For the past eleven years our personal trainer, Dan Kritsonis, has come to our house for workouts three times a week—something that has kept a pair of seventy- and eighty-something old codgers as limber as possible. Mary, our aging long-haired miniature dachshund has been on tap for the last seven year of those workout sessions. She doesn’t do any exercises, but she levels that unblinking Doxie stare at him, knowing that eventually treats will emerge from his pocket.

Some of you may remember that I wrote about Dan before, and one of my blog readers even hired him to be her trainer. But here’s the gist of that story. Some nine years ago, when Bill and I returned home after a session of snow-birding and remote FaceTime workouts, he showed up on our doorstep for his next in-home visit with a diaper bag, infant carrier, and infant in hand. If that sounds familiar, you may be recalling a scene much like that in one of my books—Sins of the Fathers to be exact. As those old radio announcers used to say, “the names have been changed to protect the innocent.’

In the book, the guy with the baby and diaper bag in hand turns out to be Alan Dale, a long ago acquaintance of J.P. Beaumont’s. As for the baby? That fictional Athena turned out to be Beau’s granddaughter from Naomi, a daughter he never knew he had and someone who was the result from a one-night stand back in book number four when Beau was still drinking and living a wild and crazy bachelor existence in downtown Seattle.

In real life, Dan was the seventy-one year-old hero who brought his new-born, drug-addicted granddaughter home from the hospital, after rocking her through withdrawal. By some strange coincidence, she, too, happens to be named Athena. Dan cared for her ON HIS OWN for the next nine months!!!! until a loving, adoptive family stepped forward.

The real life Athena is now a bright-eyed, beautiful, and talented grade-schooler whole lives in Eastern Washington, but the bond that came from those first few months is still as strong as ever. Athena calls her grandpa every day! She teases him. She gives him cooking instructions. She shows him her artwork. Unsurprisingly, he misses her dreadfully.

So at age eighty, Dan is heeding Athena’s siren call. He’s retiring and moving to Eastern Washington to be closer to her. We’ll miss him. Mary will most certainly miss him, but it’s time for Dan to look out for Dan. Being where his heart is is the right thing to so.

By the way, Athena has informed him that once his good are unloaded, she’ll help him arrange his new apartment because to hear her tell it, she’s very good at organizing.