My Ramblings

On Thursday, June 20, 2013, our family and friends will mark the one year anniversary of the death of Daniel Kevin Faddis. Having lost other members of my family over the years, I think I have some idea of what the day will bring, thoughts I may have and the emotions it will elicit. However, I cannot know for sure as I have never marked the anniversary of the death of my own child until now. Linda and I talked about what we will do that day. This week Linda is helping out at our church vacation Bible school, but she asked if she could have the day off. She doesn’t want to have any responsibilities to fulfill that day. She said she might go to the cemetery, but she is not certain. I told her I plan to have no plan and I don’t want to go out there. My youngest daughter, Meagan called last night and asked if we would gather the family that day to remember him and I told her that I don’t want that. I just want to be alone as much as possible. June 23 will mark the eighth annivers...

By now, those who read this blog have figured out that my friends, family and  have had some experiences that are unusual. Today, I offer one of the most untypical adventures. The Book of Ecclesiastics says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” However, I cannot imagine that the following prank is something anyone, besides my cohorts and I, have done before or since.    It was 1986 and I was hanging out a lot with Rick Criscione and Mark Thompson. I do not recall who it was that came up with the idea that was nothing short of brilliant, but I reckon that Mark and I jointly hatched the idea.  Now, Mark and Rick went to and graduated from San Jose’s Yerba Buena High School in 1976. So, in 1986 they made plans to attend their ten year class reunion. They were talking about it one day and discussed the deadline for sending in their money, what to wear, etc. Because I had attended both the five and ten year reunions of Ceres High School’s class of 1975, I was r...

For seven years I taught vocational training to probation officers and juvenile hall counselors. I would often begin my presentation on the first day saying that who we are as people is shaped greatly by our upbringing. And, that how we treat those in our charge is often determined by our own upbringing. I have since added to this that our closest friends also have a huge impact on who we eventually become; sometimes our associates shape us more than our families do. If we associate primarily with people of low morals and poor behavior we risk falling into those same patterns. How many times have we seen “good” kids from loving homes fall into the “wrong” crowd and end up in sad circumstances? I don’t have to look farther than my own family to see this pattern. All three of my siblings were drug and alcohol users in spite of our mother’s loving and stable care. All three of them came to associate with people of low character and bad habits. All three of them died while driving under...

I just finished watching the movie “Chasing Mavericks.” It’s a true story about a young surfer from Santa Cruz, Jay Moriarity. It’s a very good movie and is family friendly. If you get it (I rented it from Red Box) get it in Blu-Ray if you have a Blu-Ray player. It is a visually stunning movie and illustrates the power and majesty of the ocean. Anyway, watching it made me recall my own experience with the Pacific Ocean which taught me how small and weak I am in a very painful way. In 2000, our family went to Maui for an eleven day vacation. We stayed in a great hotel in Kehei called the Mauna Kai (I think, but my memory is a bit hazy). We had lots of fun doing the typical stuff like snorkeling,sightseeing and going to a luau. I have my motorcycle license so I rented a Harley Road King and everyone took turns riding with me around the island. Five members of my family (Linda, Daniel, Heather, Holly and Meagan) were able to bask in the sun and sand for the entire eleven days. I, on th...

Last night, Linda told me, “I want to go see Daniel tomorrow.” It surprised me because her announcement was sudden and unexpected. I asked why to which she replied, “Every Easter when the kids were little, I’d buy them some of those nasty Cadbury candy eggs. Daniel just loved them. I want to take him some for Easter. ” So, this morning she got up and drove the 40 miles to the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery. She wanted to go alone and I did not object. Before leaving town, she stopped and bought the eggs. She sent me the photo below and it made me cry. The cap he wore while he served our country in the Persian Gulf is included in the photo, but she brought ot home with her. She called me to say she was leaving the cemetery to head home and I could hear that she was crying. She later thanked me for letting her go alone and said she needed it. She said she has not cried that hard in several months. I relate very well with her need to be alone with her son and her grief. Sometim...

Most young people these days have not and will not ever be able to experience one of the greatest inventions ever- the drive-in theater. The thought is very sad to this old man because going to the drive-in since I was four or five years old is such a fond memory. I checked Wikipedia and found some historical information about drive-in theaters: A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars. The screen can be as simple as a wall that is painted white, or it can be a steel truss structure with a complex finish. Originally, a movie's sound was provided by speakers on the screen and later by an individual speaker hung from the window of each car, which would be attached by a wire. This system was superseded by the more economical and less damage-prone method...

A game that kids like to play is “House.” This is the game where young children pretend that they are grownups, set up a pretend household and assume the roles of the father, mother, the children, uncles and aunts, etc. Sometimes the kids like to pretend they are the family dog or cat. Allow me to take a rabbit trail here and relate a story my daughter, Heather told me about my grandson, Logan who is six years old… As she drove him to school Friday morning, Logan said, “Mom I have a lot of friends that are girls.” Heather then said, “Yup. That's okay; just remember to treat them like ladies.” He replied, “Right. I should treat them like they are my wife.” When Heather asked him how he would do that, he said, “Treat them kindly and make sure they have enough food to eat.” That’s my boy! Today, I will admit to you all that, for most of my life, much like children playing “house,” I have played “Christian.” I have not done my best all the time to follow the teachings of God’s Wor...