A New Angel on Our Side and Another Great Friday

On Monday, February 15th, my Papa, my Mom's father, passed away in Naples, Florida which means that we have one more angel in heaven cheering for us and watching us from above. He is so greatly missed already! He was an amazing man, and even though I did not get to see him on a regular basis since my Mom's family is in Florida, I cherished every moment we were able to spend together. I've kept almost all of his emails (those sent to me, anyway... he was a huge fan of forwards ;) ) and I've held every piece of advice he has given me very close to my heart. He may have been a man of few words, but each word he did speak to me or write to me has made a lasting impression. He was so grounded and knew the value of hard work and dedication, as evidenced here, from this email he sent me SEVEN years ago today:

Nothing is more important than practical experience. Wish you the best, darlin', and make the most of it. Papa went from High School to the U.S. Navy in WWII, but in prior years from age 10 did many things from selling magazines door-to-door, delivering newspapers, selling newspapers on a street corner, hauling groceries for 5-cents per order (some of them a mile or more from the grocery store), laying linoleum in new homes on week-ends (12-hours per day @ 50-cents per hour (good pay in those days---1940 & 1941). In my Junior year in High School I was Asst. Mgr. of an A&P Supermarket, even though I only worked a few hours after school on week-days and about 12 hours on Saturday. My compensation was 38-cents per hour. Early in my Senior year, I was offered a job with Reliance Electric & Engineering Co. in Cleveland as the Asst. Director of War Transportation & Rationing on the second shift---4 P.M til Midnite. I was paid 50-cents per hour, which was a bundle at the time. I didn't get a lot of sleep in those days but I learned a lot and felt fairly rich. My job was to make the applications for Company employees for Tires, Shoes and Gasoline Stamps. I was able to take Shorthand & Type at the time which primarily qualified me for the job. My point is that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve if you put your mind to it and don't take 'NO' for an answer!!! Love, Papa P.S. All of the foregoing constituted my "College Education" equivalent.

Of course, he went on to be instrumental in the development of Marco Island and was hugely successful in real estate, because it was what he was passionate about and he knew the importance of hard work... I have many messages that focus on the importance of finding something you love.... "One must pursue a career which is a "Labor of Love" and not merely a "Labor"" especially during the time when I was unsure what I wanted for my future.

I am just so saddened that I will no longer have new words of wisdom from him to rely on...but at least he has instilled many great values in me and I always have an idea of what he might say, even though it will never be as eloquent or with the same weight as it would be coming directly from him. There are so many things I already miss and I feel something in my life is missing now that he is gone... and I'll even miss those forwarded emails!

In other news, our new angel definitely did his part... another good ultra sound and another good doctor's appointment. I'm on my feet for another week and we have another week under our belt!! Still hoping for another 5 - 6 weeks.... maybe 7 if all continues to go as it has! We can't ask for more of a blessing than that!