Dad

My father died Tuesday afternoon. He was 81 and had Parkinson's Disease. A year ago he and my mom moved in with my brother, and I'm certain my father was very happy during that time. My mother was with him when he died. Parkinson's had robbed him of his true self, and I'm not sure he even knew what was happening at the end. But I'm certain he knew his family loved him, and I take some comfort in that.

And I know he is now at peace. The pain will pass for me, as well. But right now, it's time to grieve, to comfort my mother and to try to ease some of my brother's burden.

"Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations." --St. Francis de Sales

Reminders

This guy reminds me why I'm proud to be from Iowa.




And this lady reminds me why I'm happy I'm not living in Texas.

I Wonder

Do you think if I asked, would my employer "cut" my salary by increasing it 4 percent, like the proposed Dept. of Defense budget?

It's Obsolete Before It's Invented?

The progression of information technology. As a former college professor, I'm struck by the message that students today are being trained for jobs that don't yet exist, using technology that hasn't been created, to solve problems we are as yet unaware of.

The implications for those in higher education are mind boggling.

Grandmother Survives 2 Days Trapped in Quake Rubble

Out of tragedy, a brief smile:

Maria D'Antuono, a 98 year-old grandmother from the village of Tempera close to the city of L'Aquila, was lifted from her apartment after being trapped in it for two days. When she was asked on Italian television how she had passed the time, she simply replied that she had been keeping busy "knitting."