CHRIS

This is one of those stories that just defies explanation....
Back in '88, I decided to quit drinking and partying of all sorts~things were becoming a mess, so I decided it might be time.

I'd been at it a little over a month, when I woke out of a sound sleep with my heart pounding, gasping for breath...it was about half-past midnight, and I decided to walk to St.Joes, and visit the ER, about five blocks away.

When I got there, the head ER nurse put me in a cubicle, and told me the doctor would be in shortly; it was a Tuesday night,and they weren't very busy. Sure enough, I'd barely gotten my shirt off and sat back on the gurney, when in walked a huge man, about the size and general build of Merlin Olsen, the football player turned actor. His hair, beard and mustashe were brown, with twinkling green eyes, a big, friendly teddy bear.

His name tag simply said "CHRIS". Over the years, I'd gotten to know most of the ER staff, but I'd never seen Chris before.

As he examined me, he spoke, "You're trying to get off drugs, right, Alan?" I answered yes, not sure how he knew. Then, he explained to me that what I was experiencing was not a heart attack, but a simple anxiety attack, brought on by my body's dealing with the lack of drugs in my system.

He said that I was in no danger, that my heart rate and respiration would return to normal; indeed, I could feel it happening as he talked.

Chris said to me, "If you want, I could let you spend the night upstairs, under observation", Thanks, no", I said, "I'm okay now....I'm just gonna go home to bed."

He wished me goodnight, good luck, and left the cubicle. I put my shirt on, and walked out, ready to head home.

"Alan", said Kay, the head nurse, "where are you going?" "I'm going home", I replied, "the doctor said I'm okay, and I feel okay."

"The doctor hasn't been in yet, Alan", said Kay, "he's still up on the floors."
I'd said earlier that I didn't recognize Chris; when I described him to Kay and the other ER staff, neither did they.

THE SLATTERY HOUSE

Dan Brady just published an entry in his blog about this house, and its original owner, Mr. Seher, who owned a brewery in Lorain.

Me, I always knew the place as the Slattery House.

You can't see it in this picture, but there used to be a sign on the railing on the front of the house, which said, "SLATTERY MOTION PICTURES".

When I was a kid, I used to wonder just who was making movies in Lorain, and how I could get involved in it. Looking in the phone book turned up no listing for a film studio, so it remained a pleasant mystery. Any number of times, I started to go up and knock or ring the bell, but my nerve always failed me.

Finally, in the summer of '88, I had the chance to do just that- I was working for R.L. Polk, the people who put out the City Directory every year, and the Slattery house was in my assigned territory. With a skip in my step, I scampered up the walk, up the front stairs, and rang the bell.

A young woman answered....no, she said, she was not a Slattery, nor did she know them-she lived there with her husband and two children. She said that she DID know that the "motion pictures" part came from the fact that the Slatterys had made industrial films for years, so the realtor had told her.

I thanked her for her time, and vowed to return some time, and ask for a look around-which I never did. According to Google, the house is still there, on the north side of Ninth Street, just past Reid, heading west.

Looking at the photo Dan took recently ( which I nicked for my blog-thanks again, Dan!)

I wonder the same thing I'd wondered countless times as I walked or rode past the Slattery place....

HOW MUCH DID IT COST TO HEAT?