by Jack Wikle, 10-20-25, Photos of Jack by Deb Birch
Now 93 years old, I am offering this October 2025 update for the benefit of anyone who may be wondering about my present circumstances.
After the passing of my wife Jeannine in late October 2023, I sold our longtime Tecumseh, Michigan home. This was where we lived together 56 years while our children were growing up before going on to marriages and raising children of their own.
Our daughter, Lynne and her husband John Warner have lived, since their marriage, in Midland, Michigan, where they were both employed as chemical engineers by the Dow Chemical Company.
To be closer to Lynne, and have her help available in meeting the challenges that increase with aging, I moved in mid-July last year, into Washington Woods which is a City of Midland owned and managed “Senior Living” apartment complex very close to Lynne and John’s home.
My one-bedroom apartment here is small but adequate for my needs. And, I’ve managed to find space for a bench (with a 4 foot “grow tube” mounted above it) beneath my bedroom window, where I’m growing 15 to 20 very small trees in bonsai pots. Then, too, I have a small balcony where I’m maintaining 5 to 10 “outdoor” bonsai. Some local bonsai friends, who have an old fashioned “root cellar,” will be wintering outdoor trees for me.
Of course, none of my body parts and processes work as well as they used to, but I feel fortunate to be unusually healthy for someone my age. And, I try my best to stay healthy by exercising daily, eating healthy food, and getting adequate sleep.
Most weeks, I am also meeting at least one afternoon with a small study group of local bonsai enthusiasts. Some of these are people I’ve known for years having done presentations for the area bonsai society before diminishing participation forced it to disband.
If there are readers of this report who pass through the Midland area in their travels and have time to stop. I am open to visits. Just send me a note.
Email: wiklejack@gmail.com