Yesterday would’ve been my father’s 57th birthday, were he still alive. He passed away a little over 14 years ago. I still think about him frequently.
Things about my Dad at 33, to the best of my memory. The year was 1978. He had two boys, aged nine and five, recently celebrated his 11th wedding anniversary, his wife was a hairdresser, and was rapidly approaching getting her RN. He still had the green Chevy duster, but the corvette stingray was swapped out for a cream-colored Mercedes four door. He still rode his motorcycle a lot with both of his boys. They swapped off every time he went out to pick up a gallon of milk or pipe tobacco at the store. He’d actually shuttle the kids home one at a time from school that way, too. He started really enjoying hunting and fishing, I think because it got him closer to nature, and it fed his family for a lot less than going the grocery store. (He fished or hunted at least every other weekend) I think that year we ate more meat and fish through his gun and hooks than the grocery store. We had a roomy three bedroom, two bath home. I’m pretty proud of him for that. The kids joined him on his trips about half the time… always fishing, but only sometimes hunting. I remember him liking the Deer Hunter that year, (I much preferred the Superman movie that year… still do, honestly.) He was really interested in reruns of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and Wild Kingdom. He’d finally weaned himself from cigs, but was smoking cherry tobacco in a pipe. We still lived next door to Sally and Bill. The family had a small, but very close-knit group of friends. It was his last year in Virginia; we all wintered in his father in law’s trailer on Marathon Key, Florida. Those were good times. He was in excellent shape from a lot of physical activity, and had Medium-short hair, no moustache or beard. He was an engineer, and did some construction on the side. He had 9 years left to live. He was very blessed.
Thinking about me at 33, as far as I know. The Year is 2002. I’ve got Newt at three years old. I’ve been in a relationship for over two years now, and love her with the full depths of my heart. I’m living in a large efficiency apartment, a smaller place than before, but I have the benefit of living right next door to my little brother, which is a huge bonus. I commute by train, bus, cab and bicycle… there’s no place I need to go to outside of those routes, and am a hop skip and a jump from the beach or city proper. Best Movie that I’ve seen this year is probably Lord of the Rings (oddly enough The Lord of the Rings Cartoon was released in ’78) I don’t watch much TV lately… but the same sort of Documentaries / Nature shows appeal to me. The only extended vacation that I’ve taken lately is a week or two off this year for my back… but now that I’ve had an epidural I’m feeling really good, and getting in better shape daily. I have a small group of friends, a couple at work, and Dan, Dave and my brother outside of the company. My Current goof around stuff is reading, biking around town, taking pictures, writing prose, painting minis, playing mage knight, and goofing on the computer. I have hair that goes down to past the bottom of my shoulder blades, and a goatee. I don’t smoke, and rarely drink. I get all of my food from the grocer, though I’m considering growing something edible in a window box. When I go on rides around town, I’m frequently alone in body, though I’m paired nicely in spirit. I live in this apartment year-round. These times are good for me, especially with loved ones in my life. I’m a programmer / MIS guy, and do some web stuff on the side. I have no idea how much time I have left. I’m very blessed.
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