MY BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY...AND MY '3D' WISH

 Tomorrow, January 20, is my big brother’s birthday. Durward would be 80 tomorrow. How I wish he was around so I could celebrate this special birthday with him. I have not seen Durward in 43 years …as he was lost in an auto accident that many years ago. Durward was a wise big brother, a very intelligent, loving son, brother, husband and dad.

I was just a teen when I lost him…a little too immature to know of Durward’s wisdom and counsel… a little oblivious of the ways of the world…and not yet realizing the value of a loving family. I had a loving family…I just didn’t know it…and appreciate it…like I do today.

As I think about tomorrow…and Durward…I also can’t help but think of our brother… David…who I lost last spring to lung cancer. Last month… December… was Dave’s birthday. My heart hurt a little on that day…as I truly missed not having the opportunity to call Dave and wish him a happy birthday…and hear his voice…and hear him laugh.

Having just celebrated my own birthday a few weeks ago… how I would treasure having gotten a call from both brothers and hear them wish me a happy birthday.

As I think more about the three of us boys…the 3 D’s…my mind wanders…trying to conjure up in my memory banks…if I have ever seen a photograph of the 3 of us boys…together. I’ve got pictures of Dave and me…and Dave and Durward…but I have no photo of the 3 of us. I wonder if one exists? I wonder if somewhere…pushed back into the back of an old desk drawer…or in a box of old pictures on a closet shelf…if someone in the family…or old friend of the family … doesn’t have a picture of the 3 of us?

If it exists…I’d love to have a copy of it. It would be placed in a special frame…and hang in a special place in my home…so I could see it every day as I walked by…and smile.

Until I find it...Happy Birthday Durward.

Dan

A DOG'S PURPOSE

‘A Dog’s Purpose’, by W.Bruce Cameron. This is the title of a book that Cindy had written on her Christmas wish list that she wanted to read. I talked to Santa about it and he apparently dropped it off and put it in her stocking in the late hours of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning.

Over the following few days after Christmas, Cindy read one of her other books Santa brought and then read ‘A Dog’s Purpose’…then passed it on to me to read. I asked her if she liked it and she said ‘yes’. I asked her if it was sad and had it made her cry and she said…”Not a lot…but some. It was very interesting. I’ll be interested to see what you think of it.” She went on to say the book is written from the perspective of… ‘the dog’.

Over the following few days…while I was finishing the first book that Cindy read…and after Cindy read A Dog’s Purpose…Cindy got very interested in some new puppies that were born to someone through her work. Having lost our dog Zoe this past fall, we both notice it has been different around the house since Zoe left. We still think of Zoe often and miss her being around. I think Cindy is ready for another dog to come into the family...but to be honest…I just am not interested in having another dog. (see prior blog articles I wrote in August).

Now…fast forward a few weeks…and my heart has softened. Mainly because I have finally gotten to, and finished, the book Cindy asked Santa to bring. I have read…A Dog’s Purpose.

If you are a dog owner…or a dog lover…or someone who recalls younger years when a very important dog was a part of your life…I would encourage you to read the book. So as not to play the role of ‘spoiler’…I will not give any details besides those that Cindy gave me…that the book is written from the perspective of… ‘the dog’.

A Dog’s Purpose is very intriguing…it is a story you have not thought of…it has moments of hilarity, and… as with any good book… it leaves you…‘thinking’…at the end.

My thoughts of... ‘not being interested in having another dog’…have softened a little…now that I have read the book. There seems to be a little voice sitting on one shoulder reminding me of all the challenges and occasional frustrations that come with having a dog in the house. But on the other shoulder…is a voice reminding me of the fun times and enjoyment that we had with our black lab Layla and golden retriever Zoe over the last 20 years that they were with us.

Which voice I’m going to pay the most attention to…is yet to be determined. I know for sure, that I better not go see those new pups that Cindy was talking about recently…because I know that God made puppies cute for one reason…so we would take one home!

Whatever the case of what happens at the Clark household… I encourage you to find and read a good, feel good book… A Dog’s Purpose.

You will smile a lot…nod your head a lot…laugh a lot…and shed a tear… as you recall the memories of years past…with you…and your dog.

Dan

NOVEMBER HEADLINES

Headlines November 2012

Halloween has just ended. A news article appeared about an amputee, Josh Sundquist, who’s Halloween outfit won a contest by looking similar to the famous ‘leg’ lamp from the movie "The Christmas Story”. If you haven’t seen the movie…you should…if you haven’t seen the picture of Sundquist in his outfit…you should. Both are funny.

Apparently some in the news want us to feel sorry for child-molester, ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, because he was put in a prison in an inconvenient location to his lawyers, family and friends. I don’t feel sorry. There isn’t a prison far enough away, as far as I’m concerned.

Professional basketball player James Harden played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA last year. You may have seen pictures of him. He’s the one with the close-cropped hair…but a full, bushy, black beard. I guess his contract was up after last season with Oklahoma City and they offered him a new contract to stay longer…if he would accept $54 million dollars to stay and play basketball for them. That check would look like this when it’s written down on that little money line on our checks… $54,000,000.00.

Well…Mr. Harden didn’t think that was a good idea…so he went a little further south…to the Houston Rockets…and they wrote him a check that looks like this…$80,000,000.00

I guess Mr. Harden knew what he was doing.

I wish I’d have practiced a little harder at learning how to play basketball when I was younger!

 

Dan

ROLLING STONES

Well…here’s today’s headline…

Rolling Stones Tickets Selling for Thousands

Oct. 18, 2012

Tickets for the Rolling Stones' gigs in London are selling for thousands of dollars days before the public can officially get their hands on seats. The rockers are set to return to the stage next month  for the first time in five years to mark the band's 50th anniversary, and they've announced two shows at the British capital's O2 Arena and two December concerts at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

But British fans have been left outraged by the high price of tickets for the London shows, which start at more than $160 for the cheapest seats. Tickets for the London gigs have been made available early for fan club members and sponsors, and seats are already selling for high prices online a full day before they go on general sale. Resale website Getmein.com is listing some tickets for as much as $21,120, while others are being offered from between $589.60 and $17,600.

Tickets are also being sold off on auction website eBay.com for as much as $9,600. The band will play London on Nov. 25 and 26, and in New Jersey on Dec. 13 and 15. Tickets for the U.S. shows will be released to the public on Oct. 26.

Today’s headlines are about the Rolling Stones and the expense of their tickets to their upcoming concert. I told you yesterday…that in 1970…I saw Led Zeppelin from the 13^th row for $5.50. Fans are a little upset in London…where the first concert for the Stones will be…because the worst seats in the house…the worst seats…the one waaaayyyyy back there and waaaayyyyy up there….and maybe behind the column that holds the ceiling to the stadium up…is going for $160.

The way concert tickets are sold these days is just short of highway robbery. You can’t get them…it seems…without going through a middle man and paying extra fees. Ticketmaster has to charge their fees…or you buy them from a scalper who somehow bought them before they even went on sale to the public…and he marks up the price to make extra money. When the Stones come to the U.S., I’ll bet the ticket prices won’t be much cheaper than what the Londoner’s are complaining about. To get tickets on the floor near the stage…be prepared to pay $1000…if you can get them that cheap.

Now…having said that…if I got the chance…I’d consider shelling out several hundred dollars to go see the Stones. Cindy & I saw them in the late ‘90s and they were absolutely fantastic. I had never been a big Stones fan…(much more a Beatles fan)…but we went to see them anyway. I left the concert…being a 'big' Stones fan. The show was unbelievably good.

 

Now…that was over 15 years ago…Mick and the boys might have to be pushed out on stage in their wheelchairs and they may not get around as good as they did then.

But I’d be willing to take a chance. They’ll be the best damn ‘wheel chair’ band I might ever see.

 

Dan

LED ZEPPELIN

               5 Reasons Not to Miss Led Zeppelin's Concert Movie 'Celebration Day'

This was one of the headlines I perused this morning. The article that followed talked about the release of a concert film made of a Led Zeppelin concert from 2007. It apparently will only be shown at selected theaters across the country for the next few days…likely not even into the weekend. If it’s in any of our local theaters, I hope to go see it…on the big screen. With such a short release period, my hunch is that it will be released in DVD format in time for my kids to buy it for me as a Christmas gift. That may have to do…if I can’t find a local theater to watch it.

In my high school years, I was developing my love for ‘heavy’ rock 'n' roll…and Led Zeppelin filled the bill. I had bought their first 2 albums when they were released in 1969…and I must have listened to both of them a hundred times.

Then my rock 'n' roll fever was given a big booster shot…Led Zeppelin was coming to a nearby city for a concert…and I got tickets. And not just ‘any’ tickets…13^th row…close…real close. In February 1970, I traveled to Robert’s Stadium in Evansville, Indiana…and watched one of the heaviest…loudest rock concerts I could imagine. I took pictures with a borrowed camera…one of those Polaroid cameras that the picture spit out the front after you snapped it and developed itself over the next minute or so. The security in those days…wasn’t like the security I’ve seen at concerts today. I walked right up to the stage to snap my photos. If Robert Plant (lead singer) or Jimmy Page (guitarist) would have leaned down…I could have shaken their hand. They were…RIGHT…there. The drum solo…always a staple in those days of rock concerts…was fantastic. John Bonham (the drummer) was as good a drummer as any around…and he put on a display that I had not seen or imagined.

Unfortunately…the photos I took that night have been lost over the last 40 years…I would love to have them now. I also had kept the ticket stub from the concert as well…I paid $5.50 for that 13^th row seat…but the ticket stub has gone to the same place those photos went.

I’m hoping to find the opportunity to go see the big screen concert…and for just a few hours…go back in time. But if I don’t make it…maybe Santa will help me out…with the DVD version.

Rock on.

 

Dan

 

 

BE ENCOURAGING

There was a nice story in our hospital newsletter this week. I have attached it below.

Living our mission

Be a source of encouragement to all

“If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.” Romans 12:8

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it as the man by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Now…some of the comments in the above story make me reasonably certain that this story isn’t a true story…but it’s a good story, surely one based on ‘some’ true facts. It is a story meant to make us…think. We have all...hopefully...met someone in our lives that is the type of thoughtful person represented by the blind man in the story.

 

May…we…all…try to be like that blind man. Make it your goal to be encouraging to someone each day. You...may be that...one person...that changes their life for them…just by a simple act of something you said…or something you did.

Be encouraging.

Dan

THE NEW LITTLE PUMPKIN

There’s something special about this new little pumpkin that has entered my life…Eleanor Corinne Koerner…Ellie.

Maybe it’s just been a long time since we’ve had a new little one to love. Our other grandchildren are 11, 11 and 9. None of them comfortably fit on my lap anymore…they are just too big. They still try it…and I love it when they do…but they are a lap-full. This new granddaughter is barely 2 hands-full…and I can’t get enough of it.

I wonder if it’s the reality of life that is sinking into me too. I won’t have these little people…this little…forever…evidenced by how fast those others became 11, 11 and 9 so quickly.

I need to enjoy every minute of this ‘little’ stage while I can.

Anna…my other granddaughter…is already 11 years old…going on 20. By the time my new little pumpkin…Ellie…is 11…I’ll be 70 years old. My life will have changed a lot in those 11 years I assume.

Some of those changes I may not like…aging bones…a bigger waistline…white hair…loss of older loved ones…loss of friends…those things that come with retirement…and aging.

Some of it I ‘will’ like…watching my other grandchildren grow…maybe having more grandchildren…time with Cindy.

So…until that time comes…I’m gonna get in every squeeze…every hug…every kiss that I can with my new granddaughter. I have tried to be a good papaw to my other grandbabies and they know that I love them…and always will. My new little pumpkin is gonna know her papaw just loves her to no end…too.

I look forward to every moment I can have with her.

Dan