Newborn House Restoration

During Sunday afternoon’s work at the Newborn house, we had wonderful visit from Ellen and Bill, who stopped by the see the house.

Ellen is a friend of Martha’s, and they are both active in the Garden Club. She was very excited to tour the house and yard, and even told us about the flower pit that her mother had at their house when she was a little girl.

She also told us that the large finial on the newel post of our stairwell had a special meaning. Back in the day, a house like ours would have been built with a very simple finial. When the owners finished paying for the house, they would replace the simple finial with a fancy version so that everyone would know that the house was paid for.

(If that’s true, we should probably remove our finial!)

Ellen’s friend and bridge partner introduced himself to me as Bill Futch. After a short conversation, it dawned on me that Bill Futch was actually Dr. Futch.

Before my brain could object, my mouth blurted out a wisecrack: “Oh! So, you used to be that mean old man who gave me shots when I was sick!”

Dr. Futch let out a hearty laugh and allowed that he was indeed.

For those who don’t know him, Dr. Futch was one of the two doctors in town when we were growing up. He was a general practitioner in town for more than 30 years. The other GP was Dr. Brown, who delivered me. Dr. Brown gave medicine; Dr. Futch gave shots. (At least, that’s the way I remember it.)

He and I had a nice conversation while Ellen and Andi toured the house and grounds and talked about decorating and gardening plans.

Dr. Futch retired in 1996 to care for his wife, who died a short time later. Since then Dr. Futch has traveled the world – several times, in fact. He’s been the Russia, China, Hawaii (five times), Europe, and many other countries. This summer he has plans for a riverboat trip up the Mississippi and a cruise through the fjords of Norway.

He said he had never imagined that he would enjoy being retired because he was addicted – “completely addicted” – to his work. It was only after his unplanned retirement that he realized how much he enjoyed traveling.

Dr. Futch, thanks for stopping by … and thanks for the shots.