Thanks Grandpa

Hello my friends. Well, I've been living in interesting times the last couple weeks. I went through an intervention for a close friend or family member which was not successful. The result may have pushed things in the right direction, but I'm not yet optimistic, and I'm generally a glass half full kind of guy. I am going to set up a private (or anonymous) blog for myself to explore and document my feelings, both for healing and writing. Ironically, for the last month or so I have been feeling a strong urge to write again, and this incident fits perfectly into my topics. Hey, it's a silver lining I suppose, but I could sure as Hell do without the clouds. If any of my friends or relatives that are not directly involved want access I'll provide it as I certainly could do with your input. I won't provide access to strangers and those involved for privacy and interpersonal relationship considerations.

There have been several bright spots. While preparing for the event last week I saw the opera and the Freehold Studio Series. There was an absolutely amazing clown piece, and if you live in the area and like to laugh and have ever met or seen a Japanese woman you'll be doing yourself a disservice by not seeing the Studio Series this week. It is part of this weekend's encore performances, and the other encore pieces are all worth the effort as well.

I hadn't seen Rachel in ages, so it was terrific to get together for a great meal and opera. We went to the pre-show lecture which I think enhanced the experience. The man doing the lecture was passionate about the subject and it was catching, enchanting. To top it off, it is now one of my favorite two operas. The first I ever saw was Lohengrin in 2004, and I've not missed one since as a result. It is now tied for my favorite, I suspect partly because it was my first. It now coexists with Don Giovanni as one of my favorite two.

I've been in an intensive database class (Inside SQL Server, Kalen Delaney). It has been terrific and I'm looking forward to bringing this extra knowledge back to the job. It's really exciting. We went Monday to Wednesday, and will go Monday and Tuesday next week. As a result I missed reading to the kids on Monday. One class was available this morning, so I got to start off today with half my fourth graders.

I brought two Harold and the Purple Crayon books. The Amazon pictures are horrible or non-existent, so I'll try to load a scan of a page or two to flickr in the next few days. The covers do show the idea of Harold drawing his adventures, so I'll link them below. The first was a copy of the book I had as a child, my favorite childhood book. I was worried the kids wouldn't enjoy it much, but they loved it. I think there were some silent groans at first, as it is very simple, but the imaginations and magic of these books hooked them, and in turn animated me more. We were having so much fun and laughter their teacher who usually uses the time as a welcome break to catch up on things came to watch and listen too, and she loved the book. After the last two weeks it was a tremendous relief and joy for me. I swear to God, I get as much out of reading as the kids, maybe more. That same deity whoever he/she/they may be has my gratitude. Nothing has been as healing for me the last few weeks. I asked them if they wanted to hear my secret, and were delighted when I told them I still liked reading my Harold book when I was in high school.

They were also delighted when I told them Harold looked like my Grandpa. I remember thinking as a boy that Harold was my Grandpa as a boy. One boy asked if my Grandpa had a purple crayon. Well, they had a big box of loose crayons we played with as kids, the remnants of broken and depleted boxes. I haven't thought of that in 30 years so that was terrific. A girl asked if my Grandpa liked to draw, and I said he drew plans of things he was building. Another question was asked, and I had to say I didn't know because he died a long time ago, but he was my favorite person in the world then and I still like talking about him. I said I bet they could guess my Grandpa's name, and they chorused "Harold!" Smart kids. Then we finished the rest of the second book. They were, in order read today:
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Harold's Fairy Tale

My paternal grandparents were my favorite people in the world in my teens and twenties, and I loved and admired them both very deeply. Getting to reminisce about them was just one more unexpected boon this morning. Life is so full of joy and delicious surprises. I'm certainly glad to be back.