11/2/23

 Thursday, November 2, 2023

In bed by 10, awake at 4:40 w/ some back pain, onto lab till 5:50.  33°, high of 48°, wind SW at 11 mph, 7-13/24, WC is 24°.  Sunrise at 7:27, sunset at 5:42,  10+14.

Treadmill    25:03 and 0.62.   I watched 2 episodes of . . .

American Bandstand on YouTube while on the treadmill.  One from November 9, 1963 and one from August, 1961.  The former was broadcast 2 weeks before JFK was assassinated in Dallas, an event that I have long associated with a massive loss of innocence within the U.S.  It began with the killing of JFK ran to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.  How different our world became between those 2 stunning dates.  The names of the 'regular' dancers were listed on the 1961 show including some I thought I remembered: Kenny Rossi, Justice Carcelli, Arlene Sullivan.  The boys all wore jackets and ties.  The girls all had "do's".  I was reminded that "the 60s" really referred only to the mid to late 60s; the early 60s were largely indistinquishable from the uptight 50s.  The 1961 show marked the 4th anniversary of the show being picked up by the ABC network in 1957.  Dick Clark, Mr. Smooth, played 3 period songs: Paul Anka's Diana, Johnny Mathis' Chances Are, and the Everly Brothers' Wake Up, Little Susie. songs popular when I was 16 years old and a fan of Bandstand Matinee.  Watching the two shows (1) reminded me of how segregated we were in the 60s, with only one black couple appearing on the two shows, and (2) persuaded me that it's true: White people can't dance.

VA today for 3rd day in a row with VA appointments, though yesterday's was online.  Today PT Evaluation.  I'm not sure who ordered this, probably Dr. Cheng in PM&R clinic but I was ask the therapist. . . . I met with PT Jennifer Batie Mueller and found out that the referral was made by my Health Coach Melinda to see whether the Functional Rehabilitation Group might be appropriate for me, which it doesn't appear to be.  Nonetheless, it was good to meet Jennifer and to learn that I can contact her directly for PT if I think I need some.  The next FRG program starts in January so things may change by then.

LTMW at 10 a.m. as I am about to leave for the VA, I see that the short tube feeder that I filled this morning at about 6:30 is more than 1/3rd depleted.  The cold temperatures have really increased business.  Both suet cakes are also regularly attracting hungry visitors of all kinds, not just the regular chickadees and woodpeckers. . . By the time I returned from the VA at 12:30, the feeder was more than half empty with birds still flying in for service.

Peter's 'Bar Mitvah' letter.  I received this text message from Anh:

Hi Anne and Chuck, Peter is getting ready to go on a 3 day Confirmation retreat in Nov with our church. We are asking family members to write "love letters" for Peter to receive and read when he is on retreat. Here are more details about the letters from the youth minister:
On Confirmation retreat, our students will open letters that their parents (and various loved ones) have hand-written.  These letters should just be an iteration of your care, love, and support for your high schooler.  Often times, it can be hard to communicate these things, but our high school students will open these meaningful letters at an impactful time on our Confirmation retreat.  Again, it should be handwritten if possible, and turned in soon.  If you can write Peter a letter, put it in a sealed envelope, and drop it off in our mailbox or we can pick it up before Tuesday.   Thank you!  

My letter, which may be changed:

Dear Peter,

Long ago, before your Dad had even met your Mom, I wondered whether I might go through life without a grandchild, and whether the Clausen family name would die out once your Aunt Sarah and your Dad went to their rewards.  Those concerns all stopped when your Mom and Dad met, loved each other, married, and then blessed the world with your birth.   I have warm memories of visiting you and them in the maternity ward of the hospital, all of us marveling at your seeming perfection and all the promise and potential that you represented, even in your infancy.  But, as we know, though all babies are beautiful, not all turn out so beautifully.  Happily you are wonderfully fulfilling all the “promise and potential” that we saw in you as a newborn and then as a toddler, a child, and now as a young man.

You have warmed by heart more times than I can count, and I am grateful for each time.  It happens every time I see you interacting with Lizzie and with Drew, being the loving Big Brother to them, caring for them and helping to nurture them as they follow in your footsteps toward responsible adulthood.  It happens every time I see you respecting and helping your Mom and Dad.  It happened especially when I watched you work in partnership with your Dad in helping Geri and me with work we couldn’t do ourselves (like moving the heavy buffet from the house across our street into our living room), as well as other ‘corporal works of mercy’ for us.   It happens when I saw you volunteer for sports in school, including football at Nicolet and when I saw you volunteer and take a leadership role in Nicolet FEAR.  It happened every time you took on part-time employment, at Culver’s, at WAC, and at MCC, each job presenting different challenges and requiring different skills.   This list is far from complete but I hope it evidences that I have followed your growth from your beginning to now and that I have taken great pride in your transition from boyhood to manhood.   I add an even more personal comment, i.e., that I have always taken special pride in your carrying my name.  I confess that I often  refer to you as “my grandson, Peter Charles.”

I don’t want you to think that my love and admiration of you is based primarily on your many accomplishments, in the family, in school, or in your work.   It is based rather on what those accomplishments reveal about your character, your heart and soul.  There is love and generosity of spirit in you.  I see it in your relations with all of us in the family.  There is courage and intellectual curiosity and a sense of adventure in you, as is shown by your taking on new challenges in your life, challenges that some, perhaps many, others shirk.  And there is responsibility in you,, demonstrated again and again as you regularly fulfill the requirements of the roles you fill: son , big brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend,  student, team member and team leader, and employee.

Long ago, you and your Mom and Dad lived with Geri and me for a year or so.  I was privileged to see to grow from an infant to a toddler to a youngster.  In the mornings, you would sit on my lap and experiment with the keyboard to my computer.  You were very special to me then and you are very special to me now.  You’re a good man growing into a better man and I am very proud of you.