In Search of the Human Spirit

This little ditty is about someone I know quite well–my Dad. He celebrated his 80th birthday today. We threw him a party with close family which he thoroughly enjoyed.

My task for the party was to write up his life story. You never really know your parents until you take an objective look at their lives. The Dad I’ve know at different times in my life wasn’t the whole picture. Writing his story helped me see that.

My Dad was born to a French immigrant and a San Francisco native with French roots. He was raised Roman Catholic. He went to school through the 9th grade then dropped out. He wasn’t very good at school and wife his oldest brother off to war, he had to help his parents through the depression. He worked at the family laundries, at a bicycle shop, and then at Safeway bakeries.

In 1951 he was draft and went off to Japan and then Korea. He was a cook during the war. He came home in 1953.

Upon return, he got his job back with Safeway. He married my Mom in 1955 and they immediately began a family. His brother was drafted soon after and my Dad took over his gas station. It was too hard raising a family on what little he made so he sold the gas station and went back to Safeway where he worked for 30+ years. He also took a second job as mechanic to a roofing company.

In between work, raising a family, and the stress of life, he began volunteering at Little League. He managed a couple of teams. Then when his sons no longer played, he managed some more. He put in 30 years at Little League. He was there every weekend working the field and helped out with the tournaments.

It’s little wonder that my Dad only slept 4 hours a day. He worked graveyard, slept a couple hours, went over to Little League, came home for dinner, slept an hour or two and went back to work. Even with all that he took us to doctor and dentist appointments, went on school field trips, and saw all our elementary school plays and band performances.

Now that I look back on this, I don’t see the grumpy father who had little patience. I see a man who worked hard for his family and then had some left over to help local kids learn about team work. It’s truly remarkable when I think about it! I wonder how many kids today could say their father was a role model not only for them but for the neighborhood?

Give Baby Girls Another Chance at Life in India

The Indian Government is taking extraordinary steps to save the lives of female babies. Girls are considered a burden to their families. Often, they are aborted or killed shortly after birth. More than 10 million female babies have been killed over the last 20 years.

The Indian Government has enacted laws preventing doctors from revealing the baby’s sex to the parents. But it’s done no good. Statistics show that only 800 female births are reported by 1000 male births. This figure is down from 945 females per 1000 males in the period of 1991-2001. If female births decline further, it will create an imbalance in the population.

To end this practice, the government will be creating several orphanges for femals. They hope by providing the option of handing over baby girls to the government, female baby deaths will decline. Money has already been allocated for the project, but construction has not begun.

Wayne Schenk has won the New York State Lottery–One Million Dollars! How is the winner going to spend the spoils? He’s terminally ill with cancer. He’s been give one year to live. He’s hoping the money can buy him some experimental cancer treatments.

Right now, he’s getting reatment via the VA Medican Center in Syracuse, New York. He’d like to go to the Eastern Regional Medical Center in Philadelphia. They are on the cutting edge of cancer treatment. Schenk is hoping to pay his way to a little more time.

His hit a road block with the New York State Lottery Commission. They have no provisions for payments to people who might not survive 20 years. Schenck could take a lump sum of $400,000, but will only see $200,000 of that after taxes. He needs $125,000 just to begin treatment. Lottery officials hope to work out some way to expedite payments.