Saturday, September 11, 2010

911 - Let Us Never Forget

In the weeks after the tragedy of 911 I created a 911 Memorial Screen Saver. It should run on any version of Windows from 2000 through W7. As it did then, my heart goes out to those brave and heroic souls who gave their lives, and their families!

Let us never forget!

Download 911 Memorial Screen Saver

Visit the 911 Digital Archive

Picture Of The Day 09/10/10

Me and my Mustang

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Reflections on Turning 54

So, yesterday was my birthday and I turned 54. Yesterday morning I did not really think this was noteworthy to post about. Those who I matter to sent me birthday greetings, etc. and to those I send my sincere thanks! But it turned out there was something that did make the day memorable for me after all and worthy of posting about!

I took the day off from work and was having a quiet but enjoyable day playing video games, watching TV, etc. I took a trip out to Costco with my oldest boy Chris who had lost his job, and I bought him a few weeks staple food to get him through the end of the month when his term is over and he comes home from college. I thought it ironic that I be buying for others on my birthday in fact! Chris came back to my house with me and played some video games and we were soon joined by Mike, a friend of the family.

We had plans to get out to dinner together that evening with my ex-wife, but all in all I figured it would be a quiet, uneventful birthday with nothing to distinguish it from any others I have had in the past. How wrong I was!

My 15 year old daughter Danielle came home from school around four in terrible shape! She had a fever of 103 degrees, a bad pain in her left side, and was throwing up, plus she was so upset that she felt she would be spoiling my birthday! She was in tears! It turns out she felt sick that morning and went off to school without waking me up or saying anything for the same reason! While a small part of me was annoyed that she did not say anything, and thus put herself through such an ordeal going to school, the rest of me was touched that she would do such a thing for me. Of course I would have preferred she stayed home from school yesterday so we could have gotten in touch with the doctor sooner and saved her such an ordeal, but this was certainly an expression of love for her father that made me feel very loved.

Another thing that impressed me was out of all three of my kids, she was the only one who gave me a card, and one she drew herself in fact while feeling so sick. I will treasure that card!

So, in more ways than one she really made this a birthday I will not soon forget! Hopefully she'll be fully recovered for her 16th birthday next week!

My ex also added to this day by running out and bringing in dinner for us all,, which I thought was very sweet of her though I felt bad that Danielle could not eat, as the doctor has her on fluids only until they determine what is causing her fever and pain. Plus, she had no desire for food the way she was feeling.