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Days in the Lives of Jethro Gibbs and Family

Chapter 8    The Chair

If anyone had told me two years ago that I would have a baby at the age of sixty I would have told them that they are crazy and need immediate psychological help.  Usually a lot of women at that age are going through menopause and beyond child bearing age so imagine my surprise when my doctor tells me that I am pregnant and further imagine Jethro’s surprise when I told him.  Well it seems that I was not too old to have a baby naturally and even a few women in their seventies had babies through in vitro fertilization.  So I no longer think of myself as an oddity.  It has also taught me that with all this medical technology that sometimes professionals need to say things in general terms because until they interview and have records on every human on this planet they will never know exactly what is the norm because there are always exceptions to the ‘norm’.  

Now seven months old and sleeping through the night the twins remain a joy and a miracle to their ‘old’ parents.  I say ‘old’ only in the sense that Jethro and I both have lived over sixty years but physically we can still hold our own.  Able to now run events has me down to my ‘fighting’ weight and I am so glad for that.  Breast-feeding the twins did wonders too.  It helped that I maintained a good nutritional regimen and continued to exercise throughout my pregnancy.

I just put Richard and Nicole down for the night.  Jethro is downstairs in his workshop working on a new project.  Using the time wisely I catch up on reading some files for work and updating things on my computer.  It’s lonely in my office so I take my reading downstairs to sit while Jethro works.  He’s so busy measuring for whatever he intends to build that all he can do is nod to acknowledge my presence and so I simply go to my chair and sit.  The chair is a specially designed hydraulic lift chair with adjustable arms and back.  Placing my files on the table I mark my place and position the chair to a comfortable height and step up to sit.  

We are comfortable like this.  We don’t have to talk.  Just being in the same room is enough for both of us.  He does the same thing sometimes.  When he’s reading one of his books and I’m in my office doing some paperwork he’ll come in the just sit in a chair in my office and continue reading while I work on my paperwork.  

After about an hour or so my back starts to itch.  Do you know how when you get an itch that you can’t reach no matter how hard you try?  I use my left arm to reach around my waist and up my back but can’t reach it. Then I use my right arm over my shoulder and I still can’t reach it.  

“Darn I can’t reach the spot.  This is frustrating.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My back itches and I can’t reach the spot.”

“Here, let me help you.”

He comes up behind me and I try to reach the spot again to show him where the itch is on my back.  He touches my back and I tell him either left, right, up, or down.

“There, right there you have it.”

“Are you sure the itch is right here?”

“Yes scratch my back right there.  Ahh, yes right there.  Harder, harder.  Mmmmmm.  That’s good. Over a little to the right, now there yes, mmmmm, harder, yes.  Good.”

“You do know what you sound like right?”

“What do you mean what I sound like?”

“Mmmmm, harder, yes, good…”

“What you reached my itch spot and I….  Oh, you’re right that does sound a bit like when we …  That’s enough my itch is all gone now thanks for your help.”

“Now I have an itch.  Will you scratch it for me?”

“Okay turn around I will scratch your back, it’s only fair since you scratched mine.”

“It’s not my back that itches.”

“Well where do you want me to scratch you if not your back?  Everywhere else you can reach by yourself.”

Jethro takes my hand and puts it where he itches.  I look wide-eyed at him and he says,

“You did said that you would scratch my itch.”

“Yes I did.”

Well much later and all itches scratched we make our way upstairs for a nice hot shower.  I must say that it took much longer to relieve his itch and my poor chair got a rather intensive workout.  The chair arms were lowered, the height was adjusted several times depending upon the severity of the scratching and the back was lowered then raised and lowered again and I did not know that the seat had room for both my bottom and my heels. Next time when I agree to scratch Jethro’s itch I will have to be more specific in defining the location of the itch.