Not the typical assisted living resident, Tom Chadie is only with us while undergoing intensive therapy following a near-fatal car crash 13 months ago.
Daily visits by Janet — his wife of 44 years (pictured with Tom, above) – and many longtime friends help make his grueling therapy regimen a bit more palatable.
An avid reader, Tom is a serious student of history, but also enjoys biographies and crime novels.
A red Sox fan since age 5 — and season ticket-holder since 1986 — Tom recalls going to Fenway Park as a young boy. “I’d ask my mother for 50 cents, then take the Green Line [streetcar] to Fenway – it was a nickel each way,” he said. “And there were no cell phones then, so they couldn’t call and tell me to come home.”
Tom is well-traveled, owing to a career in financial sales that often brought him to Europe.
His most memorable trip was a family sojourn to Lebanon — complements of his two adult children, Jessica and Drew. Together, they visited ancestral hometowns of Tom’s grandparents.
But it was a cheeky, strong-willed bundle of white fur that had a major — and totally unexpected — impact on Tom’s life. “Our biggest fights as a married couple were over a dog,” Janet said. “The kids and I wanted one, but he didn’t.”
When a family friend became ill, Jan agreed to adopt their well-trained, 5-year-old miniature poodle into the Chadies’ North Falmouth household.
Ernie (named after Tom’s dad) immediately bonded with Tom; the two became inseparable.
Once entrenched in their home, the formerly obedient Ernie soon transformed into a rascally – albeit loveable – rebel. “We had a strict set of rules,” Tom said, grinning. “But he’d just ignore them – he ran the household.”
Tom enjoyed 11 ½ years with his beloved pal before losing Ernie to illness. “It was one of the worst days of my life,” Tom recalled.
While there will never be another Ernie, Tom and Janet now look forward to welcoming another canine family member into their home.
In the meantime, while Tom has become a popular member of the Decatur House community, we all join in wishing him a speedy return home.
