Services & Techniques

Christine Nelson
December 25, 1932 - February 7, 2023

It is with a heavy heart that I attempt to share a few brief thoughts on Grandma Nelson.  For the last 40+ years, she has been a constant in our family.  Two things she valued above all else was her Faith and her family.  Her door was always open to all.  She simply LOVED company.  If she went more then a few hours without it, she would sulk about how lonely she was!  It was very normal at any point in my life to walk into her home, unannounced, and see a guest sitting with her.  Be it tragedy or joy, the coffee pot was always on and she usually had a fresh pan of baked goods to share.

She raised 5 children during a different era.  Being married to a chiropractor, the office was in the basement of the house.  They had one phone line that went to both their home and the office.  All 5 kids would tell you that they had a strict policy on phone time as ‘some one hurting might be trying to get through!’

Not only was Grandma busy with the daily tasks of running a home, she was a big help to Grandpa with all the other things that go into running a small business.  They knew their patients.  She said often times, a patient’s name would come to mind who they had not seen in a while.  She and Grandpa would share a memory or two about them.  More times than not, that person would walk through the doors later that week.  Sometimes of course, other patients became sick.  It was very normal for her and Grandpa to hop in their big Lincoln and go visit them.  A few hours drive was simply no big deal for those two.  Even after her stroke 20+ years after they closed the office, I would mention a name and after a bit of thinking, she would share a story of that person.

She was very proud of her family and especially of Grandpa.  I remember her wanting my cousin Justin to become a chiropractor because they had so much stationary with the same initials!  I remember thinking as a little boy how expensive all that paper must be!  We will save my thoughts on her love to collect and save things for another time…

Grandma was thrilled to hear I wanted to become a chiropractor, but Grandpa wanted me to look into other careers.  While they were both proud of all their grandchildren, I know how much it meant to them for me to follow in his footsteps.  Being in a small community, it was clear they were both respected.  However, Grandma would tell me about the hardships of being a chiropractor too – especially in the era Grandpa practiced.  Grandpa personally met BJ Palmer (the developer of chiropractic) and met chiropractors who went to jail for simply being a chiropractor.  He saw 5 chiropractors defeat the American Medical Association (AMA) in the early 1970’s. Grandpa worked for over 30 years before insurance companies started to cover chiropractic.  When he opened, it was illegal for chiropractors to advertise.  It was Grandma who convinced him to replace his 4’x24’ sign with a much larger lighted sign in the 1960’s.  Starting out on my own, I would have a bad day and call her.  She would listen.  She understood.  And she would share a story about their chiropractic office that really seemed to make my situation not so bad. 

Of course, this is only a sliver of stories and the impact she had on me and my career.  I am fortunate enough to have so many other great stories that had nothing to do with chiropractic.  Perhaps I will share them at another time!