PHOTO SUBMITTED Mary Jane McNabb stands in front of a gas station at the corner of Douglas Ave. and Broadway during the late 1940s or 1950s. It appears to be a Sinclair station and behind it, an International dealership. There are some stone houses in the background. Years earlier at the same location were the Leonard Davis store, a Diary Cream, and sawmill.

Two deer appeared as bright as the moon when I drove home from our hometown, and slowing my car to a stop on the highway the pair suddenly plunged into the cool darkness disappearing.

We left off last week traveling back in time on Douglas Avenue. You probably think I've broken down and can't get moving. There are still many folks to chat with but little time. Here is the rest of the story on Omega Jackson. During all the work years she maintained a keen interest in music. Her skills began in Massachusetts where a neighbor taught her. It was there during a misty Sunday Dec. 7, 1941 that her parents heard on radio the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. She remembers her Dad packing his bag that night to prepare to return to military duty. Years later in Newport, Mrs. Bauman gave her lessons. By age 20, Omega was teaching piano and continued ever since She loves Gospel music and old southern songs. For a while she played organ at the church, and since the 1960s has been pianist, when the pastor was Alton Towe. If you like music, you can hear her and others during the weekly mini concert at West End Baptist from 10:30 to 11 a.m. The musicians include Cheryl Presnell on piano, Charlie Owenby on guitar, Jerry Thomas on drums, and Lynn and Brian Owenby-one of her former students. Two other students, Rusti Rice and Michelle Reece Johnson went on to be piano teachers. On quiet afternoons every weekday except Friday if you pass by, you may hear the piano as she teaches another pupil.

Because Omega recalls the WW II times at Douglas Ave., I asked her about the neighbors. If you started from Broadway then and traveled to the end, where Gingham begins you passed these homes: Ernest Gorman, S.A. Lee, Arthur and Ruth Cureton (later owned by Bill Holt), Clay & Essie Laws (this house was razed.), Drew and Patsy Douglas, an empty lot, and the Jackson home. On Gingham were the Bob Lawrence, Lloyd and Mamie Foster, Lewis Ownby, Cephus Cody, Banks family, Wilsons, and Abe Henry in the old stone house at the end of Gingham; at the corner of Douglas and Gingham, Leonard Davis. And along Northside, the McNabbs, Lee Buckner, and Sibel France lived. John Wells lived at what is now the Barnes home. Raymond and Hazel Thornton lived in the stonehouse at Kirk and Douglas in the 1940s. Other family names and neighbors included Jones, McSween, Martin, Shoemaker, Helton, Woods, Paul Cody, Frank Duncan, Gilbert. We may return later to this quiet neighborhood.

You recall last week, I mentioned that Tamara Carver-Krawczyk, a physical therapist and athletic trainer, has opened her own business. Benchmark Rehabilitation Partners is not new to the south but the first such physical therapy center in our area opened about mid July in the center near Goody's. The first person that I met there was Jessica Rich, who is new to Cocke County. She and her husband, James Rich, moved here from Bradenton, Florida, about two months ago. She fits right in with her background managing a health care billing dept. The reason she ended up in the mountains is that her parents vacationed in the Smokies and bought a house on Cosby in 2007. They are Terry and Julie Hernandez. As you know, most Floridians now live in the Smoky mountains. Jessica got to Florida from her native home, Sonoma, California. James Rich is in construction and hopes to build custom sheds. They have two children: Tyler, 11, and Emily 2.

John Krawczyk, whose name is stranger than mine, walked in Monday afternoon at the center and we chatted about the importance of investing in funeral home businesses. It all started with my quips on Baby Boomers needing physical therapy, and he said soon they would need to be buried. That's a chilling thought. The day brightened considerably when his wife, Tamara, walked in. My first professional run-in with her was at Premier Therapy, owned by Leann Gregg. Tamara has been the athletic trainer for Cosby High School and confided that the football players are in good condition, well, except for one player. That's secret sports stuff, though.

This is Tamara's first business. Yet, she did work for her parents when they operated Big Pigeon Rafting, later selling the company. Benchmark has about 70 centers, the Newport one is number 68. As clinic director, she is a partner in the company. Not bad for a 36 year old who has had her share of challenges, and at least one very bad day, not related to a tangled hair day. You know her parents, Carl Jay Carver, Jr. and Bettye Carver, who is administrative secretary to Mayor Iliff McMahan. I think Jay is semi-retired after getting out of the hog business long ago and parking is Navy warplane. Son Jayson's, wife, Danna, is also a physical therapist and they live in Washington State. Jayson teaches and takes care of the children, but is a professional graphic designer. I've worked at the Plain Talk long enough to have known both Carl Carver Sr. and Kyle Carver. I did not know that Carl suffered from diabetes. That may explain why Tamara was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just 24 and has really had to change her life to deal with it for the good. She was born in Hawaii when Jay was a Navy pilot but left when Tamara was about a year old. Carl (Jayson) Carver III was a little older. When Tamara and John got married several years ago, she returned to her birth state for the honeymoon. They visited the house where she lived and the hospital she was born in. John and Tamara have two children: Kale, 4, and Avalee, 2. Because many people like me struggle with pronouncing John's name he is called, "John John." A heavy equipment operator, he runs his own company and was responsible for placing the water line at Del Rio.

She is a 1991 graduate of Cosby and graduated from Tusculum College where she got a Master's Degree in education. I guess her interest in sports helped her pursue studies in physical therapy. She is studying for her doctor's degree in P.T. About six years ago she got her start at Baptist Hospital.

Before she got involved in fixing my bad back and your pain in the neck, she did some Pigeon River rafting as a guide. I don't think it was well known that she almost died on the river. It was 1998, a hot July weekend, and Tamara was training a big strong fellow who already knew everything. Then the raft overturned at the "Lost Guide" class four sink hole. It's like an underwater washing machine in power cycle. The water is extremely cold and swift and she spent about two minutes 22 seconds underwater. Brad Davis gets credit for pulling her out and possibly saving her life. She was a paler shade of blue, not breathing but had a pulse. There was not one bruise on her and clinched teeth may have been a reflex that kept her from swallowing water and drowning. Even after the harrowing experience, she continued rafting on the river. "I'm a glutton for punishment," he said.

But, as she said, if you want to beat aches and pains, as you get older, you must remain active. She advises at least 30 minutes of walking, running, biking combined with weight training. Her focus is on wellness and she hopes to develop programs for those beset by such things as osteoporosis. And why is a typical patient visiting the clinic? "I have a run on ankles," she said, no pun intended. But many people like me suffer from what she says is SI, sacroiliac joint problems. Newport Benchmarks is adding more equipment and is open Monday through Friday from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You will hear more about Tamara and her business soon with the chamber helping for a grand opening.

In plain talk, just when you thought the ache was unbearable along comes another pair of healing hands to ease your muscles and bones.