PORT TOWNSEND — Once there were two married doctors of chiropractic who hoped to start a new life in the West: open a clinic, take care of people, raise their family.
Kalispell, Mont., was one place Drs. Janel and Jim Carlson considered.
“But the bank wouldn’t fund the business plan,” Janel recalled.
The couple, with daughters Sara, 10 months, and Melissa, 2, came to Port Townsend. The initial response from the bank there was “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
Janel wasn’t expecting to hear back. But then she did.
“You’re the type of young people we want in our town,” the banker told her.
This was 50 years ago, and Janel well remembers that she wept at the news that she and Jim had the bank’s backing. They bought Dr. George Tietsort’s practice on Lawrence Street and moved into the apartment upstairs. In August 1971, “we didn’t even have a car,” Janel added.
This month she and her daughter, Dr. Melissa Carlson-Michaels, are celebrating a half-century of chiropractic — and intergenerational — care.
“It’s a privilege to still be serving people my parents served. And we’re getting grandkids of some of the originals,” said Melissa.
Mother and daughter, ages 74 and 52, are both in a profession where they witness the human body’s capacity to heal itself. They’re guided by the principle that there is no separation between mind and body, and that back pain can affect many other aspects of life.
The joy of this practice, Janel said, comes when, after chiropractic adjustments, a patient tells her: “I just feel lighter.”
“I love getting to the cause of things,” Melissa added.
With relief from back pain, people sleep better and have more energy, she said; it’s only natural.
Janel graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, in 1970; Melissa studied at the Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in Spartanburg, S.C., to graduate with her doctorate in 2002.
“I am home — both in my community and in my life’s purpose,” she writes on the Carlson Chiropractic website.
Before becoming a chiropractor, Melissa adds, she taught health, nutrition and child development to middle and high school students.
“I realized that today’s children have many health and wellness challenges that I could not reach as a teacher,” she writes.
“It was this strong desire to do more for children and their families that took me back to my roots,” as the daughter, great-granddaughter and niece of chiropractors.
Over the years, both Melissa and Janel have volunteered in various capacities, including the Grant Street Elementary PTA and the Port Townsend School Board.
“Board work was kind of my hobby,” Janel said, adding she considers herself beyond fortunate to live and work in Port Townsend.
She and Jim are no longer married, and he’s moved away while Janel, who retired from full-time practice in 2010, continues to see a few patients from time to time. She also helps Melissa with clinic paperwork.
“It is very sweet to have relationships with patients. What a gift,” Janel said.
Last year, as the pandemic set in, many elderly people were isolating at home, Melissa added, but they did come in to see her. She has felt immensely privileged to provide hands-on care.
At the same time, Melissa has come to know whole families, and delights in seeing their children learning healthy habits.
Her message to anybody struggling with pain: You don’t have to wait until you’re completely miserable to come in for care.
“Your body’s the only car you’re going to be able to drive,” so it makes sense to keep it in good shape, she quipped.
Both Melissa and Janel want to keep doing what they’re doing: Connecting with people.
“I love life where it’s at,” Janel said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.