February 26th, 2015
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Happy Thursday. Yep, it's that day again.
There is snow falling on the ground here. And while some of you may be thinking of snowmen and snow angels, to me it looks to me like falling ash.
The reason ? I am reminded of when my Dad was launched into space. No, he wasn't part of the regular space crew, it was his ashes which were shot into space on May 22nd of 2012.
Both him and James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) wanted to have this done to their cremated ashes. To have them launched into space.
Honestly, I don't remember my Dad ever mentioning this, however I =DO= know that my Dad helped launch SAM the monkey for first space flight years ago.
My Dad was actually responsible for a number of things. He was the founder for a magazine flyer called, "Singles Scene," he founded the G.U.T.S. system, and did behavioral studies of monkeys at General Dynamics (now today called Lockheed).
He's also responsible for my monster Popeye legs, which I still have today (that's Pumpkin my cat in the photo). I know when I was in P.E. back in High School. There was a part of exercise where I was supposed to lay on my belly and the person behind would hold onto my ankles.
From that position I was to flex my legs up as they pressed against them. I curled my legs and looked behind me to see - the guy that was supposed to be there wasn't !
I looked forward and found him there. I asked what happened ? He said you FLIPPED me over your head you freak !
I smiled, I had no idea I could do something like that.
I remember bench-pressing 375 lbs with my legs when Chris invited me to his gym, yet my arms - not quite so strong. Could only do an 85 pound lift, which I'm understanding is pretty bad.
And there's a reason for my crazy legs. Dad and me would walk and walk and WALK. We walked just about anywhere we needed to.
I know for years and years I would walk with him early in the morning. We would walk to the library, to the tennis court, to the golf course, to the circle =AND= back ! I think it was 2-miles distances so it was 4-miles every day.
Dad used to carry a walking staff too, but he hardly ever used it. So I would carry it. And walking with Dad for years and listening to his sage advice, I learned to twirl pretty good. Now I can twirl expertly his staff, a broom, a mop, really just about anything long as I can find the center of balance for it.
And then we would head back and separate sections of the newspaper so we could read. He would read the front page, I would read the comics, and occasionally the humor went over my head so Dad had to explain it to me.
Then we would both head into the computer room and he would on his code, and I would work on mine. And - in truth - it was the birthplace of Scenario 2, the RPG Maker I completed some years back.
And to be completely honest, Dad helped a good portion of this. I was telling him everything I wanted to do in it, and he gave me that 'look' which I was so familiar with. And then asked quietly, and what do the people who are going to be using your program - what do =THEY= want ?
I puzzled my lip with my fingers for a bit - and finally admitted, I don't know.
He said, well then, why don't you ask them ? So - I did, and IMHO Scenario 2 is as powerful and good today - because I took my Dad's advice, and asked the people, the Worldbuilders as I call them, what they wanted to have and see in Scenario 2.
There's a lot I need to give credit to my Dad for. I know I was having trouble learning the alphabet years ago, and he made it a bit of a game. By drawing around the letters and telling me A was for Ant, B was for Bee, and C was for Cat.
He would doodle around the spokes of the letters and make them appear as animals and other creatures. And while he made up a few of them, like a Z for a Zipzip Bug, it did help me laugh and learn the alphabet.
I had these set of pajamas that looked a little like a tiger, complete with a hood that went around the ears to give me tiger ears. And - Dad called me Tiger, long after I outgrew the pajamas.
Dad hung up a St. Andrew's cross in my room too as I was called Andrew - a name to which I bristle a little today cause usually it means I'm in trouble or something.
Every night we would say the Lord's Prayer while I was in bed and ready to sleep. At the time I really didn't know what it was, but Dad always gave me that look and - well, whatever he was teaching at the time, I would learn anyways.
And we would alternate stanzas since I told Dad I couldn't remember the whole thing.
Dad: Hail Mary
Me: Full of grace.
Dad: The Lord is with thee.
Me: Blessed art thou amongst women,
Dad: And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Me: Holy Mary
Dad: Mother of God,
Me: pray for us sinners,
Dad: now and at the hour of our death.
Me: Amen.
Being a bit of an agnostic today (or as some research may indicate, "I am a Theist" even today I puzzle a bit on those words we prayed every night.
Dad taught me to play chess too and there was actually a photo taken for Star Telegram where me and my sister were playing chess. I think on it today, the article was about a single parent, A Father, raising 2-kids, not really about chess as I thought earlier.
Today though, with Dad's guidance, I learned to play one mean and serious game of chess. The piece I prize the most ? No, it's not the Queen, It's the Knight ! Think about it. The knight moves in such a strange format compared to all other pieces, and it can leap over any obstacle your opponent sets forth.
And - to be completely fair, sometimes Dad would punish me for doing wrong. But I will tell you now, IMHO a child will learn NOTHING if you just yell at them. They'll just learn to yell right back at you. I am all for corporal punishment - and my Dad did deliver it, with a belt.
And in truth, I'm glad for it. There were some very bad habits I picked up from school and he spanked them right out of me. Don't ever think a spanking or time out is too much for raising your kid. Tried and true methods often are the best.
And well, that's about it for Dad. He did many other wonderful and amazing things - especially raising me and my sister all by himself. Yes, I had (still have ?) a Mother, but we don't connect on a lot of things, reality, being one of them.
So while I write her Online still, it seems unlikely we will ever meet again, or really - ever meet on anything we talk about, and that's fine. I'm no longer a teenager and am expected to raise myself now.
And while I am ever vigilant on the lookout for someone who wants to be my parent or guardian, the psychologist I see every week corrects me on this. He says, David, you WANT parents, but you really don't need them, not now.
I still feel differently about this however, and miss Dad terribly, especially when it snows ...
If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work
do you think you could do that would make you rich ?
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