CONNECTIONS. I should probably defer writing this until my mood is sunnier, but it has been a while since I’ve sat down in front of the keyboard (at least this one) and collected my thoughts for the blog. I’ve been working on the subject of “connections” mentally for nearly two weeks and since I hardly have the random access memory space I once had, the time is now to put this down on paper, or at least start it.
How do you use your connections? Do you have any? Are they valuable to you? Can you turn them on and off like a light switch as necessary?
As regular readers know, I am connected in this world by my immediate attachment to three women; my wife, my oldest daughter Taylor and my youngest daughter Logan, and of course there’s the Lu-dog. Most of all my connections to these three women make it possible for me to awake each morning, remain employed, stay mentally focused and bring home the bacon regardless of the price per pound.
It’s funny how I begin this blog on Father’s Day weekend without any pre-thought to it at all. I look at the Lu-dog resting comfortably on her bed in the morning sunshine. The oldest daughter has already made her way to her place of employ and the youngest is also scheduled for a baby-sitting gig on the east side early this afternoon. My wife and I will be heading down to Berkeley for some shopping and some time alone, yet we are all connected regardless of our locations away from each other during the day.
I promise you, the next subject is not a tangent from the story, as it sustains the subject of connections with others that are not in my immediate family but I do treat them as such. The National Hockey League playoffs began in mid-April of this year and even though I t I now reside in northern California, the importance is the same.
If you could see my office you’d think you had just stepped off the green line at Kenmore Square in downtown Boston; as you would if you were heading to Fenway Park.
This subject of connections came into my orbital sphere when a dear childhood friend of mine recently suffered a jolt to his system when he lost his wife to a brain hemorrhage leaving him alone with his two young daughters. The network rebounded and I was represented at the funeral by a mutual friend who happens to be working/living in the nearby northern Virginia area.
When my friend Patrick lost his wife I suffered with him as few of us can truly understand the depth of what he is going through and the road ahead. As the NHL playoffs continued through April and into late May our team; the Boston Bruins continued to skate and I started including Patrick in my text mails to show the Boston Bruins flag that has temporarily replaced the flag of our nation with each game played in the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks.
Staying connected for me is important. We have friends, we have family and we have acquaintances and each of these are important in our day-to-day operations and I was happy to include a number of them as I settled in at home with enough Miller High Life in the refrigerator to supply a normal sized house party, yet it was just myself and my wife who watched these games unfold together, yet I felt connected to all my friends out on the East coast who have made a difference in my life, one way or another.
These are all my positive connections. I dare say my fifty years has included some negative connections, and what would life be without them, right? The negative connections make those positive connections that much more important. Not that my communicating with Patrick will bring his wife home, but him knowing he can reach out and re-establish that connection anytime he wishes is important to me.
Oddly enough the Boston Bruins who have been part of my … well let’s call it the “Boston Connection” which was created in November of 1960 helped me invite Patrick and many others into our humble home here along the river each night before the puck was dropped … and then some.
If you have connections – keep them – reach out and reconnect if necessary. Breast Cancer knocked on our door in January of this year and without the positive connections we had with friends and family during that struggle would have made things that much more difficult. My regular blog during the months of January and May about beating cancer was important to me, though as it developed it became more important to the readers to remain connected in my wife’s life.
My wife, this morning, readies herself for a drive down to Berkeley; cancer removed and though she will continue life with some soreness from the lymph node dissection, we can laugh, smile, hold hands and love each other through our own special connection.
Hope your day is full of positive connections. The BRUINS flag continues to fly out front and tomorrow the flag of the USC Gamecocks will be hanging as well as they enter into the NCAA College Baseball Championships to defend the title they earned last year.
Happy Father’s Day.
Papa
