Connections

Funny thing – for no particular reason I can think of, I’ve been connecting with people lately.  People I’ve known for a long time, and another whom I have never met face-to-face.

I connected with Jim.  We hadn’t talked in a awhile, and I’m not sure I know why.  We’re busy, I guess.  The problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult for him to talk on the phone about Alzheimer’s within ear shot of his wife. You see, both his mother and his wife suffer from the disease.  In talking to him, my own attitude is  always refreshed to see how strongly he faces his difficult life.  In our reconnection, we learned from each other that there are deep life lessons we are learning – lessons we would not have learned if we weren’t going through this experience with Alzheimer’s.  In my case, I have slowly come to realize that my mother is still teaching me – these are the final lessons she will teach me in this world.  She is teaching me humility and patience.

I connected with Keith.  I’m extraordinarily proud of my son – he is a good father, a good husband, a good teacher, and a good coach.  Mostly, I enjoy just listening to him recite the paths of his life.  He meets the good and the bad with equal aplomb.  Last Sunday we talked for almost five hours – this from me who generally hates the telephone.  It was mostly guy talk – all we lacked was a cigar to enjoy while talking.

(Be sure to put your mouse on a photo, then click on the photo.  You will see a larger version of the photo that way.)

I connected with Jeff.  We go way back to the early 70s when we worked together in Atlanta.  He’s attuned to my situation caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s.  Being a  Jimmy Buffett fan, Jeff told me of Buffett’s dealing with his father’s Alzheimer’s.  He even sent me a copy of one Jimmy’s stories through the mail.  I truly identified with how Buffett’s father went through periods of excellent long term memory while not being able to remember what he had for breakfast.  I took this photo in August 2006, not much after my mother moved here from Florida.  Over dinner, she leafed through old scrapbooks and remembered incredible details.

I connected with Barry.  Though I’ve never met the man, we first connected when he read this blog back when we lived in Việt Nam.  He has made his own trip – and rode a moto from Saigon to the border with China.  Our obvious connection is a country we both love and admire. It was a thought provoking and interesting conversation on many topics, including being a veteran of the war America fought in Việt Nam.

Finally, I connected with Trang.  She is one of my former students and graduated from the University of Huê at the same time the Mystery Guest Blogger and I returned home.  She now works in Sài Gòn for IBM.  Because most of the clients are in the United States, she works at night – which of course makes it perfect for the two of us to stay connected.  As she comes in to work, I am sitting down at my computer with my morning coffee.  On many days, we IM and stay connected.   A few days ago, things were slow in her office and we even had a chance to turn on the “voice chat” feature of our IM and talk.

Connections.

Important, they are.

Comments

[Russ]

Changes in attitude, changes in latitude nothing remains quite the same. Can't wait to connect.