YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE

When we met you were just a kid and now you are a young man getting ready for the next academic and social step of your life, college. I hadn't seen you in years but inbetween the time I saw you last and when I recently saw you, I made sure I did what I could as your big bro and mentor to make sure that I could have a positive impact on you and your life so when when we saw each again, it would feel like we were never apart. I didn't want to let your parents down by not doing my best, not calling to check up or check in, or not using my knowledge and experience to add to your growth. I Love and respect Moma and Papa Bear as I call them and I'm happy that you have the support system I never had from my own family when pursing my dreams. Instead of being jealous like most, I chose to be accountable and supportive and learning from you and your support system has given me the confidence I'll need when I have children and they need me to support instead of being cold, being ignorant, and being selfish. I hope you know more so now how much I adore you, your parents adore you, and that you have people who you can count on and counter count on when the serpents of the world show their evil to you up close. I wish you could have stayed longer when you were here but you have your path to master and so do I still. It'll give us more to talk about and keep the chemistry right.

Good Luck!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Today you would have turned 70 but instead we have to celebrate your second year in a better place. That's cool with me and I'm not disappointed even though I wish I could have you here physically, the bond we shared before you left is something I'd never trade in. Thank you for supporting the jump start of my book(s), for my first car, my first SUV, and most importantly, thanks for remembering my birthday just as I remembered yours. I know that everytime the clock reads 9:18, when I look at a score and the score reads 9 - 18, and I even bought lunch one day and my meal with tax cost $9.18, I know it's you. I know that my birthday was and still is a highlight in your life just as having you around was and still is a highlight of mine. All baby boys should experience the kind of connection we had over the years with their Dads but I'll always be okay with being one of the few. I could go on and on but I won't so I miss you, I Love you, and as long as the path I walk remains protected by the Love of your umbrella, I'll always walk it proudly no matter what.

Reminds me of why I wrote I Will See You Later

EYE SURGERY

Over the past two weeks I've gone through the process of having corrective eye surgery and what a ride it's been. I've worn glasses since age 4 and contacts since age 14 and both were getting on my nerves because as I got older, my prescription worsened. I vowed that when I turned 30 and if I did the research and had the finances to do so, I would get my eyes corrected. My brother Adam had the popular procedure Lasik at the Lasik Plus Center in Chicago and has no complains whatsoever. He kept pressing and encouraging me to pursue it so I did and learned that my eyes don't qualify for Lasik. I was prepared for that given that my brother didn't inherit the same poor eyesight I did and what's kept us connected and fresh is how parallel yet unique our lives have always been. Not to mention he's a lefty and I'm right-handed. So after getting the news from Lasik that I didn't qualify, I went to a renown Dr. and learned that my style of eye along with my poor vision qualified me for the procedure known as Visian ICL - (Implantable Collamer Lens). Movie projectors have a chip that when light hits it now, you get either the 720i or 1080i clear picture. In a nut shell that is what I had done to my eyes. Now what's in my eye isn't a chip but a specially designed contact lens made of 40% water and the body doesn't treat it as foreign.

I had my right eye done 2 weeks ago and the next day read 20/20 and my left eye done yesterday and during this morning's follow up I read 20/15. I hope they don't fall out because of all the crying I've done. So far the best investment I've made in my life. I took pictures of my glasses and my contacts for the last time because it's over and the divorce is final.

I wrote a piece called Eyes Like Mine and it talks about what I've seen with my eyes from a perceptual viewpoint instead of concentrating on what's obviously in front of me.

There it is!! March 6, 2008 - a championship moment in my life...