Sunday, February 22, 2009

Dad




Brilliant. Cranky. Telecommunications engineer, and a team writer of ISDN, the original Internet protocol (I'm probably using the wrong terms here, but he wrote what made the WWW work). Lover of Thai food. Husband of my Mom for over 40 years. He was sometimes abrasive, but we always knew we were loved. Cleaning out his desk I found pictures of my sister and me all over. And notes... "Tell Sharon - WWI airplane exhibit at Long Beach airport." He was proud of my flying and other adventures.

On Valentine's night he took my Mom out for a romantic dinner. Then the chest pain got worse and she finally convinced him to go to the hospital. He was told years ago that without a stint / bypass he would die, and he made his decision. Hadn't seen a doctor in two years. He coded and passed 15 minutes after their arrival. He got his way: No surgery, no ICU torture.

You did good, Dad!