| This site is for Family and Friends to keep up with the crazy life of the Teece Family in Oregon. |
My Credo, Whatever you do, Do with Integrity, Wherever you go, Go as a Leader, Whomever you serve, Serve with Caring, Whenever you dream, Dream with your All and Never, ever Give up.
| Another sad day on the farm
Saturday Dena and I found Iris (the surrogate mother of Spit) laying with her head down hill toward the pond. Dena got her up and realized she was very ill. We called the owner (Paul's Sister) and notified her and then called the vet and crazy Lisa (our horse friend). [link to original story about Iris and Spit being born]
The vet suspected that Iris had an organ breakdown and was slowly dying, but needed to run blood tests. We got her cleaned up, gave her meds to remove the pain and waited for results.
Her meds and quarantine from all including Spit seemed to be working. By monday she was eating again and drinking water on her own. We had hopes of a recovery.
Dena and the vet worked out a plan of Dena giving antibiotics shots twice a day and pain killers to ease the pain she was in.
We reunited her with Spit and she was so happy to see her momma again.
By the afternoon of Tuesday, things went downhill fast. Dena called everyone again and the vet showed up. His recommendation was to put her down immediately, she was clearly suffering and the plan wasn't working. Dena sadly agreed and they walked her to the side of the barn so that Spit couldn't see and injected her and put her to sleep.
Iris wasn't our horse, but we loved her just the same. She saved our darling Spit they day she was born and we will never forget her. Iris was a great mom, always protecting Spit, yet giving her enough space to roam and play.
This morning I woke up and walked to the car to drive the kids to school and go to work. It was foggy and cold and I saw Spit whinnying and running around looking for her momma. It was sad to watch and remember, she has lost two moms in her 5 months of life and now she is on her own. |
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| | Tech Talk with Clint Bowers Last night was version 9.11 (9 years and 11 months ) of tech talk, my little 1 hour public access TV show that I've been doing for years.
My guest was Clint Bowers has a website at ClintBowers.com
He is an amazing young man that works for the Ashland Independent Film Festival and has a degree from SOU. He is into Go-Cart Racing and Filmmaking as well as Photography and World Adventure.
I'll be posting a link to the stream of the show soon.
We also talked about NetBook Portable Computers and compared the Acer Aspire One to the HP 2133.
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| | Unity? It's funny.
The elections are over.
America has spoken.
The President, Senate and House are now ruled by the same party.
And all the people in that party are happy and are now calling for 'Unity'.
Yet, just a week ago these same people despised anyone that didn't agree with them.
So... Welcome to America. We can have Unity as long as we are in charge, seems to be the message.
These are the same people that call this election a revolution.
This is not a revolution.
This is democracy.
A winner and a loser.
Same as it always is.
At least now the whining can stop.
Thank God the whining will stop.
The constant poking fun at the other side.
The constant lashing of bile and hatred will end.
America has spoken.
And the Democrats are happy.
Now we can roll up our sleeves and get to work and test the mettle of the man that charmed a nation.
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| | Check out these pics of Teague playing Volleyball Thanks to Laura Winters for taking these photos of Teague both hitting and blocking. It amazes me how straight up and down she is and how far off the ground.
On the block shot her elbows are above the net.
On the hit shot, it's after she hit the ball, you can see the ball made it past the defenders attempted block.
 I'm very proud of her, as you can tell... Not just because she is becoming quite the athlete, but because she also is a great teammate. I really enjoy watching how well they all work together as a team and how close they are to each other. |
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| | And I'm back... Forgive me for it has been several months since my last blog post.
But I'm back.
I've thought about coming back to writing for a week. Last week Dena wanted to go out to a bar and have a drink and meet someone fun. So off we went. We landed at the Black Sheep and sat at the bar. Sitting next to Dena was Wil Wheaton and his wife, but more on that later.
I have not been able to find the words or desire to write since David died, so I stopped writing.
It also seems that every day I run into someone who asks, "How is Paul?" and I tell them all the same thing. He is back at work full time and doing a great job. He and his wife, Suzanne are dealing with something none of us should have to deal with, but they do so with great strength and faith.
My dearest friend still struggles with pain and sorrow of losing his son and some days are of course harder than others, but he moves forward.
And so should I. It's time to start writing again.
But where do I begin, so much has happened during the last two and a half months... let me sum up.
- I went to a security conference in Las Vegas. Wait, scratch that, I went to Hacker High School party in Las Vegas. I went with 4 recent graduates from SOU and I was the only one that had ever been to sin city before. Poor guys, I'm not the best Vegas tour guide for young unmarried men. I only showed them the best buffets in town.
DefCon, (http://www.defcon.org/) is in it's 16th year and I was shocked at the professional demeanor of these evil doers. They look like normal people. Too much to share here, more on it later, but suffice it to say, I came back paranoid and worried. Forget Global Warming, hackers are the real threat to our future. Oh and there are many 20 something hard bodied, catholic school girl outfit wearing, lock pick clad young ladies that are experts at social engineering, so if you are a geek like me and your on a business trip and a young, amazing young lady walks up and starts flirting with you and you think, this is too good to be true, it is... Dude she will Pwn you before midnight. Let me put it another way, no identification and no registration, cash only to get your badge (which has a computer in it) and the hotel website was hacked so we couldn't make hotel reservations. I left my laptop at home.
- I went to Colorado Springs and went to the top of Pikes Peak at 14,100'. Normally when I travel on business, it's flight, cab, hotel, cab, flight. This time I decided to take 2 hours between meetings and see the sites. I've been visiting our client (the city of Colorado Springs) for at least 8 years and I have never seen the beauty of Colorado until this trip. Photos at (http://gallery.mac.com/jimteece#100363&bgcolor=black&view=grid)
- I was the Team Mom of Teague's Volleyball team. Check out the site (http:www.AshlandVolleyBall.com/JV) for Videos and photos of the games. The season just ended on Saturday and the long weeks of 2 games and 1 tournament are now over. Teague and the rest of her team did great. I'll miss my job of feeding them and videotaping the games. It's fun to see how much progress she has made as an athlete and team player in just a year.
- I (along with my friend Alan Oppenheimer of Open Door Networks) was featured on the front page of the Medford Mail Tribune because one of our iPhone apps was the number 1 selling app in Japan. http://we-envision.com/News.asp?NewsID=3
- I went on a Motorcycle Trip with my brothers and dad to Yosemite. No... I did not ride, I drove the sag wagon. Photos at (http://gallery.mac.com/jimteece#100320&bgcolor=black&view=grid)
- Popo Peter and Sweet Shirl came through Ashland for the afternoon and took us to dinner at Cucina Biazzi.
- A few weeks later Popo Peter came to town with his motorcycle gang (what's left of it... between cancer, failing hearts and failing eyes, half the gang out of commission) and they took us out to dinner at Beasy's on the Creek.
- I went to Lake Shasta to celebrate my half-sister's Filipino 50 Birthday Party! (http://gallery.mac.com/jimteece#100346&bgcolor=black&view=grid)
- I went to Sonoma to visit with another company that is very similar to Project A in hopes of finding ways to work together on future projects. Of course the global economic crisis might put a damper on things.
- I had the honor of presenting the Ashland Chamber of Commerce's Citizen of the Year Award to Ashland School District Superintendent Juli DiChiro.
- I went to my first Pac 10 College Game. OSU Beavers versus Hawaii. It was overwhelmingly fun and a great experience. More on that later.
Oh yeah... and I ran into Wil Wheaton at the Black Sheep.
Wil Wheaton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil_Wheaton) was a child actor known for his role in 'Stand By Me' and his teenager TV series role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation. I have blogged about him before. Our friends Fire-marshal Bob and his wife Robyn showed up, so we gathered our drinks and went to share a table with them. One the way up out of my bar stool I gathered the courage and I leaned over interrupting Wil mid bite of his mashed potatoes, excused the interruption and let him know that I enjoyed his blog (http://wilwheaton.net/) and his books and that I took the guys (Rick and Paul) to PAX last year and they really appreciated his keynote. I made sure not to chat too long, and not to touch him (which is hard for me because I like to touch people) and I went to our table. The conversation at the table became very healing. Out of nowhere, Robyn asked me to start writing again, she said she missed reading my blog. Fire-marshal Bob, made me understand the fire fighter's life code and expectation. Bob fights fires and he rides in helicopters several times a week. I can't explain how or why, but it was very healing for me.
I had my first oyster shooters (OMG they were good) and my first fish and chips (stateside). We laughed and had a great time. And then, just when you think life can't get any better, Wil and his wife (I think her name is Anne) came over to the table and he walked right up to me and shook my hand.
It was a huge moment for me.
Not JUST because I'm a HUGE fan boy (Wil, I did a good job hiding it didn't I?) but because he and his wife came across as real people. People that would be great fun to hang with and drink Oyster shooters with. (I once stood 2 feet away from George Lucas in Vegas with all of my Client Liaison's but I did not say anything to him at all, mainly because I did not want the real person to destroy my fantasy) I showed him the SMS that Paul and I shared and he laughed out loud, it was an inside joke that only He and his blog fans would get. He asked for my card and they walked off.
WOW! Wil Wheaton is a nice, real person. His wife was also so nice. She and Dena made fun of us husbands and we talked about sitting here texting our children. As they left the bar, I looked around and told everyone at the table, how freaking lucky we are, not because we met Wil Wheaton, were lucky because we are sitting in a bar in a little town in a place we live on purpose. We live in a great place and neat people come here to enjoy what we take for granted everyday.
I remember watching Wil's keynote at Macworld a few years back, he looked young in his big black leather jacket, the way I look when I wear a tux and I remember the way he treated everyone that waited in line for a book signing, I was second to last in line, so it took a long time but he was very nice to me, I started out in the middle of the line, but had to run to the restroom and when I got back I went to the end of the line, only to be joined by a man in a wheelchair. Wil was very nice and I enjoyed reading all of his books. His blog inspired me to write mine years ago. Not because I would ever have the audience he would have, but because he writes about his childhood and his parenthood and his geekhood. He does it so well, that it inspired me to do the same.
It was like the planets aligned that night and everything about blogging was there in the room at the same time. My wife, who smiles and tears up at some of my memories as I share them, our friend Robyn and her enjoyment of the blog and her husband Bob, the firefighting helicopter riding hero in our community surrounding me while one of the people that inspired me to write in the first place stood before me, warmly offering a scruffy smile and inspiring me to move forward and write again...
Someday I'll work on proofreading and grammar... ;)
Whew, I told you I had a lot of things happened in the last 2 1/2 months.
In the mean time, life at Project A has been incredibly busy. We launched new designs for the
Ashland Chamber (http://www.ashlandchamber.com/),
Jackson County (http://www.co.jackson.or.us/) and
Dr. Martens (http://www.dmusastore.com/) websites.
We also launched a new site for ScienceWorks Hands on Museum (http://www.scienceworksmuseum.org/) and a custom developed loyalty reward system for Coming Attractions Theaters (http://www.catheatres.com/rewards) as well as a new website for my textile artist friend, Joanne, at http://www.heirloom-couture.com/. We also launched our first FaceBook App for SportsZip.com. (http://apps.facebook.com/sportszip/).
We also hired a developer (Todd) to work exclusively on SiB 360, hired a great guy (Carl) to take Bob's place in sales and a college student (Lacey) to be our first product manager at we-envision.com.
We-Envision.com (the partnership between Project A and Open Door Networks to develop apps for the iPhone) has been very exceed-every-expectation successful. It's fun and exciting to be a part of the iPhone global domination movement. When Peter and his motorcycle gang came to town, they took the family to dinner and I was shocked when they all (almost all) whipped out iphones at the table. Apple recently announced that they sold more iPhones in the last quarter than they did in the 5 previous quarters combined and they also sold more than RIM (the crackberry folks). At the security conference, I sat in the front row of one of the sessions, most were standing room only, and I looked down the isle and saw 6 iphones in a row (not including mine). The platform paradigm shift is happening. It's not just a phone with software, it's a true mobile platform. We have been working hard to deliver apps and now have 11 apps being sold by Apple to customers all over the globe. Our top sellers are Art Envi, Art Envi Deluxe and Space Envi. Alan and I are excited to see people from countries all over the planet buying and using our apps. We will be launching more apps over the next few weeks. Look for it all here at http://www.we-envision.com.
Ashland TV launched TV service in 3 Ashland Hotels and is the only local cable company to provide Ducks, Beavers and Trailblazer games on TV. We are also broadcasting 5 hour long sessions with all the local candidates on Channel 20 around the clock until election day, so that voters have a chance to get informed about all the candidates. It's hard to believe that it has been almost 11 months since Dena and I purchased the company.
So ends the catch up.
It's good to be writing again. Thanks to my friends and family that asked me when I was going to update my blog again. I may not be Wil Wheaton or have an audience of millions but it's good to know my family and friends read my blog and look forward to more postings.
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| | What do you say or do when one of your best friends loses his son? (Paul is a private person, so in respect to him and his family, my posting will not be as long as I would normally make it)
Today we found out that Paul's son, David was lost, when the helicopter he was on crashed, on August 5th. David was not serving in the military, David was a firefighter. He was serving our country locally. He was fighting forest fires in California and he was only 19 years old. It made news worldwide.
David was a life loving, gentle teddy bear of a young man. A genuine lover of life and everything around him. I always enjoyed spending time with him and watching him grow up over the last 9 years.
You can visit his myspace and see how he celebrated living his life. He last updated his site on July 28th, 2008 and his tag line reads, "live for nothing or die for something its your choice"
It was his choice to fight fires. He was attending fire fighter school in Bend, Oregon.
My words do not come close to describing how helpless I feel. My friend is devastated, and I can't do anything to make it better. I ache from sorrow and sadness fills my heart.
David, Your life has affected so many people and you will live on in our memories for ever. Rest in Peace, my little DS.
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| A sad week on the farm - AlyWishes died giving birth
AlyWishes(foreground) with her mom, AlyDoll checking out the donkeys the day they came home.
Dena’s beloved AlyWishes died during the birth of her first
baby.
A horse is an amazing animal. It’s huge and somehow connects
intensely with humans (mostly women it seems to me, I’m just saying…) because
they are gentle giants with the mind of a dog, I assume.
AlyWishes was born 9 years ago from AlyDoll (grand daughter
of AlyDar). AlyDoll was too hot (too much thoroughbred in her) and Dena
didn’t enjoy riding her much, I assumed it was because she feared her life most
of the time. But AlyWishes was Dena’s first baby to raise from birth, train
and ride. To make her very own. The bond they had was very strong. She was an
amazing animal that people called elephant, because of her size.
Dena was getting into riding trail and doing barrel racing
events on her (I have a video of Dena being bucked off during one race landing
on her head and only breaking her glasses thank goodness) but AlyWishes
became lame somehow. Something bothered her when Dena rode her so Dena stopped.
We moved her to the front pasture. She was the horse you would see everyday
coming and going from the farm. Dena would ask me to stop many times coming
home from some event, so she could call out to her horse and watch her thunder
her way to the fence with a happy whinny.
As luck would have it, Dena had a chance to breed
AlyWishes last year and she took it. I think in her mind she felt that the
horse would at least throw perfect little babies like her mother.
It takes a year for the birth to happen. We planned our
summer around it. We canceled all vacation plans and we started dutifully
watching for signs.
I remember the night when Teague told me how excited
she was that the baby would come that night because of the milk production
level and color had changed. Teague was excited because she wanted to raise the
baby and make it her own.
We all went to bed ready to wake up and be treated to a new
baby on the farm.
At 2am, Dena came running into the house, I could hear the
panic in her voice as she frantically tried to gather things. She ran back
outside as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
It was a full moon.
I ran out to the pasture expecting to find a foal in crisis.
But the foal was fine. Wobbly, shaking, cold but fine. We couldn’t find the
mother. We ran all over the pasture and found her. She was down and did not
look right. Blood was everywhere. We called the vet and explained what we saw,
but were told that it sometimes takes up to 8 hours for things to be done. We
were told to keep an eye on her and wait it out. I paid attention to the foal
while Dena read a vet book. My concern was to help the foal get milk and get it
checked out and somehow reconnected with the mother.
I’m not sure how long it took, but the full moon was
disappearing and the sun was not coming up yet. It was getting dark, fast. I
ran up to the house to get a flashlight and a couple of jackets, as it was
getting cold. By the time I came back, Dena was on the phone with the vet,
screaming for help. It went from bad to worse, quickly.
The vet was on his way, he told her it was not good. Teague
and Dena milked all of the colostrum out of the mare as she lay down doing several
never ending contractions.
I was in charge of the foal. I was trying to find ways for
it to nurse and get warm. At one point near the end, I brought the foal over to
nurse if she could. The foal nuzzled her mother’s body looking for a nipple and
AlyWishes lifted her head and stared at her baby for several minutes, with a
sense of pride in her eyes. She took in a long sigh, look around at us and laid
her head back down.
She accepted what was happening, even though we did not.
We did what we could, thinking that somehow this could be
fixed.
We waited for the vet. (Pet Peeve #343554 – As agriculture is dying in the valley
– Vets live further and further away – it takes a long time to get one here on
a farm call)
Finally he arrived, he gave her a shot to take away the pain
and with that she gave her last breath and died.
Numbness fell over us. The night stopped to exist and the
morning broke free.
All of our attention turned to the foal.
In two hours the
vet put a tube in her to feed the colostrum and then did a plasma drip to put
in needed antibodies. We kept working at top speed. Our mission now was to save
the baby.
I caught myself tearing up several times as I caught a glimpse of the
dark lifeless body laying in the pasture.
The vet left around 8am.
Teague laid down in the stall next to the foal and cried
herself to sleep. Even if only for 15 minutes.
Dena, exhausted and covered in blood, walked over to where
AlyWishes lay and knelt down next to her and sobbed, cradling her massive head. I stood back angry and helpless, feeling very aware of how much this horse meant to my wife.
I bucked a couple tons of hay, to keep my mind off things and give Dena the
space to mourn. I called a service to come and get the horse and asked them to
come right away. My thinking was that if Dena did not have to look at her all
day, then it would help.
It did and it didn’t.
Guilt was starting to set in. We second guessed ourselves.
We questioned our lack of ability to save her. Dena was very hard on herself
and all I could do was hug her and calm her down.
We operated all day without sleep or rest. I drove to a
place to get food for the foal. Kind of a mothers milk replacement and some
bottles. I’m sure I was a wreck. A very nice man, that did not know us, gave us
the supplies. I thanked him and hurried home.
Dena called her friends. Her “Horse Friends”.
Now to be honest with you, horse people are a bit crazy. I
get jealous many times at how much love, attention and time the horses get. I
complain a lot about horses. I kind of do it as a joke but I do it to help me
deal with the overwhelming nature of these fanatical people. Horses consume
Horse People.
But no matter how much I complain, I will never forget how wonderful
these people are. When a horse is in need they react. They don’t know you or
maybe they don’t even like you (you are a horse person after all) but they will
do anything to help a horse.
Lisa is one of those friends. She came and spent the entire day
with Dena. She had crazy horse stories and half crazy remedies and tales about
tails, that took our mind off the morning and made us laugh, even if in a
nervous way.
Lisa, made a couple of calls and we got Goats milk and
Colostrum from another horse. The foal has to be fed every two hours and the
first 24 are the most dangerous, so we basically stood by her and watched her
every move. We took shifts. Lisa and Dena took off and came back with a
surrogate mare. We cautiously put the baby with her and she dropped instantly
into mommy mode. She talked to the baby and the baby talked back. She taught
the baby to follow her and she stood between her and anything that could be
labeled as dangerous, including us.
We all took a collective sigh of relief.
I went to get dinner and when I got back, our friends (The
Steele’s = Todd, Donna, Amanda and Emily) came over with Pizza and set up a
tent. The twins spent the night in the tent next to the stall and spent the
night with Teague. They woke up every two hours to feed the baby so that Dena
could get some rest.
The following day allowed us to create a rhythm and get our
life back to normal.
We are still in shock and saddened by what happened and how
it all happened. I learned a lot. Teague was a trooper and has been a great
help to Dena, (as have the Twins).
Taking care of the baby allows us to focus our energy on the
good. We all look forward to seeing her every day and watching her grow. She is
nameless (but we call her Spit! – short for SpitFire and Spittin’ Image) and
she is a sweetheart. She embodies all of the things we loved about her mother.
I look forward to taking lots of pics and posting them over
the years.
Dena is slowly healing. The tears in her eyes fill less of the
time between the feedings. The ache in her heart will be there for a long, long
time.
I'm looking at our horses differently now. I think I'm officially and finally one of those Crazy Horse People.
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| | Which one are you feeding? There are two wolves fighting inside me, the
Cherokee Elder tells his grandchildren around the fire. One is
fearful, greedy, cruel and violent. The other is gentle, kind,
understanding and generous. They have fought each other my entire life.
Which one wins, grandfather? asks one of the children.
Grandfather reflects. The one I feed, he says.
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| | Are you ready for the Silver Tsunami? According to the U.S. Government, Social Security Office, 10,000 people will retire per DAY over the next 20 years.
The article below is about the first baby-boomer filing for retirement, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, who filed online for benefits and requested direct deposit. Think about just that fact.
I still have clients that insist that our senior population doesn't use the internet.
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/babyboomer-firstcheck-pr.htm
This is going to be an interesting 2 decades. I'll be looking to retire when this is all over. The job market will be completely different. Government budgets, economies, services and the definition of success and importance will change so rapidly, our heads will still be spinning.
Because we fear change and are afraid of making hard choices, 2 working Americans will fund the retirement of 1.
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| | I can't sleep... Lots of buzz on the web puts the damn monkeys in my brain.
The U.S. is moving to digital broadcast TV, so now companies are trying to buy up the bandwidth. Google and AT&T are at the table. With Yahoo's smackdown of Microsoft's $42B offer, I was joking with Paul that they should just buy the spectrum. Paul said that they don't know what to do with it. "Exactly, but they know that Google does", I replied. Funny Office Banter in nerdville.
So I was thinking. If AT&T get this and create a nationwide WI-FI/WI-MAX type of network, and all those Apple iPod Touches worked anywhere there was a AT&T service, wow! I can't sleep Im so excited.
Then couple that with the rumor that Starbucks is switching from T-Mobile to AT&T for hotspot provision. Again, WOW! I'm excited.
Now I have to convince Dena to let me buy some AT&T stock for my Valentines present.
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| | McCain and Obama Great Op-Ed in New York Times today, by David Brooks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html
I love the summation.
"The central issue in this election is the crisis of leadership. Voters
are reacting against partisan gridlock. Obama and McCain both offer
ways to end this gridlock. Obama wants us to rise above it by
rediscovering our commonalities. McCain hopes smash it with fierce
honesty and independent action."
I hope it comes down to an election between these two men. I have yet to decide which of the two I will vote for, but I know from the entire pool, I want it to be one of them over the others.
And regardless of the winner and who I ended up voting for, I will NOT put a "Not my president" bumper sticker on my car.
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| | Celebrating Life at 70 A couple of years ago my mom turned 70. My siblings and I decided (ok she told us to) to throw her a party with all her friends to celebrate life. It was a moving night as we each stood up and shared stories, some sad, some crazy funny and all ending in cheers in celebration of a life.
I really enjoyed that we got to do this for her while she was still alive. To speak in front of a crowd sharing stories with her sitting there in front watching.
Last night Dena and I celebrated a 70th birthday and life transition party of a friend. It was a great event that shared many of the same qualities as the one we through for my mom.
Robert was celebrated by many of the people who's lives he has touched and it was heart warming.
One thing that did not happen at my mom's party that did happen at this one was that Dena and I felt like we were on a date. We had a great time with each other and she even shocked me with words I have not heard in a long time. She humbled me and made me speechless with how open she was with me.
It was fun to fall in love again and to smile knowing that someday we will be us standing up on the stage saying thank you to our friends and celebrating our life together at 70.
Note: we won't be ballroom dancing, were going to do Thriller!
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| | Greetings from San Francisco. I'll be here all week for MacWorld. We will be broadcasting live TV and podcasting everyday from Moscone Center this year. Paul Collins is here again and will be part of the show when he can. Also this year Alan Oppenheimer and Dr. Yvonne Fried are here and will no doubt be part of the show. Stay tuned for updates.
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| | Perseverance
Mr. K. passed away this morning.
Dang it. How do I tell Quinn that his teacher died?
I let him sleep in, eat breakfast and fully wakeup before I
broke the news to him.
Dena and I wept all morning after hearing the news. I dried
my tears before I told him so that at least there was some semblance of
strength coming from his father.
It was time.
I called him over to the couch. Dena and Teague gathered
around, Teague clutching tightly to May and her mother at the same time.
He sat on my lap and I tried to cradle him like I did when
he was just a baby, but he's getting tall and big and doesn't really fit in my
lap anymore. I pushed the hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead.
He asked me what he did wrong. "Nothing buddy, there is
something I have to tell you"
He looked up at me. I whispered... "I have bad news..."
His body tightened with pain and the only words that came
from him were a loud scream of "NO! NO, NO" He pushed me away hard and his
reaction brought us all to tears.
Friday Night.
Friday night was a special game. Coach Kitchell was battling
for his life and his team was playing the first playoff game in 9 years.
We knew that he would be unable to make the game, so we came
up with a plan. Dale Rooklyn planted the seed. In one day we coordinated the
school district, the city, the cable TV company (Ashland TV) , the local radio
sports announcer, the phone company, other ISPs and the Cellphone company to
provide the impossible. High speed redundant connectivity to the stadium for
one night. (Steve Mitzel did an outstanding job on this)
It humbles me to realize what we had done. Everyone dropped everything they were working on and delivered a wish for a great man, a simple wish to watch the
football game live from his home. On Friday at 2:30pm we plugged it all in and
Steve Mitzel and Tito Soriano went on-site with the family to ensure that they
could receive the video transmission via a Quicktime stream. I was at the
stadium trying to figure out how to make it all work.
Steve later told me that there wasn't a dry eye in the house
when the projector filled the living room and Mr. K and his family could sit by
his side as he laid in his hospital bed and watch the game together.
Steve and Tito are coaches too and they had to coach the
game so I stood in the press box that night, holding the camera and
broadcasting the game. It really isn't set up for this kind of process so I was
nervous about dropping the connection as we did several times leading up to the
game, scrambling, running to radio shack to buy cables, trying 6 different
connections to get audio from the sports announcer, Pete Belcastro, and making
sure the internet connection would stay up and not disconnect.
It was so tight for space in the press box. One time during
the game, the crowd screaming below, you could feel the stadium shudder. I kept
thinking about harmonic vibrations and wondering if Pete would break my fall if
I landed on him.
Nearing half time I realized that the recording function was
not working, dang it, this was a one
shot deal. People kept calling me while I was filming letting me know what was
and wasn't working. (Thanks everyone) I became frustrated being the only one to
hold the camera, answer the phone and tweak the settings to deliver instant
video. I called on Paul and Rick several times to reset servers and do what
they could remotely to keep this going. I wanted to make sure we did not drop
the signal.
I also realized that I was bouncing around. My arm ached and
I had to go to the bathroom really bad so I was dancing around and trying to
hold it. I felt bad imagining Mr. K and family starting to feel motion sickness
from the video.
What a game. Ashland won by
holding the Corvallis
team at the 3 yard line for 4 downs. It was an exciting finish to an exciting
event. I was proud of everyone that helped pull this all together.
Article about the football game in the Ashland Daily Tidings can be found here.
At the end of the game I packed it all up and put all the
equipment away. It took 3 trips to the car, (it takes a lot to make this all
work) and each time on the way to the car, I looked for a sign to see if Mr. K
did indeed get to watch the game. I really had no way of knowing if it worked
or not.
I noticed that the Boosters were barbecuing and wandered
over to see them, guess what, they do this for the away team, they feed them
before they get on the bus for the long drive home. Yet another example of our
community working together to do something wonderful.
I helped Pete Belcastro carry a bag of equipment to his car
and we saw Steve Mitzel. He gave me the thumbs up and asked me how I was going
to do this again in a week in Portland
with a wink.
Shoot. I didn't even think about that.
I spent Saturday doing errands and figuring out how I was
going to film the next game for Mr. K. Since that is Thanksgiving weekend, I
happen to be in Portland
to visit Tiffany and do some shopping. I could squeeze in the game.
I emailed Steve Sunday morning asking questions about the
logistics, location and connectivity options.
A minute later we got the call.
Sunday Morning.
The weather report said it would be snowing/raining yet the
sky was blue, crisp and very sun shiny. I held Quinn tight and told him about
Mr. K. shining down on us now, touching everyone's life and being apart of us
for ever.
I told him to remember Mr. K forever. To grow up and be like
him. A great man. A dad, teacher, coach, husband and fighter.
We huddled on the couch for what felt like forever crying,
hugging and crying some more. His anger converted to just being sad. He held on
to me tight for a long time.
In 3rd grade Quinn had Mr. K. for a teacher. He
taught Quinn to read, love sports (especially Hockey) and he taught Dena and I
that Quinn is different and that's ok. It's ok for him to be Quinn. He and
Quinn as well as all the other kids in the class had a special bond. He had the
knack of making you feel special. As if you were his first class ever, and yet he
had been teaching since the 80's.
We learned of his fight against cancer at that time. He had
been battling it and 'winning'. The cancer would come back and Mr. K would go
away for a few weeks and then come back 'fixed'.
They do these school wide life skills assemblies where they
award children for exhibiting a lifeskill.
I remember one time when they recognized Mr. K for
perseverance and then he received coach of the year from some national coaching
organization. We were all very proud of him.
Bellview is a cool school recognized by the state for it's
excellence in education. Teague in all her 6 years there had 3 teachers.
This is Quinn's last year in Bellview. You always hope they
pick a great teacher for your child each year.
We felt relieved and lucky for him to get Mr. K again. He
was a great teacher for Quinn in the 3rd grade and had a special way
of getting to Quinn. He could motivate Quinn to read like he motivated him to
tie his shoes.
Dena and I saw Mr. K a month ago for your typical parent
teacher conference. He asked us to make sure Quinn is allowed to read comic
books. He gave us parent homework and commended Quinn for his art and imagination. He held Dena
and I accountable for Quinn reading everyday. He looked great and not tired
like he looked a year ago. He looked 'healthy'.
A few days later we learned from Quinn that Mr. K had to go into
the hospital.
The boys started a band and I video taped them singing a series of
songs to help Mr. K get well, including the venerable hit, "I believe I can
read".
News from the school started to reach us that Mr. K may not
be able to beat cancer this time.
A sadness fell over our home.
We started to realized how
much cancer had impacted our lives. My Mother, Dena's Mom, Our friend Deborah
and now Mr. K. I would drive by the school a couple of times a day and each
time tear up a bit thinking about Mr. K. and his family.
In our minds we felt like we had at least until the end of
the school year. It wasn't until I started working on the football game
broadcast that I accepted what was happening and Thursday night before the game I
found myself overwhelmed with emotions.
Sunday afternoon.
Quinn and I have a special thing we like to do on Sunday,
something we call "FatherSonDay". Normally we go shopping, video gaming, comic
book reading or movie buying. This Sunday we went shopping for a suit for
Quinn. We visited several stores in the mall (including a few video game stores
in-between) and we picked out everything he needed - dress shoes, shirt, tie,
socks, slacks and blazer. We found solace in picking out a suit as a final way
of showing respect.
On the way home, Quinn asked me? "Where do you put a city?" I
smiled. That's what was running through his mind. Where will we all gather to
honor his teacher. His years of teaching, coaching and leading have touched so
many lives in our community that he started to try to figure out where they
will hold the event.
Monday Morning
My dad job usually entails me dropping the kids off at
school. I enjoy the little time we have in the car together where we listen to
loud dance music and make up better lyrics to awful songs. Today we rode in
silence. Quinn was not looking forward to this day.
I decided that I would spend the morning with him in class
just for moral support. The school had brought in counseling and at Mr. K's
request they had the hospice team on hand. That's amazing if you think of it,
up to the end he put the kids first.
When I signed in I wrote Mr. K. in the slot on the form for which
classroom teacher are you visiting. I stopped for a second after I wrote it,
thinking I might change it. But I left it.
I didn't plan the overwhelming feeling of remembrance and
sadness I felt walking into his classroom. I stared at the photos of him and
his classes over the years, at the walls covered in student art work intermixed
with coaching awards. Hanging next to the door were thousands of origami swans
presented to him by students in Japan
on his last visit there.
The councilors formed a circle with the kids and using the
talking stick methodology asked them to share their thoughts or feelings.
On the first round the kids just passed the stick as quickly
as they got it, then on the second round, they started to share. It was
powerful and moving. They loved Mr. K and will miss him very much.
I watched the face of each child as they started to share
and open up and even with tears flowing they were able to reflect back the love
and respect they had for a teacher they called Mr. K.
Quinn finally spoke on the second pass, "Yeah, I uh, Well
Mr. K. just got me" and he passed it on. He spoke his simple eulogy of one of
his life's heroes. He loved Mr. K. because Mr. K just got him.
Dena and I respected Dave Kitchell for his teaching and his
simple style. He was a man's man, yet he was able to connect with children. He
was just as comfortable coaching young men in a football game as he was wearing
a BEE COSTUME ("Be Respectful - Get it!) during school assemblies.
He opitimizes the best examples of a great human being and he
will be missed for a long, long time.
When the talking stick got to me, I did not cry and I did not
show sadness. I simply reminded them all of the time Mr. K. got an award at a
lifeskills assembly for something they honor, called Perseverance.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and Dena and I will be
making a contribution to the The Kitchell Family Donation Fund at
People's bank.
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