A Simple Decent Place to Live

Funny how old memories will overwhelm you and flood you with emotions that you thought were well under control.

Such a feeling caught me by surprise this past week. (Most inconvenient to be all teary eyed eating an Apple Pie). Let me explain.

When you lose a loved one, I suppose there are a number of anniversary dates that catch you reminiscing. It might be their birthday, the holidays, or the date of their passing. For me, it's Father's Day. But this past week there was more than that.

I was on a motorcycle trip. Some of my best memories of my dad were of he and I headed somewhere on a motorcycle trip. Even when we were not riding together, I would call from some distant point I had ridden to and tell him about my day. When he died of cancer I was not sure I would love motorcycling any longer. It really took a 4 week ride to finally get it in my head that, yes, I do love riding. And while I still wish I could ride into the far reaches of America and still call to tell him about it, the love of adventure is the legacy he left me.

The last long vacation Dad and I took together was to Laughlin, NV for a motorcycle rally. I remember on the way back we both stayed at the Reno Hilton as a layover. I found a cheap online price to stay in a room, he was towing a travel trailer and stayed in the parking lot. This past Tuesday night found me in the exact same hotel with memories of that time hitting me like a hurricane. Did they hit me alone in my room with my private thoughts, did I get to hide my "sweaty eyes" inside my helmet while riding, of course not, I'm sitting in the middle of a busy restaurant dripping on my Apple Pie. Damn!

Another lasting legacy Dad left me is the value of hard work, and the importance of helping others needing a hand up. Even with little resources, you do what you can to take care of your family. Here he is building a simple decent home for our family. I am not sure we used the word, "sweat equity" but the concept was the same, you can do a lot yourself to reduce the final costs to a house.

I know he would love to hear of my going to Hungary to help another hard working father build a better life for his family. One such father is Sandor Novak. Sandor works as a baker in the town of Hajdúböszörmény, Hungary.  He is also busy putting in his own hours of "sweat equity"  to build a house for his wife and three children.

Father to father, I am excited that I am getting the opportunity to go and work with Sandor and two other families this August.

This Father's Day will you help this family, and others who are working hard to provide their own families a simple decent place to live?  Please go to this link, Global Village Hungary, and make as large a donation as you can.  All us fathers thank you.

Ultrasound pictures

I know, sonogram pictures are kinda...well, weird.  They look a bit ghostly and even after the technician points out certain things, you still just go "uh huh....sure...".  Be that as it may, I am pleased to post the newest pictures of our newest grandbaby:  (I tried making a slight border around the relevent parts - I'm not sure if it makes it easier or not...)

Baby was practicing swallowing when this one was taken

One of those long skinny feetThis one is really funny - we're looking up the baby's nose!

So there you go - Christa is 26 1/2 weeks along as of today.  About 13 weeks until "D" day.  :-)

The baby is a.....!!

Ack!  I can't tell you!!!  Christa had her ultrasound this morning, but she and Gene are hanging tough about not knowing the sex of the baby until s/he is born.  (How archaic!!)  But Christa did tell the technician that she could tell me.  So when the sonogram was over, Christa and Gene left the room and I learned the flavor of our newest grandchild.  :-D  :-D  :-D

Man....this is going to be a really long 14 weeks!!

We did get to see that this baby has *really long legs* and *long, skinny feet* though....can't imagine where s/he would get THAT from!  The technician was quick to point out that it didn't necessarily mean the baby will grow up to be really tall, but she said that those legs are sure l-o-n-g. Christa took the pictures to show her friends at work, but I'll get them from her as soon as I can and post some here.

 Everything looks great - we saw the heart beating, a full little baby bladder, has a brain, all fingers and toes and various parts are there and look good!  So now baby just needs to concentrate on growing - oh, right now baby is 1 lb, 13 ozs.  Can't wait to meet you face to face little one!!

Almost 25 weeks

Yup, our newest grandbaby is almost 25 weeks old!  And s/he is definitely growing - Christa will soon be into the third trimester (all moms out there know what I mean when I say "No, you're not huge!  Just wait!")

She doesn't like the second picture, but I think it's cute so I'm posting it anyway.  It's my website so I get to do what I want.  :-)

This coming Monday is her second ultrasound so hopefully we'll have new pictures of the "sea monkey' to post that evening!

Susan Boyle?

For probably the only other person in the world who *hasn't* heard of or seen Susan Boyle sing - she's the latest "Britain's Got Talent" popular star.  (Although she didn't actually win the competition).  I'd heard her name, seen it in headlines on Yahoo that I didn't bother to click on, but I didn't really know who she was.  All I knew was that her name seemed to be everywhere and that there was a 'must see' video on YouTube that was going 'viral' as they say. 

But I'm stubborn.  The quickest way to get me NOT to watch something is to tell me that "everyone is watching it!!"  It seems that my taste and the taste of the world at large do not generally mesh.  So I usually am glad that I'm pretty ignorant of the latest cultural icon.

Except...for some reason I clicked through on one of those Susan Boyle headlines this morning.  I googled the YouTube video of her original performance on the show and finally watched it.  And I'm having a hard time finding the words to express how that video affected me.

Click here to watch the video

I cried as I watched the judges and audience members (who had been rolling their eyes at her because of her appearance, age and almost child-like enthusiasm) stand and cheer for her.  When she opened her mouth to sing and they heard her beautiful voice, they were shocked.  You could see it on their faces.  Eyebrows shot up, hands covered mouths in surprise, the whole deal.  It just really got to me as people were finally looking past how she looked and giving her a chance to show what she could do.  (And wow, can she do!)

The life lesson here is obvious.  Don't judge a book by its cover, it's what's inside that counts, beauty is only skin deep, all those little platitudes that everyone has heard.  But all too often the reality is that we DO judge - others as well as ourselves. 

What a shame - we've probably all missed knowing someone or hearing some beautiful music because of those preconceived ideas.