My Ramblings

Eleven months ago I ended up in the ER at Kaiser due to severe dehydration and complications with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). I spent five days there. Two days later, I went back and it was discovered my heart had gone into atrial fibrillation.  Last Saturday, my doctor instructed me to again go to the ER because I was short of breath, easily fatigued and had been gaining weight rapidly. They saw more problems with the CHF and gave be strong doses of intravenous medication to make me purge all that fluid. I stayed three nights and came home Tuesday. I have lost 40 pounds in seven days. I can breathe better, my blood pressure is down and I have more energy now.  I am hopeful that this episode and the weight loss will motivate me to exercise more and continue to lose weight. I would appreciate your prayers for strength and self discipline. Although I am only 56 years old, I feel much older. I’m not afraid to die, but I am petrified at the thought of being a 450 pou...

I thought I'd post our family Christmas newsletter from almost 11 years ago. I found it today as I searched my document files.  December 14, 2002 Greetings from the Faddis Family! - Stan, Linda, Daniel, Heather, Holly and Meagan. It has probably been a long time since you heard from us (in writing, anyway). Linda assigned me (Stan) the task of composing this letter so here it goes…Things are pretty active around here now that the kids are growing up and trying their wings. We have four drivers in the family and it seems like all four of our cars are hardly ever in the driveway.  Daniel (18) graduated from high school last June. He went to Hawaii for his Senior trip and had a good time. He brought home a little surprise in the form of a… tattoo. It is two Japanese symbols that supposedly mean “honor” and “courage” but Stan did some research and found it really means… “bone” and “head”. Daniel also did something else which Stan believes is much like his decision to...

I haven't posted anything in awhile. I am currently working on another writing project and haven;t taken time to write something fresh here. However, I found in my computer files a letter I wrote to Daniel two days after he left for boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. There's nothing special about it. Just words from a father to a son who he already misses dearly. I may post more of these letters later but I'm not certain.  September 13, 2003 Dear Daniel, I decided to write you, even though I do not yet have your address. I hope we get it soon! Today is Saturday. There is nothing special to report. The phone call from you last Thursday was short and not what I wanted. I wanted to chat awhile; hear how your flight was; if you like your roomies; if you got the top, middle or lower bunk, etc. You know the stuff Dads want to hear. I am sure that is how it was for all of you though.  I hope all is good and that you are doing well. I hope you are pumped up and...

Last week, some of our family went to the Stanislaus County Fair here in our town of Turlock. We parked in a huge lot behind the fairground. It is now covered primarily with asphalt, but that’s not how it was back in 1969. Then, it was packed dirt, patches of grass and weeds.  I recalled this when my mind gave me back an unpleasant memory from that time. It was Easter, 1969 and our mom took us there for a big egg hunt. I was 12, too old to participate and not interested in hunting eggs anyway, but Mom did not give me the choice of staying home. My siblings, Jeff, age 10, Tina, age 8 and Kevin age 6, were excited about it so we all went.  What excited them was not so much the plastic eggs filled with candy, but the big prizes that could be won including toys, skates, board games, etc., which were donated by local businesses. These big prizes were described on slips of paper inside the plastic eggs and this was a huge event which attracted approximately 300 kids and the...

I sometimes have these moments which I will call “realized memories” which, before they popped into my head, had been forgotten up to that moment. I have no explanation why these memories pop in on me. Sometimes, a song, seeing a certain old car, a place or a scene in a movie brings the memory to the forefront of my mind.   Following is one such memory. It is regarding an old friend, Mark Mears and an event that occurred many years ago around 1985 when I was 28 years old. The recollection resurfaced last week when I drove by the Greyhound Bus station in our town.  Mark and his wife Tena lived in the apartment building managed by Linda and I in San Jose. Mark was a youth pastor at a local church. One day, he stopped by to ask if I would do him a favor. What he asked me to do was right down my alley and I quickly agreed. He was putting together a scavenger hunt of sorts for his youth group which required them to follow clues, walk around downtown San Jose in small grou...

AsI have previously written here, I am deeply moved by the lyrics of many songs by Bob Bennett. He is able to paint beautiful word pictures and I am grateful that he is still at it after so many years. I was just listening to his song “1951” which is a tribute to his parents. The song can make my cry and and also make me happy. For those people unfamiliar with this song, I have included the lyrics below: Well Daddy was an honest, hard-working man With bad eyesight and calloused hands He married young and he made his stand In 1951 Well it was worn-out pants and pinto beans Minimum wage and mustard greens But he treated Mama just like a queen In 1951 In Nineteen-Hundred and Fifty-One Both of them lovers and both of them young There were clouds in the skies But stars in their eyes in 1951 She called him "Mister" and he called her "Hon'" In 1951 Sometimes I'd hear my Daddy sigh Mama would cry on his shoulder Whenever I...

Today, July 12, 2013 marks the 33rd. anniversary of Linda and me being married. In 1980, there were people who knew us that whispered we would “never make it.” The primary reason they thought this was that I was too immature to be her husband. That I would fail to support her financially. They believed I was incapable of a long term commitment. On our twentieth anniversary, we happened to run into one of “those people.” She admitted that she was one who had thought this about us. She told us she was sorry for thinking it and said she was happy we had made it to 20 years.  To be fair, even I didn’t think, back then, that our marriage would last because I really was immature and unreliable. But it’s amazing what a guy can do when he has the love and support of a woman like Linda. We had many rough patches in the first years  of our union as well as some all through our marriage. However, we are still standing as a couple 33 years later. I give most of the credit to Linda b...