Day Off

To my son Tommy,

Taking the day off from work today. After working 88+ hours this week, I need to disconnect. During this long work week I learned that software roll outs suck eggs and I have some amazing coworkers who will work long hours with me to help me and our company right.

Anyway, I slept in to 5:40 today, which is about two hours of sleeping in for me compared to the last three weeks. I tried to sleep till later, but my body has adapted to the early hours now. Anyways I decided to do some chores.

As I was straightening the basement, I came upon this little school project pictured above. It says, "If I were a scarecrow, I would guard some money and guard the crops." Evidently my bank needs more scarecrows to protect money! I would say my wallet needs a pocket scarecrow, but I think I have more crops than money in my wallet. I like the crow the best.

Sincerely with love from dad,

Leo

Don't Wait For Rock Bottom

To my son Tommy,

Some people say you have to hit rock bottom before things change. Some say you have to just ride the downside of the roller coaster before you can climb to its peaks again. The problem with this is, in life at least, the lowest point is subjective. There is no hard firm rock bottom while you live, as things can always get worse. That last part is worth repeating. THINGS CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE! Especially if you are waiting around for them to get worse before you do anything to make them better!

Take for example my perception of my life the past month or so. I was/am in the middle of a software roll out from Hades. If something could go wrong with this (now) million dollar changeover, it has and continues to. Over budget? Yep. Missed deadlines? Yep. Unfulfilled promises? Yep. etc. etc. And of course with this goes with all the other things in life we are already dealing with. Between medical, and moving, and family, and your school, and check engine lights, and finances, poor contractor work in the basement, and everything else that you can think of, in addition to my workload ...let's just say that most people would say "What could get worse?"

How about a scare of bladder cancer? That would make it worse. Your Poppop Frazier had that happened to him, which in turn happens to us. They found what they thought to be a tumor in the bladder on your Poppop and they were going to have to do a biopsy. Your mom said to me that she has faith that God will just not give us anymore to handle because we already have enough. She in essence believes we are at rock bottom already and that the news will have to turn out alright because how much more can we take. I had my doubts, in God, in rock bottom, in things turning out for the best.

So the pathology comes in. It is negative, which is a good thing, negative for cancer. And a couple things in work seemed to start going alright. Not great, but showing promise. Maybe there is something to this rock bottom thing. Maybe finally God is looking down on this lowly ant in his ant farm and saying enough already. Upswing here I come!

Wrong. Cut to this week. We went live on this software change out. Of course one whole area of the data migration was not done, so at least four departments of my company couldn't do anything. Your Grandpa Leo got his MRI results back and the brain tumor is growing but the doctors tried to explain it away as scar tissue healing in the inside of the tumor from where the laser was aimed at it, but I am not sure if I buy their gooey liquid inside jelly bean concept. Your mom got her MREnterography results and her gastro doctor tells her that the crohn's disease is pretty spread and he has throw his hands in the air and has no idea what to do for her except more surgery. This is has me worried and more importantly your mom worried, frustrated, and depressed. Oh and she has pneumonia with her compromised immune system brought to you by the drugs she is taking for crohns that obviously aren't working. You are under the weather as well and have an ear infection going on and a cough that you have been on for antibiotics. I am working sixteen plus hours a day (holidays and weekends included) to salvage this software roll out from the brink of utter failure as is your Great Aunt who is right there beside me trying to save it.

So we fell through that rock bottom of a few weeks ago like it was a hole in the third floor of a non OSHA approved work site. Now, I can wallow and wait for the other shoe to drop. Wait for life to throw more at me that is in or out of my control. Or I can just keep on keeping on and do something to make today better. If you are falling from the top of a one hundred foot tree and try to grab each branch along the way, you probably will continue falling but may survive the landing. If you are falling from the top of that same tree and grab the first branch and it breaks and you say it isn't worth the effort and decide to just wait till you hit bottom before doing anything about it? Well good luck with surviving that.

Sincerely with love from your dad,
Leo

What You Like To Learn About In School

To my son Tommy,

You made your dentist cry the other day, but in a good way. You see the world right now seems to be in constant turmoil. There were a bunch of terrorist attacks across the globe (Paris got the most press but also in places like Beirut and Baghdad) that have filled many with despair. It is tough to see the good in this world when all that is shown to us, be it through media or propaganda, is hate and terror and war and death. We all need hope, a glimmer of light, something to hold onto.

According to your mom, your dentist asked you "What do you most like learning about in school?" most likely expecting an answer like math or reading or dinosaurs.

You told her sincerely, "I like learning about Jesus."

It made the dentist tear up. She explained (before excusing herself to compose herself) that with all the bad in this world, with all the things that are going wrong, she needed something to restore her faith and hope for humanity. She said she really needed that. And like a little flower that dares grow first in that small thaw patch in the snow after a long hard desolate winter, your answer supplied that hope.

Sincerely with love from your dad,

Leo

Little Blue Boy

To my son Tommy,

Little boy blue come blow your horn. The sheep are in the meadow, the cows are in the corn.

One of the great things about cleaning up the basement is finding my old treasures. Here you are trying to call to the cows using my old bugle. A quick lesson in embouchure and you were blowing away.  Think you even got two different notes out. Not too shabby.

Sincerely with love from your dad,

Leo

Anniversary Number Seven

To my son Tommy,

Today is your mommy and my anniversary! You know what grandiose plans we have? Let me list them out so you have ideas of how to spend a joyous anniversary.

• Get the chairs to the dining room table up to the Marriottsville house.
• Sand two wall areas and finish painting them.
• Organize the back basement.
• Screw on all the wall plates for the electric box.
• Make a scenic view for your new room.
• Mopping yet again to get the dust and grout off the floor.

What? Doesn't sound like a way to celebrate an anniversary? Listen, marriage is work. Marriage is hard work. And an anniversary celebrates this hard work, today with more hard work. Sure we will try to steal away some time for ourselves, but in the same sense the time we spend working together is time for ourselves. Among the typical work filled day for us, if you throw in a few times saying "Happy Anniversary" and a couple extra times saying "I love you" and maybe a "Holy crap we made it seven years" you have our anniversary. And that is okay for us.

Sincerely with love from your dad,

Leo

Glasses

To my son Tommy,

If anything could be considered inevitable, you needing glasses some day tops that list. Your mother needs glasses; your father needs glasses; your grandparents need glasses; you come from a long line of glasses wearers. Barring any super scientific gene correction ocular therapy procedure, you are going to be sporting the spectacles, more likely sooner than later. In fact, you put on my glasses today and then said you could read the letters on the television better. I know they say you should never wear another persons prescription glasses in fear of damage to your eyesight, but they also say if you make faces you might get your face stuck like that. They lie to you. Anyways, last year the eye doctor said you could hold off on glasses. We have another annual appointment coming soon. When we took the picture of you, you laughed and said you looked funny and different. You might have your own pair of glasses sooner than you think.

Sincerely with love from your dad,

Leo

Bright Idea

To my son Tommy,

Mommy and I had this bright idea to let you pick your own color of paint for your own room. Perhaps that was too bright of an idea. You picked what you described as Oriole Orange, what Valspar describes as Island Orange, and what we describe as Construction Safety Orange. Well it is never too early for you to learn that you may have to live with the consequences of your choices!

Sincerely with love from your dad,

Leo