My earliest memories are of Chiropractic. My father was a Chiropractor well before I was born: He went to school at National in Chicago and later practiced in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, then Scottsdale, Arizona, Thomasville, Pennsylvania, St. Simmons Island, Gerogia and finally Venice, Florida.
I remember the PA years the most. Dad was a great Chiropractor from as early as I can remember, but this is where I 
remember him the best. He used words like subluxation and Innate on a daily bases. I remember emptying out the payment boxes on the wall and putting the money into large trash bags. Later at home, as the youngest, I was allowed to take the money out of the bag and pass it down to the next kid to un-wrinkle it. Then the next would stack them separately, 1’s, 5’s, 10’s…, finally Chriss, the oldest, would bind them in stacks and put them in a shoebox.
One year, I think it was around 1975, Dad got a brand new Mercedes Benz by taking a bunch of shoeboxes full of money to the dealership, all the while dressed in cut off shorts and this worn out old sweatshirt he ALWAYS wore, and dumped it all on the seat and said, “I’ll take that one.” Dad was so proud bringing that car home, and I was just as proud when I got to ride in it for the first time.
Behind all of this success was Chiropractic. Dad taught, and I listened. He demonstrated, and I watched.
Most people, when they met my father, liked him right away. He had a big smile that took over his whole face. He would look a person in the eyes. When they talked, he listened to what they said and also heard what they meant. Chiropractic, he taught me, was helping someone understand they had a need, showing them you had what they needed and ending up with what was yours now being theirs. Everyday.
I am a good Chiropractor. My father was GREAT. He would have a single person come into the office to get care and before they left, their entire family would be at the office getting adjusted. He never refused anyone care and would never turn anyone away, unless they did not follow his care plan.
He stopped being great, though. I don’t know when — I don’t recall the day or time, but one day he stopped being great and became something different, he became INCREDIBLE, he became a warrior and he was no longer just a Chiropractor, but he was on a Mission to make Chiropractic his LIFE.
The thing about Chiropractic is… you need to go DO it; you need to show up and adjust.
It doesn’t happen from the couch. It doesn’t happen when you sleep all day long. Patients need to hear the Chiropractic story and they need to be adjusted, or they go away.
So, my father changed directions — sort of. He started down the road to be a Mentor, Speaker and a Coach. That road took him to the point when he was about the age I am now, he became, “Sigafoose The Great.” He would explain that it was still Chiropractic. Different product. You still need to help the person understand that they have a need, that you have what it takes to fulfill that need, and work towards what is yours becoming what is theirs. Still Chiropractic, but the story now gets told again and again, but by others who live, love and serve the same way he did.
His calling took him to almost every continent and to countless countries and in all those places there was one thing, Chiropractic. Sometimes I would go and listen to him speak. That same smile in the office was now behind the podium. I recognized the focused stories he told to the audience. The attention to their needs and the patience he showed to the people who did not understand what he was saying as of yet and the creativity he showed when they did not agree with him. His people loved him. He was AMAZING.
A Chiropractor, a truly good Chiropractor, needs to tell one crucial person everyday the Chiropractic story. They need to tell themselves and to tell others — they need to believe deeply in what they are saying.
My father was beyond good; he was beyond excellent. He believed.
I will grieve ~ I will forever grieve~ over my father’s death. In the same thought I can’t understand it and I’m not sure I ever will. I have not cried yet, I do not know if I ever will. I will mourn the loss of Dr. Sigafoose, but I will also forever miss the man I called Dad. I think I do not cry, because I will not let him be UNREMEMBERED. He is with me; NO, he is with US every day. He is with me in my smile, when I laugh, when I walk, talk and most of all he is with me every time I tell someone who I am and what I do. I AM A CHIROPRACTOR. I did not know the man that was dying, for that was only a shell, I knew the SPIRIT that was in him and that will go on forever.
Maybe — That’s what’s left after death: What we did for others.
There is no warranty, no sure hand to make things better. No do-over. That is what I will take away from
my fathers passing. Go big or go home. This is the time you have, make something of it, God, the creator, put you here for a reason now go find that reason and DO IT.
Why write about this now? Because I finally can. I have helped people identify their needs and met it with what I have to offer. I made what is mine theirs. But I’ve done it in my personal life, too. I’ve sold the smile when I felt the sorrow. Part of that is just life. Being an adult. Being responsible. Part of it is being unwilling to go deeper and face what’s really there. It’s not the easy way, but that won’t get me where I want to be. I need to lose the inner things weighing me down, the hidden reality of my visible struggle. I need to put in place ALL the amazing things my father taught.
I don’t want to sell myself on untrue beliefs. I don’t want what was his to become mine, because I don’t need to want it, it is a part of me, my father made sure of that. I’m learning to understand my own needs and finding out where I belong.
So, here I sit, 47 years later and now I understand. Wondering what I learned? Every talk, every seminar, every day away from his family was all for one thing.
He was showing us and you, how to not only be the BEST Chiropractor, but how to be the best man, father, friend and person. I never saw it growing up; I guess I was not looking. I just saw a man who would either be adjusting people or on a stage educating people. I never saw the drive and the dedication of a man who would stop at nothing to get people to understand: understand chiropractic, and understand themselves. And to not just understand, but to know what to do with the knowledge he was sharing.
So are you wondering what was it like, growing up “Sigafoose”?
It was, exciting, amazing, fun, at times scary, sometimes difficult, but most of all, it was an HONOR. Because in the end and through a lot of hard work and tears, I realized that the man who I thought was just my father, who could be loving, but stern, was teaching us how to be better than he was. It was always there; on stage and at home. He was preparing us to be the men and women he knew we all could always be. I understand that now dad. Thank you, thank you for helping me become me. Your job here is done, but your lessons will go on forever in every man, woman and child you touched.
Chiropractically Yours,
Dr. Carey Neal Pabouet-Sigafoose
