You might as well ask...

... what  have I been doing? First of all I have had a few days off and I finally got around to starting spring cleaning. The spring cleaning I never got around to in 2010. Gone are my rather large computer desk and equally large home entertainment center along with an old stereo component amplifier, turntable, cd player. 4 speakers, two of which were expensive, costing me $150.00 each back in 1972. I don't know what $150.00 translates in today's dollars but I would never now spend that kind of money for a set of speakers. I'm down sizing. Gone are more clothes. I'm tight on closet space. Once I've found a bed room set that suits me, gone is my old set. I am thinking about a new or very close to new, car. That is a bit off into the future though. I'm going back to Martha's Vineyard on May 22. The hotel is booked. Hopefully I've snuck in before the tsunami of summer tourists overrun the island. It's the same hotel I stayed at this past Sep-Oct. A less than a minutes walk from the ocean.

Getting back to the audio department. I recently purchased a turntable that plugs into your computer so you can convert vinyl lp's to cd's. I forgot how good lp's sounded. I won't get rid of all my lp's but there are some that I would want just a track or two. Those I can part with.

I know someone who is not coming down for breakfast. They finally got Osama. Nice work!

OK I just cobbled this together before supper to let everyone know I'm alive and well. I have company coming for the big Celtics Miami game tonight. I will try and look in on everyone after the game.

I'm outta here.   

Thanks Everyone

I want to thank everyone for your kind words about my uncle Sam. What I saw from the service's showed Sam to be a man that was well liked and loved by friends and family alike. There was a large crowd at the wake. His four daughters put their differences aside and pulled it together. Of course we were saddened by the passing of a man who was so robust and full of life and laughs. We all met back at a local restaurant and there was laughter as everyone shared stories of my uncle. There was a very touching scene at the cemetery as one of the two military people handed the folded up flag that draped the coffin to Sam's great grandson being held by his grand son Brian.

The lady who handed the flag over was from the Coast Guard. She said something to the child but I couldn't here what she said but when she was finished he audibly said "Thank You."

As for the other things in my life, I am on a new schedule at work. Hopefully temporarily. I am working until 10 pm. My day has been turned upside down as I have to take care of things around here in the morning. These new hours will revert back, I hope, by next week. As it is I will be taking a few days off this week and should be back on a more regular basis by Wednesday. Now to get back to my laundry, another cup of coffee, then off to work.

Thanks again my friends.
Paul

My Uncle Sam

I haven't been around for a bit. This passed week has been a busy and sad time for my family and myself. Last Tuesday, April 15, 2011 I learned that my Uncle Sam, my mother's brother, had a stroke. He was living on Cape Cod in a cottage that he himself had built some 50 years ago. He had just moved there about a year ago, though it had been winterized some time ago. Up until then he had been living locally very near me. I have wonderful memories of going there and staying there with Uncle Sam and Aunt Lucy and my four cousins. It was a two minute walk to the ocean and quite rural for most of my memory. I have not been down there since the late 80's.

Uncle Sam was a robust man with a great sense of humor, who didn't look 81 years old. The last time I saw him was at Christmas time. He did have some health issues as most of us probably do but you would never know it by looking at him. Though he was bald on top he still had jet black hair and no he didn't dye it. His father was exactly the same. He still had jet black hair at 94. On April 14 my sister called him to ask if would like to come up for Easter dinner. The last five years he had spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter with my sisters, brother in law and myself instead of his own daughters, two of which live in the same city as we do and one who lives about twenty miles from here. There is friction between at least 3 of his daughters. I don't know what the story is and frankly I don't want to know. The fourth lives in London. I suppose as to not show any favorites and more probably avoid the drama, he spent it with us. The children of his older sister, my mother. Growing up the holidays were always split, Thanksgiving at our house, Christmas at his. They were always noisy and fun gatherings.

Uncle Sam didn't answer the phone when my sister called him. She left a message. He wasn't home. He wasn't feeling well and he drove himself to the hospital. While he was being examined he had a stroke. We drove down on Wednesday. He was hooked up to all the equipment. His pulse and heartbeat were normal. He had been stabalized but he was about to be checked for brain activity. We waited for the results. A short time later the doctor came out and called his childeren into another room. We knew the results by seeing the look on my cousins faces. They had to make a decision. They made it the next day.

As I write this I have just returned from the wake. The funeral is tomorrow (April 20). We will all be gathering at a local retaurant afterwards.



 


On the left my father's uncle and aunt. On the right my father's cousin.
My mother, right center and uncle Sam in the middle holding me.

I thank you all in advance and hope to rejoin the blogging world in a few days.

Goodbye Uncle Sam. We will miss you.

(The above picture was taken from a broucher made by the funeral home. The April 14 date is wrong.)