Memory Rummaging

I’ve written before about the accumulation that comes with civilian life. During our military career my Favorite Panamanian and I had the chance to jettison extraneous possessions every couple years because that was when the movers showed up to escort our homestead to its new location. That doesn’t happen now that I’m a civilian; granted we have moved three times since 2005 but that pales in comparison to the 15 times the Army called upon us to move. I say this in the way of introduction to yesterday’s activities which had both my Favorite Panamanian and I in the storage area of the basement bemoaning the decisions required. Decisions on what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away. Since the Man Cave occupies fully half of the basement and I guess it’s a requirement to have space for the furnace and all that mechanical gear, our storage area is only a ¼ of the basement. This is good because it forces yesterday’s type gleaning of that which is not needed. It was definitely a trip down memory lane as various objects re-appeared for the first time in years. This included a set of my old field uniforms. I tried it on and was pleased that I have finally reached the weight I carried as a major because it fit once again.

It Fits Again!

The biggest issue came up when I uncovered the bins of old photos. With the advent of digital cameras, these type collections stopped accumulating. All the photos now sit on the computer. We have some well ravaged photo albums which my kids think of as quaint. The work in the basement came to a screeching halt when I decided I needed to go through the photos before once again consigning them to the bottom of the storage area. I bit off way more than I thought I was. There were literally thousands of photos to review but it was an exercise of love as old friends, family members, and locations reappeared along with their attendant memories. I spent several hours on reviewing the photos (I wasn’t kidding about the thousands). I started pulling photos that caught my heart as I reviewed them. I put those photos in a separate pile and it grew into a couple hundred by the end of the review. I am gong to put those here on Frail Deeds over the coming few days so they’ll be preserved more than just in a bin that will probably get thrown away after I pass on. I’ve separated them into categories as listed. Some great people and places follow:

FAVORITE PANAMANIAN AND PARTIES

Wife (l) with Tia Loca and Twin Sister in Panama

The Family Goodbye Group at the Airport

My Farewell Party as Battalion Commander 1999

Wife's Farewell from Battalion's Wives

Always Elegant

FAVORITE SON

Always Had a Great Smile

Semi-Dangerous in the kitchen

I'm Going to Murder You Smile

With Soxfather at Christmas

My Big Guy and I

FAVORITE DAUGHTER

Learning to Walk - Ft Benning, GA 1984

Teenaged Happy to Help (Not so Much)

Visit to Panama

Graduation from BU

Early Ballerina Career

SON AND DAUGHTER TOGETHER

With Great Aunt Making Cakes
After She Abducted Them, Again

Dancing with Mom

Kitchen Helpers

Showing Dad how to Fix It

Son Nervous About Having her Behind Him

FAMILY

Christmas with Mom, Tia Peg, and Nephew

Great Aunt

Soxfather, Namesake Nephew, and Great Aunt

Beer and a Juice Box with Namesake Nephew

At Mom's House After Filling Dumpster with Backyard Debris

ARMY LIFE

NCO and I After Grueling Training Event in Hawaii

Peacekeeping Mission, Egypt 1994

Looking Out Over Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba
Peacekeeping Mission 1994-5

Day Assumed Battalion Command 1997

Promotion to Colonel 2002

ANCIENT HISTORY

My Dad with my Favorite Cousin

Cantankerous Friend Looking Back at Me During his Birthday Party

My Deceased Sister, Lisa

Dad and his Sister Aunt June

One of my Early School Pictures

MISCELLANEOUS

With Mom and Two Sisters

"The Bone" From Fraternity Days
Still Not Sure Exactly What it Meant - Have to Ask Woody

1976 Version of Me
People Never Believe I have Curly Hair

Stopping by Woody's on Way Back from 
Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale 1977

Fraternity Formal Event 1977

Three movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers, and you’ll notice they are not in strict alphabetical order, I blame the granddaughters and their re-organizing effort over their most recent visit: Book of Eli (Denzel, best actor alive, carving up baddies and the screen), Bicentennial Man (my favorite Robin Williams movie – just love it), and Big (when you first realized Hanks was something special).

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Daughter Day

This is one of the days, amongst many now as I think about it, that I get to brag on my daughter. There may be those amongst you that think I may be a little overzealous when it comes to praising my children, but, hey the evidence is overwhelming. Especially considering the handicap of their paternal parental example. I guess she’s getting to an age where I’m not supposed to reveal how many years ago on this day that I spent a delightful 20+ hours with her mother in labor waiting for her arrival. She always wants to make a dramatic entrance. She was more than worth the wait and when they wheeled her out of the delivery room and I got my first glance at her, it was love at first sight.

The Birthday Girl

Where have All the Years Gone?

I had always thought that was some poet’s invention and that it didn’t happen in real life but the thunderclap was real. I reached down and touched her tiny foot before they wheeled her away and nothing in life has blessedly ever been the same. As I dragged her around the world as an Army brat, she developed into a remarkable young lady. She inherited her mother’s flashing eyes, as you can tell from the photos. She somehow evolved into an ardent feminist (where the hell did that come from!?) and a really deep thinker (again – where!). We both love reading and movies and while the content may vary dramatically for each of us, it is a shared love I treasure. I can’t wait for her to tell me about an upcoming movie or the book she just finished.

An Earlier Birthday

Estrella Trying to Get Some Cake

The world is truly fortunate that she has a daughter to pass on her grace and intelligence while serving as a perfect role model for the FBR. I find myself calling the FBR by my daughter’s name because they seem to be carbon copies of each other. Oh, if we could be that lucky. My daughter is a fierce protector of friends and family belied by an outward calm. She is also one of those people who makes corporate America work as she has steadily risen through the ranks of her company to add captain of industry as one of her accomplishments. Along with being a fabulous mother, daughter, wife, and friend.  So there, I’ve bragged about one of my kids again, deal with it, if you keep reading this blog it will happen again. Happy Birthday Heart!!!!

I squired two Panamanian ladies for date night at the movies yesterday. I was a little embarrassed by the end of the date by how bad the movie was but both my Favorite Panamanian and her mom seemed to enjoy the time out of the house. I was excited to see Don’t Worry Darling but that was wasted anticipation. This movie represents a lovechild between the coupling of the Stepford Wives and the Matrix, so a fairly interesting premise. It falls flat on its face despite the heroic efforts of Florence Pugh in the lead role. She is utterly fantastic but she gets no help from the supporting cast. There’s a point where a mystery can be taken beyond the point of cleverness and the big reveal isn’t worth the wait. I think they were aiming for a broadside against toxic masculinity so maybe I’m not the right one to comment but the final fifteen minutes cannot make up for the dreariness preceding it. A big miss.

Three movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers, Beverly Hills Cop 2(rare sequel up to original’s fun and action), Beverly Hills Cop 3 (only survives because of first 2, climatic scenes almost unwatchable), Blockers (found myself laughing out loud many times – funnier than I thought).

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course