Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All!

Yesterday marked the 4th anniversary of my father’s death from Alzheimer’s Disease.  Judy & I took my mother, Chris, to the Coeur d’ Alene Resort (Beverly’s Restaurant & Lounge on the 7th floor of the resort) for dinner to celebrate my Dad’s life and to toast our 39th wedding anniversary (April 12th).  It was a fantastic evening with great views of the lake out their massive picture windows, delicious crab cake appetizers and main courses of lamb chops, salmon & scallops, capped off by a cotton candy dessert with homemade ice cream in the middle…how about that?  Dad would have loved it there, but he is now seated around the Table of the Lord God Almighty with those who have gone before…the ultimate in a dining experiences, don’t you think?  If you haven’t checked out Beverly’s at the Coeur d’ Alene, I hope you’ll treat yourself someday.  You’ll be glad you did!

Happy Birthday wishes go to Amy Brantner, fitness coach extraordinaire & lovely woman; to long-time friend Elizabeth William, a steadfast friend to many & outstanding spouse, mother & grandmother, who is 61 today; and to former business associate, Scott Carter, insurance & risk management professional extraordinaire, who turns 61 today.  Here’s to all of you!  And here’s to childhood friend, Jim Wright, Alaskan attorney & family man extraordinaire, who celebrates his birthday tomorrow (April 12th)  Here’s to you, Jim!

Do you receive and/or send hand written notes to family, friends, business associates?  To me, it’s one of the best things ever.  In this day of e-mails & texts, it’s wonderful to receive a note in a person’s handwriting or to send a note in your own handwriting to another person.  There’s something about the handwritten word that leaves a lasting impression.  Well, I have a dear friend named Cindy who not only sends handwritten notes, but makes her own cards and incorporates handcrafted stamps on her cards.  I look forward to opening mail from Cindy, as I know there is a handcrafted card to read and enjoy.  What a labor of love and a great gift to give to others.  It’s an uplifting thing to do.  I once visited Cindy’s home in Southern California and she took me on a tour of her stamping/card making room…a room in her house dedicated to this art form.  It was something to see…she has hundreds of different custom made stamps and various materials she uses in creating her cards.  It’s really something!  Here’s to you Cindy, for this great gift you give to others!

Speaking of Cindy, I got a chance to catch up with her husband David by phone yesterday.  We had a great conversation about his work as a Flight Engineer with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California (near Lancaster CA).  David’s parents, Carl & Helen, were dear friends of mine when I attended Whitman College in Walla Walla WA.  They adopted me as their own and I enjoyed many great Sunday dinners with them and hours of great conversation about various topics.  Carl was an accomplished hydraulic engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers…his claim to fame was designing the lock systems on a number of Snake River dams.  Carl & Helen were one in a million…terrific people.  I asked David yesterday what his greatest accomplishment was during his career and he immediately said the X-24B project & working with test pilot John Manke.  Well I looked up the X-24B & John Manke on my internet search engine yesterday afternoon and here is what I found:

The Marin Marietta X-24 was an American experimental aircraft developed from a joint U.S. Air Force-NASA program named PILOT (1963-1975).  It was designed and built to test lifting body concepts, experimenting with the concept of unpowered reentry and landing, later used by the Space Shuttle.  The X-24 was drop launched from a modified B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes before igniting its rocket engine; after expending its rocket fuel, the pilot would glide the X-24 to an unpowered landing.  The X-24B’s design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory (where my friend David worked).  The final design used modified the X-24A’s bulbous shape into one resembling a “flying flatiron”—rounded top, flat bottom, and a double platform that ended in a pointed nose.  First to fly the X-24B was John Manke, a former Korean War Marine Corps fighter pilot.  The first flight (a glide flight) occurred on August 1, 1973.  Manke was also the pilot on the first powered mission on November 15, 1973.  He served as a research pilot, Chief of Flight Operations, and as site manager of NASA’s Flight Research Center, later the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, during a 22-year career with NASA.  John passed away at age 87 on January 31st of this year.  Here’s to my friend, David; test pilot John Manke; and all of the people who worked on the X-24 project!

Speaking of things mechanical, it turns out that Larry Stallings, one of my 1969 Topps Football Cards, was an accomplished engineer who graduated from Georgia Tech University before he started a long 14 year NFL career with the St. Louis Cardinals.  He was born in Evansville, Indiana in 1941 and attended Reitz Memorial High School there (Don Mattingly of New Yankee fame is a graduate of Reitz Memorial too!).  Stallings was a one-time Pro Bowl selection as linebacker for the Cardinals in 1970.  His football card says that he played “the outside linebacking position and is extremely capable defending against the run or pass play.  He has excellent speed and is the rock’em, sock’em type.”  After his NFL career, he started and engineering firm in St. Louis and lives there today.  Larry is 77 years old.  Here’s to Larry Stallings and his remarkably long NFL career…not bad for an 18th round draft pick in the 1963 NFL draft!

Here is the funny Medical Dictionary definition for the day:

Recovery Room:  Place to do upholstery

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers—but never blame yourself.  It’s never your fault.  But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change.”

—Katharine Hepburn, legendary actress & multiple Oscar winner (1907-2003)

“I always want to find the best burger in town.”

—Dennis Quaid, actor of “Frequency” movie fame (a great movie!)

“Jesus himself talked about prayer and meditation.  Anything that brings you closer to the Lord, what’s wrong with that?

—Dennis Quaid, actor

Here’s to a great Thursday and lots of love always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)