64....I AM

       I am not a fan of birthdays, nor most holidays....must be the grinch gene that was passed on from my ancestors and kept replicating itself in my DNA (hope I'm not passing it on to my progeny).  But I guess that turning 64 today must mean something other than I'm old.   I minimally researched the significance of "64" and found the following list of stuff which should make me quite celebratory.  Wish someone would add my "64" to wiki-pedia.  How about it?

Sixty-four is:

• In some computer programming languages, the size in bits of certain data types
• In chess or draughts, the total number of black (dark) and white (light) squares on the game board
• 64 is the name of the premier Russian chess magazine
• The code for international direct dial calls to New Zealand
• The designation of US Interstate 64, a freeway from Missouri to Virginia
• The designation of U.S. Route 64, a highway from Arizona to North Carolina
• The subject of the Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four"
• The registry of the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64)
• The number of Braille characters in the old 6-dot system
• In 8-bit home computers, a common shorthand for the Commodore 64
• In video games, the Nintendo 64 video game console and (historically) the Commodore 64. Since 1996, the number 64 has been an abbreviation or slang for Nintendo 64 (though N64 is more common)
• The maximum number of strokes in any Chinese character
• Number of hexagrams in the I Ching
• Number of sexual positions in the Kama Sutra

                                                      When I'm 64  by the Beatles

• Number of demons in the Dictionnaire Infernal
• Slang term referring to a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, often configured as a lowrider, a popular subject among early-90's gangsta rap
• The number of classical arts listed in many Indian scriptures. They include: singing, dancing, painting, poetry, playing cards, making arguments, making flower garlands, etc.
• The number of the French department Pyrénées-Atlantiques
• The number of crayons in the popular Crayola 64 pack
• Base 64 is used for example with Base64 encoding.
• 64 (dog) is a character in the Donald Duck comics universe.
• Number of codons in the RNA codon table under genetic code.
• Number of golden disks in the myth of the Tower of Hanoi.
• A number referring to Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 (Chinese: 六四事件; literally "Six Four Incident") in Chinese

• Messier object M64, a magnitude 9.0 galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, also known as the Black Eye Galaxy.
• The New General Catalogue object NGC 64, a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus
• The Saros number of the solar eclipse series which began on -832 April 11 and ended on 430 May. The duration of Saros series 64 was 1262.1 years, and it contained 71 solar eclipses.
• The Saros number of the lunar eclipse series which began on -801 August 9 and ended on 714 February. The duration of Saros series 64 was 1514.5 years, and it contained 85 lunar eclipses.
• 
  
                                            FOR MATHEMATICIANS ONLY

Sixty-four is the square of 8, the cube of 4, and the sixth power of 2. It is the smallest number with exactly seven divisors. It is the lowest positive power of two that is adjacent to neither a Mersenne prime nor a Fermat prime. 64 is the sum of Euler's totient function for the first fourteen integers. It is also adodecagonal number and a centered triangular number.

Since it is possible to find sequences of 64 consecutive integers such that each inner member shares a factor with either the first or the last member, 64 is an Erdős–Woods number.

In base 10, no integer added up to its own digits yields 64, hence it is a self number.

64 is a superperfect number - a number such that σ(σ(n))=2n.

64 is the index of Graham's number in the rapidly growing sequence 3,27,7625597484987,....

• Phil's "64" today....yeah!  One year from Medicare....

Happy, Happy Birthday Sharon....

   
       June 3, 2011 and you are 39 once again!  Your secret is safe with me!!!  It's a great day to celebrate the birth of a very, very special person.  While you weren't born in stable with adoring baby animals, angels and wise men around who were guided by a star, your effect on the people whose life you have touched is remarkably similar.  You are wife, mother, ABR therapist, counselor, consoler of a periodically forlorn daughter, mainstay of a somewhat neurotic husband, unconditional care giver to a disabled son.  You also are a homemaker for a chihuahua who is more neurotic than your husband and a poochon who gives the word "dependent" new meaning.  I could make a long list, but later.....first a song which says it all on your birthday.  It's Iz and  "Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World!"  Great lullaby to put your kids to sleep....among other things.

       Well, let me say that it's difficult to sing your praises on your birthday and Mother's Day which are less than 30 days apart.  I think that you could have planned better.  This is a drain on my limited reservoir of emotion and my wallet.  But what the hell, we have learned to take life together as it comes to us.  For 30 years we have been partners and soul mates on one f....ing incredible journey.  No smooth sailing by any means, but we have learned to depend on each other's wisdom.

       Together, we have spawned two beautiful children: an accomplished daughter and a son who is in the process of accomplishing.  I wish he would hurry up, don't you?  On the other hand, I wish she would hurry up too.  Notice how you have to fill in the blanks on these statements of our dreams?  Your role in their development is inexplicable and short of miraculous.  This selfless, unconditional love is what I admire most about you.  I probably fall short, but you know woman who are saints are often attracted to men who are sinners.  I am happy to have you along on this ride.

       Ollie and Chloe are also happy to have you along on their ride.  They, however, are in the driver's seat.  Finicky, demanding, neurotic, periodically incontinent (runs in the family), always hungry for a gourmet meal....and you cater to their every whim even to the point of allowing Chloe to sleep snoring in your ear all night.  Now, the ear plugs make sense.  My wife, for whom "no" is not a word in her vocabulary, is the ultimate care taker...even of the beasts, even of the children.

        You have accomplished a lot in .... years.  Completed several graduate degrees, worked as a teacher and counselor in education, continue to be great mother when time would dictate that retirement is sitting on the deck with a brew, cleaner,  carer of a handicapped kid, author of a book, learning the piano (again), and learning to be skilled in the fine art of blowing off indifferent people.  (The latter I taught you, but probably will not be given the credit.)  So much is such a short period of time, only....years.

        Anyways, it's your birthday to enjoy, but that doesn't mean that you get the day off...there are no days off in this house.  It does means that you get to know that you are loved, appreciated and admired by adults, children and beasts.  Happy, happy ...th birthday.  I am looking forward to our 30th anniversary (again)!  Oh, by the way, in our next lifetime in the world of normality, keep a reasonable spread between your birthday and Mother's Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM !!!!!!!! January 14, 2011

     Well, my son, today or tomorrow (depending on which part of the world you're in) you are 25 years old!!  Actually, it's 12 1/2 years  since that day that you were under water for 25 minutes.  So today is a celebration of your birth and your re-birth.  You were a hockey star and now you are a rehab star...always, always each moment of each day working at getting better, at healing and at enjoying life.  Your eyes sparkle, your smile melts the coldest of hearts and your spirit is indomitable.  You have never given up on anything nor will you ever concede to adversity in the future.  So this blog post celebrates your first quarter of a century and allows the world to see the gifts that we are giving you this year.  I hope you like, or at least tolerate these presents.

Those were the days!

Yup, he stopped the puck, as usual!

 
    Just to remind you, that we were all young once, a family of four circa 1989, a AAA goalie for the Springfield Jr, Indians in the mid nineties. Something changed, fate moved us all in a new direction.  You knew long ago that life altering events were evolving and we as a family would evolve to a higher plane of living, loving and understanding with you.  We all grow on a daily basis and learn about the intimate nature of reality, life and people.  This learning is not always a pleasant experience, but always enlightening.  So here are our gifts to you on this day.

ABR targeting the pelvic floor

   The remainder of this post contains adolescent humor of which I would not deprive my son.  If adolescence and it's innate perversity offends you, this might be a good place to stop reading.
    Gift one:  this is not what it appears, then nothing really is.  We have learned that ABR helps to strengthen your core, normalize your structure, move you from here to mobility and function.  Sorry, but you're stuck with this therapy for 4-5 hours a day.  By the way, we are working to normalize your pelvic floor, the exercise has nothing to do with scatological stuff, so just relax and enjoy.  This is only one of four or five daily prescriptions.  Most of the other exercise allow you to enjoy pretty blond chicks on TV.

ABR machines, bladders, wrapping and Ollie

       I know, if the day time manual ABR isn't annoying enough, we strap you with inflating bladders, foam, wraps and hook you up to two machines for 10 night hours to help with the process of eliminating that damned spasticity.  Actually, it also strengthens your lungs and digestive system.  So you have Ollie and your TV until you pass into restful slumber.  Remember we are doing these awful things to you because we love you, not to annoy you.

One cold laser point to release Moro Reflex

       As if the indignity of ABR isn't enough, we also give you the gift of 45 minutes of daily cold laser to integrate the primitive reflexes which all popped up to the surface during the accident.  The cold laser helps to extinguish and integrate those no longer useful reflexes which hinder healing.  Please note that the picture is intended to preserve your modesty and my aging.  It does relax you and  you can watch TV unless you turn to look at me with a scowl.

      I could also write pages on all the other indignities to which we subject you: sucky pureed meals, non-alcoholic drinks, yucky supplements and unmentionable procedures.  We do this to you because we love you...really!!!

       Now for the real gifts:  You love nothing more than movies with scantily dressed blonds. And yes, I know that only blonds need apply.  What upstanding handsome 25 year old wouldn't want one of these!  So here you are:

Your guess is as good as mine

      And finally, you laugh...all the time.  Some time you smile at people, some time you laugh at TV shows or your favorite movies, usually Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler.  Some times you laugh at your favorite movies like Home Alone or the Mighty Ducks.  But, Adam, I know there is one time that you howl with the heartiest of laughs...there is nothing which makes you laugh so irreverently as when you see very fat people squeezed into tight, polyester clothes.  This laughter is embarrassing to me, but I allow it because I know that you are my son, so alike me. Your mom wouldn't let me post the pictures I wanted to, so I showed them to you privately.  So here is my gift to you (against my better, but poor judgement): your all time hero...Jim Carrey!!

Adam's all-time hero: Jim Carrey

       Happy birthday, my hero!  While I apologize for all the indignity to which we subject you...it is because we really love you!