Gathering for Dad's Celebration of Life

Family and friends are coming together for dad's Celebration of Life tomorrow (Friday).  I wanted to share a few pictures from the hundred or so pictures which will be on a slide show for people to enjoy before and after the service.  Above is dad standing with his mother Edna and father Edwin.  My best guess is that this was taken when dad was around 16 years old.  Grandpa was also a Bishop, and grandma played the organ and/or piano and sang in the church choir.

  

Here dad is with his older and only brother, Leroy, who was 2 1/2 years older than dad.  My guess here is that dad was around 8 while Leroy was around 11 years old in this picture.

 

This is mom and dad's wedding day back in 1948...it lasted for 71 1/2 years.  Having four boys and two adopted girls, their secret to a long lasting marriage was that 'the person who jumped ship had to take all the kids with them.'  (They LOVED telling people that)

Uncle Red (Leroy) said it best in this picture...perhaps that was also a key to the long lasting marriage.

 

Of course, had they stopped after these three (Bob, Roger, Jim), the marriage would have been a breeze...  Funny, I only remember dad with grey hair...I guess son number four caused him to age faster...

 

But then the two BEST kids came along, and the younger kids (especially the youngest boy) tried to control the rest of the kids.  I assume that Jim is taking this picture in our backyard.  Here we have me (Dave), with Bob behind me holding MY DOG Snoopy (ok, family dog but EVERYONE KNEW it was my dog), with mom, dad, Sandy (foreground) and Roger (behind dad).  By this time, we ALL wore glasses...but Roger, Sandy and I were pulled out of the pool for this family picture.  WHERE is Patti you might ask?  Sandy and Patti are biological sisters, and Patti was adopted into the family as an adult at mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  Only wish she had come into our lives much earlier...

 

At first I missed the fact that Snoopy (Snooper was her official name) was in the picture...brought tears to my eyes until Skruffy came over and bit my big toe which really brought tears to my eyes.  One day soon...too soon...they will meet at the Rainbow Bridge.  I know they will be good friends.  Snoopy, I hope that day does not come soon...

 

Now that is a motley crew for sure...Jim, Dad, Roger, Bob and me (Dave), taken in the early to mid-1980's is my guess.

 

Patti and Sandy took mom and dad up to Donner Lake (Truckee area) and they all enjoyed one last trip to the mountains together.  I know that this trip really made mom and dad's day, and is a very fond memory for Patti and Sandy...the 'true' Angels of the family.

 

Tomorrow is the Celebration...no tears allowed...but how the heck do we do that????

Graduation ‘Time’

My oldest son Michael, 28 years young, graduated today with his Masters in Public Policy from the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley.

I told the story about this watch back in 2012 when we visited Ardenwood Historic Farm in Freemont California.  It is a railroad watch given to my Great Grandfather, Charles Huntington Burdick, when he retired from the Railroad, January 1924.  ‘Time’ was important to a Railroad Conductor back in that era…that is how they knew the tracks would be clear from other trains…they had to run on time or risk wrecking with another train.

When I received my graduate degree back in, well, some time ago, I was 35 years old, the first and only in my family to get a Masters degree…although my oldest brother worked on getting a Masters and decided that the degree was not needed to do the great things he has done in the computer security world.  When I graduated, mom and dad gave this pocket watch to me.  Today, I pass it on to my first child to earn their Masters...well, kind of…I actually forgot to get it out of the safe deposit box in Florida, so although the watch is his, I am just the temporary caretaker of it for awhile.

Another big thing happened today….I finally met Anna.  My only regret…we did not have enough time to really get to know her.  I will take what I can get…for now…I sure hope we have more time when we get back from Alaska.

The graduation was held at the International House for the nearly 80 students who made it through the two year program.

The hall was packed, standing room only, and we were at the very back.  There were aunts, uncles, cousins, mother, father, sister and Anna…eleven of us in all.  We were lucky to all sit together.  My parents and Marcia decided it would be a bit much with their special physical needs, and it was probably the right choice because it would have been very hard to deal with those needs in such tight quarters.  I am sorry they had to miss it…but these older colleges and their historic buildings are not real good about meeting these special needs.

The most famous ‘person on campus’, as it pertains to the Goldman School of Public Policy, is this man in the middle…Robert Reich, who served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton.  He did not give the commencement address, however, that was given by the gentleman to the right.  Fred Blackwell, Chief Executive Officer, The San Francisco Foundation is his name.  (I am not good with names, and it took some research to figure that one out since I left my copy of the graduation ceremony at mom and dad's house after I got home.)  As graduation ceremonies go, this was a two hour program which went well.

Shelley is one proud mother, that’s for sure!  She has been a first grade teacher back in Arkansas for 16 years or so.

This is just a small portion of her family who came to support Michael…had they all been there they would be standing four or five deep, that’s for sure.

And here’s Michael’s family, less his younger brother Ryan who is in college in the Kansas City area.

We are all proud of you son, don’t know who is more proud…your mother, your brother, myself, or your little sister…aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents…Anna...I think it is a tie, lots and lots of pride amongst us all.  And since you already have a job with the City of San Francisco, I don’t need to tell you ‘to go out and get a job!’