I recently received word through a friend that the father of a mutual friend and former class mate had passed away. It gave me time to think about our friendship and about some other things as well. Brad, Greg and I were friends in high school. Even though we ran with different crowds in high school, the three of us would get together quite a bit. Our "thing" was to go out and get chinese food somewhere. Even now, if we were to make plans to get together, I'm sure it would involve meeting for dinner at a chinese restaurant somewhere and catching up.
The passing of Brad's father was unexpected and tragic. And even though I hadn't seen or talked to Brad in a while, I thought I should go and pay my respects. I was so glad that I did. Brad was having a very rough time dealing with the death of his father, and I could tell that it meant a lot to him to see a face of a friend. Someone who was there to pay condolences specifically to him. Brad repeated something to me a couple of times there...the day that Brad's father had the accident that resulted in his death, the two of them had gone to dinner at Bob Evans. The last thing Brad said to his father was "Thank you for buying my dinner." That, Brad told me, is what was helping him to get through this. Not that his dad had paid for dinner, or even that they'd gone to dinner. But the simple fact that the last words he spoke to his father were words of appreciation, not words of anger. Brad told me that he was so happy that he had not had an argument with his father right before this happened. So yesterday's life lesson came from an old friend. Appreciate those that mean the most to you, and show them that appreciation. Sure we're going to have disagreements, but in the end, make sure the people you love and appreciate know it.
It's very rare that you will ever know when the next time you speak to someone may very well be the last time you have that opportunity.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Well...Let's get started
Well, lately the "in thing" seems to be blogging. So...I guess I'll start myself. It seems almost egotistical (if that's a word) to post a series of entries about what I'm doing with my life, how I'm living my life, etc. Then again, I guess I'm doing this more for me than for anyone else. Just a way to kind of put my feelings and things in to writing.
When I think about it, I have blogged before. Not on an "official" blogging site like this. But it was interesting to go back and look at previous entries. See where I had been and where I was now. It's kind of interesting to look back and see how things change over time. A good way to look back and review my life.
For those that do follow this blog I'll start off by telling some things about who I am and where I have been in my life up to now.
I'm 45 years old and live on the north side of Columbus. I was born in Riverhead, NY, although I remember nothing about living there. My parents, who were born and raised in Ohio, moved back to Ohio when I was pretty young. They had lived in New York because my dad was stationed there when he was in the Air Force, and then had a job with Grumman. As I understand it, my parents wanted to move back to Ohio to be closer to family and so we moved to Cambridge, OH. Close to where my parents went to High School, and met. I believe their graduating class from Cumberland Spencer High School had fewer than 20 people, of which they were 2. I have some vague memories of the house we lived in on Gaston Ave. in Cambridge, and even more vague memories of the house we lived in on Clark St.
My dad worked for NCR (National Cash Register) in Cambridge during that time. As he tells it, he lost his job there shortly after an issue occurred involving the union. People who were on both sides of the fight were all gone from the company within a year. I remember him at that point being out job hunting a lot, and if I remember it correctly, he was a used car salesman for a while. But he found a job with the phone company (it was Ohio Bell back then) and that was the job from which he would eventually retire. That brought out family to the Central Ohio area where we grew up. We lived in Groveport for 6 years and then moved to Pickerington.
While dad was working for the phone company, mom had a few different jobs over the years. She worked for the phone company for a while herself. I remember her working for an insurance company, and a few other places over the years.
My first job was delivering pizzas for a place called Plaza Pizzeria in Pickerington. I remember making $2.50 per delivery or $10.00 per night, whichever was more. My first job where I actually received a paycheck and paid taxes was at Claprood's Florist in Pickerington. I spent my Saturdays delivering flowers, and during the high volume times (Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving) I would work during the week too. I would even skip school (with mom and dad's permission of course). I worked that job until I joined the Army in November of 1984. I was in the Army for a 3 year enlistment and was stationed at Ft. McClelland, AL, The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, CA, and in Hardheim, Germany. After getting out of the Army I went to work as a seasonal stock boy at Toys R Us in Columbus, then got a job working in Loss Prevention for Meijer in Columbus. I worked at several different Meijer stores in Columbus, Dayton and Newark, OH. I worked for Meijer for a little over 10 years and enjoyed most of the time that I worked there. Then in 1998 I got hired at my current job as a dispatcher for the Dublin, OH Police Dept. My first day working at Meijer was the last day of my enlistment in the Army, and other than that, all my other jobs have overlapped. So I can honestly say that I have not been unemployeed a single day since the fall of 1982. Knock on wood, I'll stay that way until the day I retire.
Well, I'll post this now. There's a lot here that is probably of no interest to anyone who reads this, but I figured starting this way was as good a way as any to start a blog where I pretty much just talk about myself.
When I think about it, I have blogged before. Not on an "official" blogging site like this. But it was interesting to go back and look at previous entries. See where I had been and where I was now. It's kind of interesting to look back and see how things change over time. A good way to look back and review my life.
For those that do follow this blog I'll start off by telling some things about who I am and where I have been in my life up to now.
I'm 45 years old and live on the north side of Columbus. I was born in Riverhead, NY, although I remember nothing about living there. My parents, who were born and raised in Ohio, moved back to Ohio when I was pretty young. They had lived in New York because my dad was stationed there when he was in the Air Force, and then had a job with Grumman. As I understand it, my parents wanted to move back to Ohio to be closer to family and so we moved to Cambridge, OH. Close to where my parents went to High School, and met. I believe their graduating class from Cumberland Spencer High School had fewer than 20 people, of which they were 2. I have some vague memories of the house we lived in on Gaston Ave. in Cambridge, and even more vague memories of the house we lived in on Clark St.
My dad worked for NCR (National Cash Register) in Cambridge during that time. As he tells it, he lost his job there shortly after an issue occurred involving the union. People who were on both sides of the fight were all gone from the company within a year. I remember him at that point being out job hunting a lot, and if I remember it correctly, he was a used car salesman for a while. But he found a job with the phone company (it was Ohio Bell back then) and that was the job from which he would eventually retire. That brought out family to the Central Ohio area where we grew up. We lived in Groveport for 6 years and then moved to Pickerington.
While dad was working for the phone company, mom had a few different jobs over the years. She worked for the phone company for a while herself. I remember her working for an insurance company, and a few other places over the years.
My first job was delivering pizzas for a place called Plaza Pizzeria in Pickerington. I remember making $2.50 per delivery or $10.00 per night, whichever was more. My first job where I actually received a paycheck and paid taxes was at Claprood's Florist in Pickerington. I spent my Saturdays delivering flowers, and during the high volume times (Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving) I would work during the week too. I would even skip school (with mom and dad's permission of course). I worked that job until I joined the Army in November of 1984. I was in the Army for a 3 year enlistment and was stationed at Ft. McClelland, AL, The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, CA, and in Hardheim, Germany. After getting out of the Army I went to work as a seasonal stock boy at Toys R Us in Columbus, then got a job working in Loss Prevention for Meijer in Columbus. I worked at several different Meijer stores in Columbus, Dayton and Newark, OH. I worked for Meijer for a little over 10 years and enjoyed most of the time that I worked there. Then in 1998 I got hired at my current job as a dispatcher for the Dublin, OH Police Dept. My first day working at Meijer was the last day of my enlistment in the Army, and other than that, all my other jobs have overlapped. So I can honestly say that I have not been unemployeed a single day since the fall of 1982. Knock on wood, I'll stay that way until the day I retire.
Well, I'll post this now. There's a lot here that is probably of no interest to anyone who reads this, but I figured starting this way was as good a way as any to start a blog where I pretty much just talk about myself.
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