning, Far Guy was down on the docks and saw something floating past the dock.  He fished it out, low and behold it was Chucks cap..it had made the mile and a half trip from the south end of the lake to one of our docks against the current.   Far Guy made a big deal out of presenting it to Chuck..it became the legend of the cap:)

Lost Teeth at Lunch

Recently I was at the Dentist. We have a great Dentist, his name is Chuck. It is a small waiting room, so whatever happens in the waiting room is public knowledge.

There were two sisters, one much younger than the other. The youngest sister, had no patience with the eldest sister. The eldest was in a wheelchair, she was a resident of the nearby nursing home. First they told their story to the receptionist, she was sympathetic, and said she would talk to Chuck.

Apparently her dental appliance that costs thousands of dollars was lost during lunch. ( This was a elderly scandinavian woman, so thousands comes out sounding like towsands.) When they cannot find your teeth, even after they went through all the garbage in the entire nursing home. (Towsands of dollars in the garbage.) They call your sister, and it becomes her not so happy problem. She hauls your butt over to the Dentist office even if you are miserable with a sore mouth and in a wheelchair with a broken arm in a cast because you recently fell down.

The elderly lady went through the entire process of showing Chuck right there in the waiting room exactly what the problem was. She opened her mouth really wide and pointed to the problem. She was a bit hard to understand while talking with her fingers in her mouth. Her sister tried to explain the problem to Chuck. But her mouth was dry, so she couldn't talk real well either. Finally she said " What did you say, I am now listening with both ears?" Chuck was patient and explained again that he would have a look and possibly he could do something temporary so her sisters mouth wouldn't hurt so much. Chuck smiled and winked at me as he wheeled his patient back to the exam room. He has the patience of a saint..or maybe he just goes home at night and bangs his head against the wall. I think I finally understand why he only is in his office four days a week. I used to think it was because he loved to hunt, fish and snowmobile..now I realize it is so he can keep his sanity:)