Life's Amazing Journey - Good Luck Smith Family!

It's amazing how life takes little turns here and there.  We often make connections with people that we don't think much about at the time we make them, only to discover those connections come around later in life.  This is the story of such a connection.

The photo in this blog post was taken on Prom Night 2012.  My son is the 1st boy on the left.  His date, Bailey, is the first girl on the left.  Let's get back to them in a minute.

The man in the back on the left is Greg Smith and I am standing next to him (in case you weren't sure).  I don't know what path life took in order for Greg to end up at Henderson State University back in 1990-1991, but I know the path my life took.

I graduated in 1987 from Rangeview HS in Aurora, CO.  From there, I attended (what was then) Loretto Heights College in Denver.  It closed that same academic year.  I went to the University of Colorado at Denver and Boulder and then was encouraged to take some time off, "to reconsider my collegiate career."  During my "re-evaluation phase," my brother picked Henderson State University out of a book of colleges based on the girl-to-boy ratio. No kidding.  So, he was in college while I worked at a computer company in Alexandria, VA.

I thought I would get back into the "college mode" of life by going to HSU with my brother.  Greg Smith was the Residence Assistant for the dorm (and floor) in which I stayed.  Imet Shan at HSU. I convinced her to go out with me, and we started our life together. (Haha, there was much more to it than that, but that is a story for another time)

Fast forward a bunch of years.

Greg Smith and his family moved to Prescott to take over the football program, ultimately leading him to take over all Athletic Director duties as well as head up other sports programs.  He and I ended up at the same church as well.  Over the past ten years, we have watched our families grow.

This year, Tyler decided to play baseball on the high school team after taking a couple years off from playing ball.  Greg was the coach.  As friends, Tyler and Greg's daughter, Bailey (above, left) went to prom together.  Tyler had also decided that he would play football for Coach Smith - something Tyler swore he would never play.  Tyler's class schedule for next year prevents him from playing football. 

As it turns out, Greg and his family are leaving our town, as he accepted a position in another part of the state.  They are going to be missed greatly.  I hope we all stay in touch through Facebook, as we have been.

And so it is, the guy who was the RA for the dorm I stayed in ultimately ends up in Prescott where my family lives.  My son ends up on his baseball team.  His daughter and my son go to prom together.  And, through a mutual respect of each other, Greg convinces my son to play football.

The football thing didn't work out, but that doesn't matter.  Because in the scheme of things, it was never meant to work out.  The criss-cross paths of life brought our two families together before there were "families" and then through some pretty cool experiences that I don't think any of us will forget.

I wish Greg and the rest of the Smith clan the very best in the next phase of their lives.  It has been an honor knowing them at the different stages of life in which our paths have crossed.

It's been 16 years...

Sitting here now, it is hard to fathom everything we've gone through over the past 16 years.  You see, 16 years ago today, Shan was giving birth to our son.  I thought it would be fun to look back at things that were happening about 16 years ago: 

• Microsoft unleashes Windows 95 on the world. During the unveiling, it crashes.
• Something called a "DVD" hits the news. Supposedly it would replace VHS tapes. Pishaw! 
• eBay is founded. 
• Toy Story is released and we go watch it with our little baby boy. 16 years later, we have tons of Toy Story toys from those early days up to Toy Story 3.  
• A year after Toy Story (well, a little sooner, but in '96 anyway), Pokemon is thrust upon the world and our son still loves it the way his father loves Star Wars.
• Speaking of Star Wars, Tyler grows to love all things Star Wars - just like his old man, much to his mother's dismay. :-)

I believe we started taking family vacations the first summer after Tyler was born.  We've been to San Antonio (a couple times), New Orleans, Memphis (a couple times), Nashville, Dallas, Orlando, Washington DC, St. Louis, Branson, Chicago, New York City, and other destinations that escape my aging mind (but I'm sure Shan will happily fill in).

We've seen Tyler grow from a baby we could hold in the crook of my arm to a young man that stands nearly a head taller than I do.  We've seen him dressed in everything from nothing but undies, a cowboy hat and a guitar to a business suit.  He has seen things come along that we had not imagined at the time he was born: his sister, Emily; Playstation; Wii; ipods, ipads; netbooks; 9/11; the 2nd shuttle disaster; World Cup championships; Flurp; the completion of the Star Wars saga; the Red Sox winning the World Series; the Indians not doing so...

We've seen interests change from Pokemon to Barney to Yugioh to Star Wars.  Somewhere during all of this, girls went from having cooties to being cuties.  We've seen him grow from riding a stick horse to driving our family vehicles.  He's played baseball and basketball.  He's won a writing award and is a very good artist.  He loves his high-tech gadgets but will help out with his grandfather on the farm when asked. 

He's lived through the passing of his great grandparents and his "Poppy" (my Dad). 

Most of all, he is one of the greatest sons a parent could hope for.  By the time I was his age, I had already made quite a mess of things in my life (though I hid most of those pretty well, I think, and I certainly learned from them).  Tyler, on the other hand, is well-rounded and well-grounded.  Sure, we have our moments (and I'm sure many more to come as we travel through the rest of the teenage years), but I am VERY proud to call him SON. 

Happy Birthday, Tyler!  Welcome to the pre-adulthood period called "Sixteen!"  I love you, buddy!

She's Dead, Jim

Tyler told me that his laptop wouldn't come on. He had used it earlier this morning, but by this afternoon, it would not come on. I picked it up and it was pretty hot. I tried to turn it on, but when I pressed the power button, I got nothing at all. No lights at all. That is rare for a laptop. Usually, you get a flash or at least some indication of power. Nothing.

I removed the battery and tried only with the ac adapter. Nothing. I let it cool off. Nothing.

I fired up my laptop and went to the HP site to chat with tech support. I explained the problem and he had me do a 'static electricity drain' which I had not heard of. basically, I removed the battery, unplugged the ac adapter and held the power button for a little more than 60 seconds. After that, I put the battery back in and plugged it in to the adapter. I pushed the power button, and ... nothing.

The tech asked me to hook the laptop up to an external monitor. Why? I have no idea - THERE WAS NO POWER! anyway, I did it for the sake of argument. Nothing. Well, the monitor did recognize the fact that it had something plugged in, but the laptop did not come on, of course. Hooking it up to a monitor has nothing to do with power. Seriously, where do they find these people and/or who writes their tech scripts??

so, Tyler and I did the only thing we could at this point: deconstruction. Now, in the name of fairness and honesty, I took very care measures to make sure everything I did could be reassembled. I did this in case something actually triggered a fix. Naturally, nothing I did was going to fix this. The simple fact is that the boy burned up his laptop. See, when he closed the lid, he had it set to blank the screen but left the machine running. BIG MISTAKE. He then set the laptop in a comfy chair, restricting the air flow. BIG MISTAKE. Now, if he had been told a hundred times about shutting down his laptop when not in use, it would be one thing. But, I warned him about not shutting it down. Yes, he is 14, but some things have to be learned the hard way I guess.

I pulled the hard drive and the memory. i figure I can salvage the data off the drive with equipment I have at work.

so, after we got to the point we knew the laptop was beyond repair, I took it apart completely and let Tyler vent his frustrations by hammering the thing to pieces. Emily recorded it on video and I'm sure it will be edited and posted on YouTube.

So, now he is laptop-less, and will have to use the desktop we have in the home office (the kids have one in that room they can use). He'll have to save his pennies for a new one. I told Shan, "I paid for part of the first laptop. I will not pay for part of a second one."

Random Pictures

I don't know why, but I love taking various pictures of my Indians collectibles. In this case, that also includes Steelers, Coke, and Mickey Mouse.


I was chasing Tyler around with the camera. He finally surprised me by turning around and 'shooting me!'


Emily was playing around in her room when I snapped this one. I have no idea what was going through her mind at the time...


And, here is a 'so-close' moment from one of Emily's ballgames. It may look like it's a tie, but the fielder got there just before I snapped the picture... Dang it!


For the record: How is it that the Blogger dictionary does NOT know the word "Steelers!?!?!" HELLO!!!!