Friday, December 4, 2009

And because these things deserve their own post....

In general, the last 3 posts were mostly about the photos, but there were a few things I wanted to single out separately, the first being the cute moment when Orion said, "Mommy, I like your Daddy." :) He has been very into asking questions about family lately and how different people are related. Case in point, he and Sarah were having a discussion on the way back from Disneyland. He has always called her Sissy, but apparently that didn't really translate to sister! She was telling him that they have the same mom, and she grew in my tummy just like he did, and he just waved his hand at her and said, "I don't believe in all that stuff!" Um, huh?!

But there was so much more from this trip, mainly from my dad. He has always been into telling stories, but he is even more into looking back at the past right now. I worry about that a little to be honest, but it was still interesting to hear him talk about so many things from his past I had never heard about. Such as...

The story of him jumping on train when he wa in 1st grade. It wasn't moving at the time, and he thought it would be cool to climb up the ladder. His dad was getting off work around that time, and yikes, the train started to move! His dad jumped on the train and grabbed him... then he beat him all the way home. :( Guess that was how it was in those days mostly.

When he was about in 5th grade, he saved a kid from drowning. The amazing thing was, he didn't officially know how to swim himself! He said he had played around in the water alot, but never really swam, but when he saw the little kid, he decided he could figure it out, and he did!

His first child with his first wife was stillborn. How heartbreaking. She was never talked about when I was growing up, but I knew there had been another wife. They went on to have 4 children together, but then he found out she cheated on him, and that was it.

My mom took me to a baby swim class! OK, so this was kindof a huge one because I had NO idea. I didn't even know they had those back then, and my parents didn't seem like the type. However, I always have known I could swim before I could walk. It is one of the favorite family stories about tossing me in the pool when friends would come over just to shock them. But I always assumed they taught me, so this was just weird to find out!

And this isn't really a family story, but an interesting one, and it was about people I knew personally. A guy my dad worked with, and who used to come over sometimes, just up and left his wife and moved to New York when he was 70! It was a surprising story to me because they always seemed like such a good fit, both happy and upbeat people, and she was a really vibrant and attractive lady. But I guess he felt like he hadn't lived yet. Apparently he showed up a little while later with a young girlfriend to collect some of his things, and this was the part that floored me: the wife was totally fine with it all and just wished him well. Dang, I think I would be bitter. But who knows, maybe they had more of a platonic relationship and it was a totally mutual split. Just a slice of life story!

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