Monday, September 3, 2012
Things from my father
Sitting in the back of my truck was this big box I had put off going through - because I realized it held alot of little papers and things to go through, mostly from my dad ... and I took a deep breath and went through them just now! Here are the more interesting things I found:
Before the Alzheimer's, in 1996, he recv'd a careless driving ticket not too far from home, for his 'usual driving style' ;- and it was right around this time of year, too!
And then there is post Alzheimer's : a copy of a monthly bill from Potomac Homes, which took no insurance, so it was credit card, cash, or check - $4,450.00. That's for one month - and he lived there for the last year of his life. I remember each and every time I paid a bill, I had two feelings: (a) I was very grateful to my parents for having the foresight to save! and (b) without a husband, being longterm disabled with no savings, no responsible adult child, either - what in the hell was going to happen to ME?!
A printout from the computer when someone researched where his brother was lost in WW2 :
Walter William Waseck on the ship John L Morley, in Bari, Italy, on 12/2/43 (their poor parents, losing a son right before Christmas!)
And a copy of a poem he had lots of copies of, so he must have really loved it! It was written by Frankie Palacio hours before his death - it really speaks to me, and so those parts especially I have distinguished:
When I must leave you for a little while,
Please do not grieve an shed wild tears,
AND HUG YOUR SORROW TO YOU THROUGH THE YEARS
But start out bravely with a gallant smile,
And for my sake and in my name,
Live on and do all the things the same,
Feed not your loneliness on empty days,
But fill each waking hour in useful ways.
Reach out your hand in comfort and cheer,
And I in turn will comfort you and hold you near,
And never, never be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you in the sky!
Before the Alzheimer's, in 1996, he recv'd a careless driving ticket not too far from home, for his 'usual driving style' ;- and it was right around this time of year, too!
And then there is post Alzheimer's : a copy of a monthly bill from Potomac Homes, which took no insurance, so it was credit card, cash, or check - $4,450.00. That's for one month - and he lived there for the last year of his life. I remember each and every time I paid a bill, I had two feelings: (a) I was very grateful to my parents for having the foresight to save! and (b) without a husband, being longterm disabled with no savings, no responsible adult child, either - what in the hell was going to happen to ME?!
A printout from the computer when someone researched where his brother was lost in WW2 :
Walter William Waseck on the ship John L Morley, in Bari, Italy, on 12/2/43 (their poor parents, losing a son right before Christmas!)
And a copy of a poem he had lots of copies of, so he must have really loved it! It was written by Frankie Palacio hours before his death - it really speaks to me, and so those parts especially I have distinguished:
When I must leave you for a little while,
Please do not grieve an shed wild tears,
AND HUG YOUR SORROW TO YOU THROUGH THE YEARS
But start out bravely with a gallant smile,
And for my sake and in my name,
Live on and do all the things the same,
Feed not your loneliness on empty days,
But fill each waking hour in useful ways.
Reach out your hand in comfort and cheer,
And I in turn will comfort you and hold you near,
And never, never be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you in the sky!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Parking Lot Psycho ... I'm still shook
So I was in the Wal Mart parking lot this afternoon ... very crowded : I figured everyone would be having picnics and family events but apparently for alot of college students with $ and no classes (and others) ...
So I was about to pull into a handicapped space. Let me clarify: I had my turn signal on, I was driving s l o w with my foot on the brake, and I was already halfway into the space when
A little white car came shooting up at me.
I thought to myself - I'm not fighting for a handicapped space even if I really need it today - so I came to a complete stop
That's when I realized
The guy wasn't going for the space - he was trying to hit the front of my SUV with his little white car!
"What are you doing?!" I yelled (closed window) and waved my hands.
He went around the front of my truck barely by an inch, pulled up alongside me, his window open and his car full of passengers - some of whom looked alarmed at him and were tugging on him - and he started to bellow I AM THE FRIGGIN KING YOU MOVE FOR ME BITCH
My God I'm going to die, I thought - it's a parking lot psycho
I was so scared I couldn't even think to pray - just -stare
His friends in the back seat were especially persuasive and so he drove off
I got the space
but I've not felt right since - I'm still shook
So I was about to pull into a handicapped space. Let me clarify: I had my turn signal on, I was driving s l o w with my foot on the brake, and I was already halfway into the space when
A little white car came shooting up at me.
I thought to myself - I'm not fighting for a handicapped space even if I really need it today - so I came to a complete stop
That's when I realized
The guy wasn't going for the space - he was trying to hit the front of my SUV with his little white car!
"What are you doing?!" I yelled (closed window) and waved my hands.
He went around the front of my truck barely by an inch, pulled up alongside me, his window open and his car full of passengers - some of whom looked alarmed at him and were tugging on him - and he started to bellow I AM THE FRIGGIN KING YOU MOVE FOR ME BITCH
My God I'm going to die, I thought - it's a parking lot psycho
I was so scared I couldn't even think to pray - just -stare
His friends in the back seat were especially persuasive and so he drove off
I got the space
but I've not felt right since - I'm still shook
Sadness in the Skye
My father was very close to his cousin Freddy (how much actual family relation there was, I'm unsure of) and yeahhh there are many Uncle Freddy stories I can tell! However, today I want to share about his surviving daughter, and what the internet can tell you ...
She was from his last (and third) marriage, his one shining hope in the whole wide world especially after his namesake son crashed and burned so badly in his life (and died young, to boot) ... This whole marriage was a type of May-December thing, and his wife was a genius, and determined to raise her daughter to be a genius, too ...
And yeahhh ok life happened : Uncle Freddy got caught in something that's a whole long story and has several versions of it, which caused his marriage to fracture - look - neither one of them were saints - both of them did things they really shouldn't! - but here's the one big thing: they both loved their daughter <3
It was a little hard to find this young woman - she's completely removed her father's name and in fact carries her mother's name ... when I did find her, I saw so much of my own daughter, and countless other kids, as well, who are so spittingly angry at there parents for actually God forbid! being HUMAN!, that they live there lives not as themselves, so much, but as angry acting out against what their parents were and believed ...
This young woman had a father from another time and place, who felt the worst thing for a young white woman to do, was to be involved with a man from another race ... this girl has married that guy, and has a child.
And her mother, who literally created her to be a genius by the time she was seven? what would her mother think of her daughter JUST NOW graduating - not from an Ivy League school, not from a four year college, not with another Master's or PhD - but a degree from a community college?!! Someone typed in the comments that her mother would be proud of her. I think her mother would be confused!
At least it reads like she's a good mom, and I know where she got that from:
FROM BOTH HER PARENTS.
She was from his last (and third) marriage, his one shining hope in the whole wide world especially after his namesake son crashed and burned so badly in his life (and died young, to boot) ... This whole marriage was a type of May-December thing, and his wife was a genius, and determined to raise her daughter to be a genius, too ...
And yeahhh ok life happened : Uncle Freddy got caught in something that's a whole long story and has several versions of it, which caused his marriage to fracture - look - neither one of them were saints - both of them did things they really shouldn't! - but here's the one big thing: they both loved their daughter <3
It was a little hard to find this young woman - she's completely removed her father's name and in fact carries her mother's name ... when I did find her, I saw so much of my own daughter, and countless other kids, as well, who are so spittingly angry at there parents for actually God forbid! being HUMAN!, that they live there lives not as themselves, so much, but as angry acting out against what their parents were and believed ...
This young woman had a father from another time and place, who felt the worst thing for a young white woman to do, was to be involved with a man from another race ... this girl has married that guy, and has a child.
And her mother, who literally created her to be a genius by the time she was seven? what would her mother think of her daughter JUST NOW graduating - not from an Ivy League school, not from a four year college, not with another Master's or PhD - but a degree from a community college?!! Someone typed in the comments that her mother would be proud of her. I think her mother would be confused!
At least it reads like she's a good mom, and I know where she got that from:
FROM BOTH HER PARENTS.
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