Memorial Day

Over the past few days, we went with my Mom to a couple of the
local cemeteries to place Memorial Day displays at my Grandma
and Grandpa Smith's and Grandma and Grandpa Hamann's grave
sites as well as my Mom's baby sister and my Dad's site. Today,
we went to my sister Terri's house for a cookout and a visit with
family. It was a nice holiday and we enjoyed the company.

Not So Great Weather

We haven't had very nice weather during our entire vacation.
Today a pretty bad storm came through the area.


Luckily, my Mom has a really nice generator that powers the
entire house. When the power went out today, the generator
kicks on almost immediately. While most of the vicinity
spent the afternoon without power, we operated as normal.
It's a nice legacy of my Dad's, who made sure this was installed
before he passed away a couple of years ago. He wanted to make
sure that my Mom wouldn't have to worry if the power went out
for an extended period.

Vintage Larry

While we were in Las Vegas, we stopped at a vintage clothing
store called The Attic. Lots of 70's clothes, wigs, boas, stuff
like that. Lynn tried on a couple of wigs and boas and looked
all glamorous for the camera. However, in the very balmy
upstairs (their air conditioner wasn't working), I found this
AWESOME Larry Bird basketball jersey. I SAW LARRY BIRD
PLAY IN A JERSEY JUST LIKE THIS during the 1976-77 season
when Indiana State visited Valparaiso. We were regular
Valpo U attendees at old Hilltop Gym so it was a pretty big
deal when someone of his caliber came to town. Later, he
would become one of my Dad's favorite players when Bird
played for the Boston Celtics. (Happy Birthday tomorrow
Dad...I know you're still reading my blog!)
Anyway, on a total impulse purchase, I bought it (it was
fairly reasonable), and it actually fits me! However, I doubt
it will ever make me play basketball as well as Larry Bird!

Butler Bulldogs

Tonight, the men's basketball team from Butler University literally
missed winning the Division One basketball championship by
inches, when a last second shot that would have one the game
bounced off the rim as time expired. I'm not a huge sports fan
but I was cheering for Butler not only because they are a small
school from Indiana, but because they were one of the first college
teams I ever saw play basketball. Growing up, my parents were
long time backers of Valparaiso University's basketball team. We
saw lots of games at the old Hilltop Gym. I saw the DePaul Blue
Demons play there in the 80's when they were the number 1 team
in the nation and I saw Larry Bird play there when Indiana State was
an up and coming power. Most of the early games when I was young
though were against other tiny schools, before Valparaiso was a
Division 1 team. They played in the Indiana Collegiate Conference,
which included Valparaiso, Evansville, St. Joseph's, Indiana Central,
Wabash, DePauw and Butler. Over the years, Valpo and Butler have
always played each other and now they are back in the same
conference. Butler has been very good the past few seasons and
Valpo made it to the Sweet 16 a few years ago. As Butler progressed
through this year's tournament, I'm sure they made all of the the
other small schools, especially in the Midwest proud. I know my
Dad would have been glued to the TV, watching them. I'm sure he's
proud of them and the great effort they made tonight.

The Day in Denver

Lynn reminded me tonight that in all the busy-ness yesterday,
we had both forgotten that my Dad passed away, one year ago,
on September 24th. I miss my Dad terribly and I think of him
almost every day. However, I think he'd be ok with the fact that
we forgot as we are making it through the grieving process.
Although not having him here with us is not easy, I hope it will get
easier with time.


So...today, I started the two day process of orientation at the
Raytheon Polar Services Company in Centennial, Colorado. It
seems like the information changes very little year after year, but
attending is one of the requirements of working on the Ice, so
it's something we all deal with. I liked these flags that were flown
at the Pole that are on display at the entrance to the building.


After my orientation was over, we received a message from our
friend (and my boss) Susie. She had left a binder and her itinerary
at the office and asked if we could bring it to her at the airport.
Not a problem, as we drove it there and saw our friend Liz there
waiting with her. For those of you that might remember, Liz
traveled with us quite a bit in Ecuador and Peru. I will see both
of them in Christchurch and have dinner with them the evening
before they head to the Ice. The day before me.


We enjoyed an excellent dinner at a restaurant called Citron New
World Bistro in Denver. We had been here several years ago when
it was still a Marie Callender's Restaurant. Definitely a nice last
dinner in the US for quite some time.


Of course we still had the evening ahead of us and one of
our favorite cheap things to do is going to Border's Books.
We had a big pot of tea and read some books and magazines.
Yes, not exactly an exciting Friday night, but something we
like to do. A relaxing last night in the States.

Visiting the Hospice

I have been wanting to visit the hospice where my Dad
stayed last year and also to go with my Mom to see the
bricks that we had placed there to remember my Dad.
They did a really good job placing the bricks and they
are right outside his window. There is even a small bench
there that I can picture him sitting in, admiring the
beautiful garden and pretty flowers.


Lynn and several other women on the Ice last winter were
working on another "Warm Up America" afghan and Mom
was contributing with her own squares on this end. Lynn's
spent the last few days putting them all together into a really
pretty afghan. The "Warm Up America" project is aimed at
contributing these projects to hospitals, shelters, etc and
Lynn felt that the VNA Horton Hospice Center. Two of the
women that were there when Dad stayed there greeted us
and were thrilled to see us and to receive the afghan. Both
very nice women, it was great to see them again.

My 1000th Post!

On June 1, 2004 it all began.

This is my 1000th post on
bigblueglobe!

Thank you to everyone over the years who
has read and contributed to the blog. I hope it has brought you
as much information and entertainment as it has me.

Also...Thanks Dad...I know you still read my blog every morning!

A Most Thoughtful Gift

Today, I received the most thoughtful gift from my
friend, "The Delightful Carrie *********". While
we were back in Indiana, Lynn, Carrie and I went to
the book sale at the Kouts Public Library. This
was shortly after my Dad passed and her visit helped
cheer us up. Unbeknownst to me, Carrie found this
book and just today I received it in the mail from her.
Even though the book has nothing to do with my Dad and
the story is about something completely non-related,
the title reminds me of my Dad and his love for gardening.
Thank you Carrie. I will treasure this book always.

Happy Anniversary

30 Years ago today, my sister Nancy and my brother in-law
Greg were married. And yes, they're still together.
30 years, two sons, many moves and a few gray hairs later
(sorry) they're very happy and they mean a lot to me.
Btw...check out those crazy seafoam green tuxes my Dad
and I are wearing for the wedding!

Thank You

Today we paid our last respects to my Dad. He was loved by
many and I will continue to love him and remember him the
rest of my days.

I would be remiss though if I didn't take the time to thank
everyone that sent a small note to Lynn and me both on this
blog and on our Facebook accounts. Most folks I know, some
I do not. All with special thoughts and caring words. Your
condolences mean a lot to us and make this tough time
easier. Thank you again. Your kind sentiments are dear
to us.

Tom

I'm Amazed

Wakes are somber affairs. I keep telling myself that my Dad is in
a better place but at the same time it's very difficult to convince
myself of this. To me, a better place is to be here with us. However,
it just doesn't work that way.

At the same time, it's amazing how much one person can touch the lives
of so many. I knew that my Dad knew a lot of people here. After all,
he's lived here all of his 72 years. What I didn't realize though is how
many lives he touched while he was with us. We estimated that upwards
of 700 people attended his wake! Each of these people were touched
in some way by my Dad and wanted to pay their respects...both to him
and to my Mom as well as the rest of the family.

My Dad's legacy is the fact he meant so much to so many people. I
still feel there is a void in my heart but seeing that he meant so much
to so many people makes it a little easier.

Yard Work

My Dad's favorite hobby was working in the yard. Since he
was sick for all of the summer, all of the family in the
area, including grandkids helped out. This kept it close
to Dad's high standards. Not an easy task when the yard is
about an acre in size and includes multiple flowerbeds, trees,
shrubs, etc. The past couple of days, Lynn and I, along with
my sister Nancy, her husband Greg, my brother John and his wife
Julie, have been helping Mom spruce up the yard and get it
ready for winter. During this process, the mosquitos from the
past few days have been swarming. Not pleasant when you're the
one who's operating the weed whipper and cleaning out shrubs
and bushes. I think I need a transfusion from all the blood
that has been taken from me! I've never seen so many mosquitos
at one time. Even in tropical places like Thailand! Thankfully,
there is supposed to be a cooling trend in the area soon and
hopefully that will zap the buggers. Until then, I'll walk
around looking like I have full-body mumps!

Mom and Dad

I Miss My Dad

My Dad passed away at 4:15pm today.

My Dad was a husband, a father, a brother,
a grandfather, a uncle, a cousin, a friend.

Most of all he was...and still is...loved.

Red River

This morning my Dad and I watched one of his favorite
movies of all time...Red River, starring John Wayne.
For years, my Dad had never seen the whole movie in
one sitting because it came on so late and he would
always doze off during the show. A few years ago we
bought him a copy. Today he told me there were scenes
of the movie he'd never seen before. I explained that
those were the parts that he had dozed through. I
think he enjoyed it even with the "extra" scenes

Gathering Gopher Wood

It has been raining so much the past couple of days
that I could swear that I saw large groups of animals
traveling two by two up the road today. The area has
received anywhere from 2-6 inches of rain already and
warnings issued tonight say that amounts of one to
1 1/2 inches...(PER HOUR!) could fall tonight.


We took some pictures of our creek (Cornell Ditch) that
runs through the farm so that my Dad could see how things
are looking around the house. It's almost over it's
banks and this is usually a tranquil, slow moving stream.
Not today though. I'm interested how it will look tomorrow.
All of this is 24 hours or so before the remnants of
Hurricane Ike eventually passes by this way. It could be
even soggier in the next few days.

Visiting Dad

Lynn and I got off the Ice on the 8th and after 23 hours
in airplanes, made it back to the Chicago area to see my
Mom and Dad. Dad was moved from the hospital on Thursday
to the VNA Horton Hospice Center in Valparaiso.


It's a really nice place that is really comfortable for
Dad and it's almost like he's in a living room. We're
going to bring his two pups up the first day it isn't
raining and I know he's looking forward to that.


I've enjoyed visiting with my sisters and brother as well as
my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Ray and cousin Diane. Diane was nice
enough to pick us up at O'Hare and even though they lost our
bags between LAX and ORD, our travels were super smooth.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Dad!
I hope it's a great one!

Get Well Soon Dad!

Get Well Soon Dad

My Dad's feeling a bit under the weather.
This photo is definitely NOT about him, as
he's a GREAT DAD! ...but it made me laugh.

Get Well Soon Dad!