Letter to my son

My oldest son Kevin is a senior in High School this year. His English class is studying Hamlet. His teacher sent home a letter to the parents asking that we write a letter to our child. One scene in Hamlet involves his father offering him advice before heading out into life. That was the basis of the letters to our children. The teacher is going to present the students with their letters in an upcoming class. What you are about to read is the one I wrote tonight.

Dear Kevin,

Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that you were getting on the bus for your very first day of Kindergarten. You entered school with a curiosity and ambition to learn as many things as you possibly could. At the very top of that list was the desire to learn to speak French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese, and a few other languages. We never doubted you would succeed. Little did we realize just how well you would do it though. On top of bringing home consistently excellent grades, you have met your goal, albeit slightly modified. You have learned to speak French, Japanese, some German and even a little Russian. All I can say is, "Wow!"

In the last few years you have matured so much that it is scary. Not that you were immature before. You have always been slightly ahead of your time. But, you have done things that many people will never do in their lifetime. You have spent 10 weeks working in another state and being responsible for yourself. You have earned a place in the National Honor Society. You have achieved the rank of Life Scout. You even spent a month living in Japan with your tutor and her family and friends. You have accomplished things that many would be envious of.

In a few months you will be graduating High School and embarking on a new journey. You will head to college where you will meet many new friends and experience many new things. It will be a whole new world for you. As you prepare for this next step there are some things we would like you to keep in mind.

College is nothing like High School. I know you think it will be easy, but I assure you that is not the case. The courses are harder. The professors tougher. Accept the criticism for what it is. Don't get offended when it happens. There is a reason for it. The goal is to make you work for your degree. It insures that when you graduate, you are the best you can be in your chosen field. We have seen you strive when you need to. Continue to do so and you will be fine.

You are going to meet a lot of new people. They will come from many places and may see life differently than you do. They will do things in ways that maybe you don't understand. Be accepting of the fact that people need to do what they feel is right for them. Even if it is what is not right for you. People will approach things with several different ideas. Listen to what they have to say and don't be afraid to express your own thoughts. Often times you may find that combining ideas will get you further. You don't always have to be right. Life would be boring if we all thought the same way.

This next one is a big one. Perfection is over rated and is never expected. You will not always have the answers. You will not always fully understand things. There is nothing wrong with that. If you had all the answers going in, you would be wasting time and money by even being in college. You are there to learn. Open your mind to what they try to teach. And no one there will expect you to know everything.

There are also going to be things that you experience socially. All we ask is that you use your best judgment. Think about what you are doing and what the consequences could be. Wasn't it Einstein that said, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction" ? That holds true with things we do in our lives.

We know that as long as you hold onto your beliefs and enter into this part of your life with that same sense of wonder that you had 12 years ago, you will succeed in all that you dream of. We love you very much Kevin. We are so very proud of who you have become and of who you are destined to be!

We love you always,

Mom and Dad

Kevin on his first day of Kindergarten

Kevin on his first day of his senior year

Self Love. (No not THAT kind!)

I saw this video today and just have to share it. This is just too funny.

What vacation?

Yes, I realize I have been pretty scarce these days. Been a busy couple weeks. I had been hoping to catch up when I was on vacation 2 weeks ago but that just didn't happen. Monday and tuesday were great. I relaxed and enjoyed my time off in an empty house. Kids in school and wife at work. Hell, I even got out of the shower and walked through the house naked, just because I could! lol

Wednesday morning greeted me with a stomach virus. No, I don't think it was from being naked the day before. I spent the day pretty much horizontal and sleeping. Thursday was my annual physical. That meant nothing to eat or drink from the night before. No biggie right? I can just have coffee and food afterward. My appointement was for 11:30. I get there and as usual my blood pressure was high. No surprise there. What did come as a surprise was when my EKG came out bad. I have been having some chest pressure lately and it was bad the night before but, I assumed it was only from being sick and doing ballet anyway. (See previous blogs for more on that).

Well I guess my chest discomfort was enough of a concern for the doc. She told me I needed to see a cardiologist. I agreed to make an appointment. She looked at me and said, "No you don't get it. I am calling and you are going to see them right now. Go straight there!" Uh oh....time to worry a bit. So I go. I spent the next 5 hours dealing with tests and a doctor poking at me. Based on my family history and the symptoms I described, she is thinking hospital time. She decides to have me run on a treadmill first. It is now about 4 PM and I still have not eaten. I tell her I will run but be prepared to pick me up. I am diabetic and my sugar was getting low. She tells me they will feed me first. I was like wow, how much is the co-pay gonna be now? So, the nurse brings me a dry bagel and some water. I finish that and off to run while hooked up to so many wires it looked like I was growing ivy. I did well. Well enough to not have to go to the hospital that day. But not well enough to not have to go back to see her the next day. Grrr.....

Now here it is friday and again I can't eat. My test is for 12:30. I go and get injected with some sort or radioactive stuff that is strong enough to set off radiation detectors in police cars so I was given a letter to carry on me. I then get to eat. Then it is off to the MRI machine for the first round of pictures. Then it is back to a tread mill. They make you walk and eventually run to get your heart rate high enough. Well, they had increased my meds the day before and for the first time in many years my BP is normal. only now we can't get the heart rate up high enough. Increase the speed and incline on the treadmill. ....huff....puff...huff some more.....Finally we get it close enough. I am about ready to drop. The nurse injects more dye while I am running and tells me "Ok 2 more minutes" Easy for her to say! Then rest and more MRI pictures. The whole thing took about 4 hours. So much for vacation......

The results have come back normal...for the most part. But, she still is talking about putting me in the hospital for a cathodization in a month. Just to rule out the last little chance of heart disease. We are waiting a month to let the meds even out and I have to keep track of my pains. If I feel anything I need to go straight to the hospital. I just hope I dont have to run there!

I think next year I want to go to Disney on my vacation. I don't like how I spent this one!

Random Video of the Day

I recently had a hard drive crash that took years worth of pictures with it. After weeks of stressing out and beating myself up over not backing things up, I finally am well on my way to actually getting them back. It involved buying a new HD and reformatting the old one so the recovery software could do it's thing, but the money and countless hours are worth it totally. I have almost all of it back! Yay me!

As I am sitting here restoring videos I thought I lost tonight I came across this one. It was a dress rehearsal for my daughter's dance recital in 2008. I can not help but smile watching it. These are the types of memories I feared I had lost forever.

Random Pic of the Day

We got hit with another blizzard yesterday here on Long Island. It was not as bad as they had hyped it up to be but, it was still a decent amount of snow. As I do on most days, I spent my lunch hour at the dock. When I pulled in I found the gentleman above sprawled out on a lawn chair soaking up the sunshine. He had climbed over the snowbank and out onto the dock. I guess it is true. "Life really is what you make it." While the rest of the island is looking at today as a cold messy winter day, this man is looking at it as one day closer to Spring!

What About Me 4 My Wednesday

Ok so I am a day late with this one, but I am on vacation this week so I am taking it easy.

I do my best to be the type of dad that is always involved in what my kids are doing. I know they grow up too fast and I want to enjoy those special moments when I can. And as at least one of you knows, I will do pretty much anything for a laugh. I have found a way to combine the two in my latest project.

My daughter Katie dances. She is in 4 different dance groups and she loves being on stage. My favorite being the ballet. Well, this year I have the chance to participate. Yep you guessed it. I am doing ballet. Not just in a class, but 4 other dads, 2 grandads, and one brother, and I are going to be dancing Swan Lake in June's recital. I will give you a moment to stop laughing...............Better now?

Yes, our group of 8 is learning how to turn and point our toes and do all sorts of other leaps and steps I can not pronounce. We will do our number in a tutu. Since it is a bit see thru we will be wearing white boxers underneath. Add in the white tee, pink slippers, and a hair piece, (Katie says we will have to glue mine on) and you will have the oddest looking group of guys ever assembled in a dance recital.

I am actually having fun in the class. It is great exercise and we laugh at each other a lot. The teacher was so impressed that we learned so quickly, that she has us also learning a second number. It is a soft shoe tap number by Fred Astaire. I have suggested with our ages and lack of dance skills we should call ourselves the "Afraid of Stairs" instead of the Fred Astaires. The second number is a surprise. We are not telling anyone we are going to be doing it.

So, wish me luck. Pray I don't have a heart attack mid leap or that I don't trip on my skirt and break a hip. And before any of you ask, (Yes Dena I know you will) I plan to get a copy of the video from the recital and will be posting this to YouTube.