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Permalink Reply by Kevin D on November 22, 2023 at 20:22

Jan,

Jade and I are thankful for being able to meet you and Donnie, get to know you both and count you both as our friends.  We are glad that your doctors seem to have a plan for you and your knees.  Donnie is frequently in our thoughts, and certainly are hoping for things to improve with his change in diet and lifestyle.  We are very grateful for all you have done for us and your willingness to help get me set up and get to forging.

As I am sure most members here would agree, we are all indebted to you for your work with this site and the time you have spent keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes.  It is a commitment that is all to easy to take for granted at times.

Please allow me to personally Thank You for your work here and more personally for your friendship.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Hibar on November 23, 2023 at 2:47

Jan ... best to you and Donnie (and the entire iKC family) this Thanksgiving season.  

PS Jan ... my wife is a retired nephrology nurse.  Her last 10 years or so dealt with patient eduction.  Mostly positive outcomes with patients who adhered to advice.  

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on November 23, 2023 at 18:09

Dennis,

We are taking all Dr info and advice extremely seriously! Thank you

Kevin,

It has been our pleasure to watch you take the next step. A wife that helps put the shop together truly does care about your happiness also, Jade is a good one!

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on November 26, 2023 at 8:01

Jan, I am glad that you and Donnie are taking care of yourselves and each other. Despite not getting on here as often as I used to or want to (due to the fact that I am only able to do so I my my tiny iPhone), I have been praying for you both daily for years and will continue to do so. You and Donnie are great friends. I am happy for you to have your son and his family close by. There is nothing better than getting to spend time with family.

We have had another blessed year as we have had our health and decent jobs. As times are getting tough for everyone, God has taken care of us and kept us safe and healthy. We were able to welcome our 3rd grandchild into our family this year and watch all 3 of them grow. We have been spending time with my dad, since the passing of Mom has been very difficult for him. Our latest addition to the family comes in the way of a Bernese Mountain puppy which has shown us just how old we are. Scout is wearing us out with all of his energy, but we really do like having him here to be a companion for our 7 year old pit/boxer mix, Diesel.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by dead_left_knife_guy on December 9, 2023 at 12:51

This post has been sitting open on a tab for days now, and I'm finding I'm having difficulty writing everything I want to write in fashion that's condensed enough to both get everything I want to convey as well as not being here for days just writing. 

I'll start with telling you, Jan, that I am thankful for you, and iKC, and my fellow iKC community members.  This has really been a nice place to come to discuss knives (or just to get some thoughts out) -- & to be a published photographer to boot!  That is so wonderful.  And this community keeps itself together so well.  On top of all that, there are some really nice people here.  You've done well by us all, Jan!

And of course I hope both you & Donnie can recover, and recover quickly.  I don't know your or Donnie's prognoses, but that being the case, I'm going to be stubborn & say that now that you have your diagnoses, you can get everything treated & be good as new in short order!  That's at least my hope for you, & I like having hope.

Through all the struggles I've had with my profession and with my own health, and the struggles we've had with our younger son's health (hemophilia), I'm grateful my wife has a position that has been stable and provided the best health insurance we've ever had, and as everything stands now, we don't currently have to worry about losing health insurance due to a job loss, or more likely, hitting a cap (hemophilia is extremely expensive to treat). 

And of course I'm grateful that my son's treatments have been working (they don't work for everyone, & may not work forever), and also that my older son does not have hemophilia (in fact, we've got no family history of it).  With the day to day pressures, it's easy to forget how much worse things could be, and have been, and sometimes it's important to remember how much better things are now than they have been in the not so distant past.

Not that I want to leave on such a somber sounding note.  I am also grateful for my family, something that was a nascent hope for me for much of my life, but something I didn't really focus on until I met the woman who would become my wife.  We moved into a small starter home (that we're still in 20 years later), brought two wonderful children into the world, and they're both still with us.  As are our fun little furry kids (a dog, a cat, & a rabbit), aging as they are.  These good relationships can't be bought, but rather have to be cultivated, and make my life much richer than I could have ever planned for or tried to make happen on my own.

So I'll leave it at that -- something I hope anyone reading this will be grateful for...!  :P

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 11, 2023 at 11:06

DLKG,

Thank you for your wishes and of course we pray your family continues the joy of seeing the treatments work. Your last paragraph tickled my brain a little bit. Very early this morning Donnie and I were talking about the shows and travels we were Blessed to attend and the furry members that went with us. Maybe the fact that we let no grass grow under our feet when we were younger has made the transition to staying put in a little cabin so much easier for us thank anyone thought.

I have always said I do not need a million dollars, I want a million memories. May the joy of the season make each and every one of you smile with a light heart and a beautiful memory. 

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 11, 2023 at 11:07

I watch your family grow Jeremy and know that you are where you were supposed to be. We will leave the lights on here at iKC and you make it by when you can ♥

Jeremy B. Buchanan said:

Jan, I am glad that you and Donnie are taking care of yourselves and each other. Despite not getting on here as often as I used to or want to (due to the fact that I am only able to do so I my my tiny iPhone), I have been praying for you both daily for years and will continue to do so. You and Donnie are great friends. I am happy for you to have your son and his family close by. There is nothing better than getting to spend time with family.

We have had another blessed year as we have had our health and decent jobs. As times are getting tough for everyone, God has taken care of us and kept us safe and healthy. We were able to welcome our 3rd grandchild into our family this year and watch all 3 of them grow. We have been spending time with my dad, since the passing of Mom has been very difficult for him. Our latest addition to the family comes in the way of a Bernese Mountain puppy which has shown us just how old we are. Scout is wearing us out with all of his energy, but we really do like having him here to be a companion for our 7 year old pit/boxer mix, Diesel.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on December 11, 2023 at 15:23

Kinda late into this conversation but I've been busy of late.  But I've been thankful and blessed to have time to spend with my granddaughters, this year.

My wife is getting ready to retire after roughly 45 years working insurance. 

We're excited to see what this next phase of our lives brings. 

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