A couple of months have passed and I have now a reasonable view on hits and who is viewing the blog – and how they land here. Yep, there are some good tools available for that!
One of the goals was to keep family and friends informed on daily life here (with pics – to avoid sending them out separately), what is going on. Remarkable is to find out how readers do a Google search, some weird searches I will not detail. Of course there is the usual spam, blocked as I review comments. Many faithful readers prefer to remain anonymous and post few or no comments.
So, what is your feedback? You can post a comment or simply drop me an email with suggestions and comments. Appreciated!
Family
Grandfather again!
Sunday 22 October 2006: a call on my mobile…
Gilbert is grandfather again and Danny has a small brother – “Mikey”!
Marianne called me from Washington DC when I was in the middle of a seminar where I was a speaker and was just having Q&A. She told me the great news, she just had her second son – two days earlier than planned. What a surprise… I got pretty emotional and needed a stiff drink to recover (Jack Daniels to be American).
Name: Michael Ivis Cardwell, weight 3.37 kg and 50.8 cm long, or “Mikey”.
After some false starts on Saturday morning, a very hectic Sunday morning. At 5:30 am Marianne woke up having contractions and her water broke at 6:00. Marianne and Mike (or Michael) got to the hospital at 6:30, barely made it through registration, with contractions coming every minute or so. There was no time for an epidural and “Mikey” was born at 7:11 AM (local time in USA).
Mother and son are both doing great. Here are a few pictures taken by the Dad who also survived the experience without complications.
Marianne, Mikey trying the make the V-sign but then getting tired.
For more info see the blog of “The Cardwell Kids” – my two grandsons.
Father’s Day
Yesterday Sunday 18 June was Father’s Day. Unfortunately some children are unaware or ignore it… even the parents!
It was a day to remember my father, born in 1899 (no typo) and who passed away, too soon, in 1979. I regret I missed the chance to know him better, sometimes also due to my own ignorance. I left my favorite country – Brazil – largely in part to be with him as I knew he was not going to end the year, in 1979. I was with him during his last moments and at least it compensated some of my shortcomings towards him.
He had divorced in the early 20th century, a period when it was very unusual and not so well accepted. I had two half sisters, one I never knew and one that later on became friends with my mother. All a bit strange for me – my half sister Irene is 83 years old, her son Frank was a couple of months older than me. I considered Frank as my brother, unfortunately he passed away a couple of years ago in Singapore. We did write to each other regularly.
Irene and myself have been exchanging letters and she surprised me with two old pictures, one of my father (around 18 years old?) and one of herself with my father and his sister Yvonne, maybe dating from the late 1930 and probably taken in Lokeren, his hometown. Valerie scanned the pics and did a great job to improve them. Funny was, she first thought it a picture of me when I was young…
Yes, I don’t forget you Pa, wherever you may be. You were a good father, in your very own way, rough on the outside and a golden heart inside.