Sunday, May 25, 2008

THE GRANDADDY OF ALL CHRONICLES

These are my Maternal Great Grandfathers,



Jacob Fast

b. 1867 Russia, d. 1928





Johannes Simonson

b. 1875 Sweden, d. 1956



my Grandfathers,



Joseph Coppens

b. 1906 Belgium, d. 1979







Mel Simonson

b. 1907 USA, d. 1968





This is a photo of my Father,

Firnie,
who passed away at the age of 46 on May 29, 1980...
I can hardly believe that in a few days he will have been gone for 28 years.
















Here is a cool old photo of my Dad with his Dad way back in the 30s,














and me and my mine way back in the 50s.














Because my Dad died in his mid forties, I have assumed that I have been living in what I have called the bonus time.

Naturally I really started really thinking about my mortality when I turned 45,



and when I actually made it to 50,



I breathed a sigh of relief.





Tomorrow I am going to yet another funeral.

BradHughes, who I had known for over three decades, died of Cancer at the age of 53, leaving behind a wife and a very young daughter, who is about the same age as my youngest son.




The worst thing about LIFE,
is the unpredictability of your term..
which is why you need to enjoy it,
NOW!




However I realised the other day, that because of this silly blog, someday my kids may have children of their own, and my future grandchildren will not need to stare blankly at some crappy, old, musty, sepia, photo, and wonder what their Grandpa was like.






All of these postings and comments will give them a pretty good idea of what I was like...


in fact, they will prolly know far more about their Grandpa (and even Great Grandpa) than they ever wanted to know...

well TFB!

That is cool though isn't it?
Hopefully they can do a post of their own that starts off with something like this..
This was my zany Grandfather
Donn
b. Canada 1957 d. 2057...

22 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:19 am

    Life really is a bitch sometimes. But thanks to the blogosphere you can pass that bitchiness down the generations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 2057? so soon? oh well...atleast we will c 2050 together...

    ReplyDelete
  3. My money is on your grandchildren changing their names.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Donn, good to see another blogger focussing in on the inevitable. Don't die yet brother - I enjoy reading your take. But then again, as you say, live here NOW, don't get caught up on what you're gonna miss when you're gone. Nice post Donn.

    ReplyDelete
  5. your posts always show such a zest for life,, and i really enjoy that...

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1950s dad pic holding a wee Donn looks uncannily like you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your dad sure was too young to die..and the thing is, it is great you have written about your heritage, I agree, our kids will be able to look back and see what makes us tick :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous8:23 am

    This is proof that you are not going to delete your blog.

    How are you today, Gran'pa?

    Can I sit on your lap?!

    *grin*

    ReplyDelete
  9. Do I have to mind my language if your future grandchildren are going to read this?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very sweet. It's nice to see the soft and sensitive side of HE once in a while.

    ReplyDelete
  11. FREELANCE GURU
    You truly are a GURU! Well said.
    Misanthropy needs to be kindled and nurtured.

    GHOSTAY
    I am SO there! I hope that you know what you're talking about because I am leaving it all up to your prognosis.

    VICUS
    HA! Bloody right. Perhaps by then everyone will go by their Blog handle anyway...or a bar code.

    Either way one of them will be riding the sacred ostrich through the flaming hoop on Equinox Day and ushering in the New Age for our Alien Insect Overlords.

    TOM
    I have no intentions of sitting around and fretting about that which I cannot change. When your number comes up you go..where I haven't the foggiest..maybe nowhere..maybe the Matrix...perhaps Quarkland where all the rides and snacks are free.

    PAISLEY
    I must admit that until quite recently I did worry about it.
    Now I am in a good place.
    Out here I have said my piece and made my peace.

    ReplyDelete
  12. MJ
    Nothing can alter those EYEBROW genes! I have little doubt that these little buggers will remain the greatest challenge for the geneticists trying to map the Human Genome...
    which is what I look like in my OLD picture..
    a Human Genome.

    CAZZIE
    I guess that I finally realised WHY I was doing this..
    I mean I'm not getting paid or famous or solving geopolitical conflicts or deciphering the secrets of the Universe.

    I'm rambling on and on and on about the same 7 things..it's like letting other people listen to the voices in your head.

    GAUTAMI
    You sure can..what would you like for Christmas? HO HO HO

    No I am not going to delete my BLOG because then I would be a ghost..an image in an old musty album that my Grandkids would stare at while my kids had to try to remember all of my idiosyncracies.

    This way they can just click on and wonder why the world never changes and why I didn't try harder to change it.

    MJ
    No. In the future people will all speak in txt anyway and there won't be a single word longer than 4 letters and all of the swear words will be abreviated so Parents won't even know that their kids are cussing.

    ANGELA
    Yes I am turning into a sentimental old fool...what are ya gonna do? I am old school and a firm believer that we cannot know anything about the present or the future if we don't look at the past.

    My progeny need to know how they got here and didn't end up in Russia, Sweden, Belgium or the USA..
    it all adds up.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So, Donn, do you know WHY your father died so young? Is there a medical history that might have dealt you some difficult genes to deal with? Knowing what you are born with is half the battle. Caring one way or the other is another one quarter, and Modern medicine finishes it off, so hopefully, you are able to expect a longer life.

    If not, then let's hold your wake NOW so we can all enjoy the hell out of ourselves and let you know how much we all love you before you go and unexpectedly kick the bucket on us.

    ReplyDelete
  14. THE MICHAEL
    Having just walked in the door from a Funeral..which was great because it was a Celebration of his Life and not a maudlin drag you through the ringer thing...
    I am ready to partay!

    My Father died of a Heart Attack, as did my maternal Grandfather..so two guesses as to how I will be exiting..
    we don't 'do' Cancer or Diabetes or Parachute Malfunctions in my Gene Pool, we prefer to use the express elevator.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You FORGOT Slartybartfast!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm very sorry for your loss.

    ReplyDelete
  17. See, heart attacks in younger people are usually killers because they haven't developed collateral blood vessels on the heart muscles. Old folks survive because they have lots of little extra vessels that grew as the big ones slowly plugged up.

    The youngsters usually throw a big cholesterol chunk that plugs a major artery on the heart, which in turns cuts off the blood supply to that muscle, which in turn kills the person because the heart can no longer pump. Presto, bingo... you're dead as a doornail!

    However, if you KNOW you inherited the high cholesterol or high blood pressure, doing something about it now can extend your life by decades - hence the modern medicine The Michael mentioned. (like that string of M's?)

    So you could have a wake once a year instead of a birthday up until you actually do kick the bucket. A great, big, wingding of a party to send you off... only you wouldn't be gone... so you could have a blast too!

    Glad to hear your friend's service was a celebration - which is the way they should always be.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous6:21 pm

    Cool post on grandfathers/fathers.

    ReplyDelete
  19. What fantastic pictures and words on your family!

    I think the internet-living-history is an incredible diary? /scribe for the generations to come, to have, a brilliant idea.

    Our families have had the females drop dead from heart problems....the males are all fine but it hits the females.

    All gone before 60.

    Keep an eye on your body Donn, 50 is prime of life stuff, keep the heart serviced. And listen to what your body tells you, get stuff checked out..

    We can break the pattern, being here for a long and good time is the go. I think grandchildren would be very nice to see.

    ReplyDelete
  20. STEVE
    SlartyWHOfest?

    ANNA
    His little girl is SO full of pluck...
    at the funeral she was engaging in banter with one of the speakers and won the hearts of everyone present...she has obviously learned & inherited oodles of Brad's exuberance...which will serve her very well in this life.

    PONYGIRL
    I have obviously developed lots of collaterals because I am strong like Bull...and full of Bull.

    I have relaxed a bit since I hit 50..I had great aunts that lived into their late 90s who smoked and drank every day..it's all in the cards.

    CITIZEN MONDO
    I sound like an old nostalgic fool but I do know that this will be of some interest to one of my future grandchildren...if they have to do a school project or something HA!

    SIENNA
    I fully intend to break the pattern and see my Grandchildren..
    who are prolly going to start appearing in about 5 years.

    Genetics are a huge part of the equation but there is also a little wiggle room for lots 'O Luck...which I have.

    ReplyDelete
  21. hey thats cool! i never thought that far into the future!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Still doing some back-reading through the blogs...

    Yes, I think life is a lottery. Sure, we can do things to avoid or delay the major "braking mechanisms" but to enjoy the present moment is, I think, the best hedge.

    Hang in there,Donn.Your readers need you!

    ReplyDelete

Danke fĆ¼r das Kommentieren/Gracias por comentar/Merci du commentaire/Š’Ń‹ Š“Š»Ń ŠŗŠ¾Š¼Š¼ŠµŠ½Ń‚Š°Ń€Šøя/Thank You for commenting/Ī£Ī±Ļ‚ ĪµĻ…Ļ‡Ī±ĻĪ¹ĻƒĻ„ĻŽ Ī³Ī¹Ī± Ļ„Īæ ĻƒĻ‡ĪæĪ»Ī¹Ī±ĻƒĪ¼ĻŒ/Grazie per commentare/Tak for kommentaren...

click yer cursor matey...

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...