Letters From Dad

 Fathers day is coming up this Sunday so I thought I would put together a tribute to my Dad that starts off with the very first letter I ever got from my Dad. He was still in the Philippines in World War 11 when I was born on Aug 5th 1945, so I didn't get to see him until I was about one year old.

Phillippines
Aug 29th, 1945

Hello Billy

Welcome to our happy little family and to this great big world, I haven’t met you outside of a few kicks you gave me before you entered this world but I got a picture of you today and you’re quite a little guy. I’m proud of you. As your mother had probably told you, I’m in the army now but it won’t be long until I get home and concentrate on being a good father to you. You will never remember it but you will have served a few months in the army yourself and I hope that is all you will ever serve. That is what all these men fought and died for, was to make your life and other little guys like you, have a better place to live in.

It’s all over now, so it’s up to you to make it stay good when you grow up. You have a good start in life except for having me for an old man. But with the mother and the grandparents you should be able to overcome that handicap. I promise to do everything I can to be a good father to you. So keep this letter. If I ever go astray, it’s sort of a contract. Until we meet Billy, take care of your mother for us and give her a big kiss for me, will you?
Goodnight Billy
Your Dad

P.S. I hope you like me.





April 20th 1990

Hi Bill

Been meaning to write for a long time so finally got around to it. Been so busy around here trying to get settled around after the big kitchen remodeling. I also built some big cabinets in the garage enclosed with folding doors to hide some of the junk. As you know Coletta is a pack rat and she has a big collection of junk here. However I have learned how to accept things that used to disturb me and to be happy & enjoy the life I lead.

Went fishing last week and caught over 30 code fish. Really had a good time even though it was windy & rough. We were out over two nights. Went about 100 miles out in the ocean. I never get out there in the ocean fishing that I don’t think of you & the good times we had fishing together down in Florida. Good memories!

Coletta & I went out with Ray & Lorraine for Easter dinner and had a nice time. It’s weird that Ray & I still see each other now after being friends since we were 9 years old. The four of us get together a couple of times a week. Nice to have close friends.

I’m enclosing a little something for you. Why don’t you take it and go out for a nice dinner at a good place and really enjoy yourself for an evening.
Better close for now, have to listen to “Cheers,” my favorite.

Love Ya’ much Bill
Take care
Dad


This is a letter I sent to my Dad out in California back in 1990. I am responding to his letter. He was telling me about how he would go out fishing in the ocean and the great memories it brought back of the early times in our lives, when we were all one big family:


Hi Dad

Thank You for sending the $50, that was great of you to do that. It was really nice getting your letter too. It was fun to read it.
You were talking about fishing and good memories, that’s the reason I like fishing so much. I remember You, Mom, Jeanne & me all went out together having a great time and remembering Nana. She really loved fishing with us.

I remember the last time she ever went fishing. It was the summer I stayed with her after Mom died. I kept asking Nana to come fishing at Indian Rocks Pier with me. I don’t think she was physically up to sitting all day in the sun but one day she said she wanted to go with me. We got to the pier & she stayed close to the shore. I didn’t think we could get anything so close to shore so I asked her if I could go to the end of the pier and try my luck. “Go ahead,” she said, “but you’ll be sorry.”

Well after about 30 minutes out at the end, I didn’t get a bite so I went back to see how Nana was doing. When I got there to her she held up the biggest “Snook” I’d ever seen. “I told you so,” she said. After that I stuck to her like glue. We talked & laughed and had a great time. At the end of the day she was really glad she went. She created great memories that day for her and me that would never be forgotten. What a great fisherman she was.

I think we do a lot of things that bring back good memories. That’s what I do to get me past the bad times, I think about all the good memories people have given me.

Kris and Shawn are coming to visit me June 2nd and stay for a week. That will be nice if I can keep up with them. I’m saving the $50 you sent me so we can all go out together. I’ll get some pictures & send them to you.

Love
Bill


Dad was 76 when his life came to and end. While he was in Hospice he kept a diary of the last days of his life and what he was feeling as each day passed by. It ends abruptly 27 days before he died.

 Note: Enlarge Video to full screen and Press Pause as each page turns so that you can stop and read it.

Politicians Eliminate Illinois Cares Rx Prescription Drug Program

 I just came back from my weekly disability meeting at the Schaumburg Township in Schaumburg Illinois. I found out that Springfield has passed a budget were they will eliminate the Illinois Cares Rx program. That program helps pay for medication for the disabled, elderly, and the poor. "WHAT ARE YOU POLITICIANS THINKING? Have you gone off the deep end? How are we supposed pay for our medications next month?"

 "Governor Quinn, If you sign that bill, it will put the disabled, elderly, and the poor in need of their medicine in a lot of trouble health wise. I don't doubt that there will be people that will die because they couldn't afford their medicine. I want you to think about that before you put your pen to that piece of paper."

Remember This? It was one of your promises to the people of Illinois.
http://www.quinnforillinois.com/issues/health-care

William Kaufman  

Thinking Back on Things

When I look at this car I used to drive around in, it reminds me of when I used to have money. I had a brand new 2 story home with a wife and 2 children. Both my home and cars were paid for. When I went shopping for clothes, I didn't even look at the price tag. Voice newspaper voted me one of the 10 best dressed men back then. I could do things and travel places. It's been a little over 30 years since those days. It's funny how much things can change.

Remembering The Disco Days

It was 1977. I was 32 years old. My wife and I had just come out of the show. We saw “Saturday Night Fever” The movie, the music and the dancing were awesome. We didn’t want to go home that night. We wanted to go dancing. My wife and I asked around and found this Disco place. As we enter the building, there in front of us was a stage packed full of young people like ourselves line dancing to the tune of “Stayin’ Alive.” The lights were flashing and the dance floor lit up in all sorts of colors. It was one of the most fantastic sites I had ever seen. We felt like we had been transported into the Disco that we had just seen in the movie. In that instant my wife and I were hooked on this whole lifestyle.

We didn’t know how to do any of the dances so we just watched the people that night and had a couple of drinks. We wanted to be able to dance just like that. So my wife and I took a Disco Dance class at our park district. We never looked back from then on. We were dancing at all the clubs around Chicago.

Every time my old body hears the music from “Saturday Night Fever” I come alive again and my mind is back on the dance floor twirling around with my wife. It was one of the best times in my life. I loved 1977.

              

The Cell Phone

A Long time ago we had these two executives from Motorola come to our disability meeting at the Schaumburg township in Illinois where I live. They wanted to know our opinion about this new thing called the cell phone. We all said "Yes it would be great to have a cell phone but we can't afford the monthly phone charges." I told them about my recent troubles about when my car broke down on the interstate on my way to the V A hospital. I told them, "The price of the phones are not the problem it's the yearly contract fees that we can't afford. Why don't they have a deal where the phone company would give us so many minutes each month for free so that we could use the phone in case of emergencies? Being disabled it would have been great to have a cell phone to be able to call for help." The two executives turned and looked at each other if like a light bulb went on in their heads. I don't think they ever thought of that idea. Well sometime later after that meeting they came out with the free 911 phone calls that you can now make on your cell phone.  That was a god send for the people who couldn't afford the cell phone charges.

 I still didn't have the money to buy a cell phone so I went without one for some time. After my heart attack my son gave me his old cell phone so I could use it to call 911 in case I got in trouble. Then came along the cell phone I have now. It's a cheap pay-as-you-go phone. I don't call very many people and I only have to put $20 on it every 3 months. I have gotten so use to carrying it now that I wouldn't be without it. It gives me that sense of security when I go out in case something happens to me.

Later on in our disability meeting, I found out that if you qualify you can get a free phone and they give you so many minutes each month and it doesn't cost anything. Now everybody in our disability meeting has a cell phone. It took a while but I'm glad that everybody has one. You never know when an emergency will arise.  


The following are "topical remarks" issued by the White House upon President Clinton's signing of S.B. 800, which designated 911 as the nationwide emergency number, and provides liability protection for wireless carriers who handle 911 calls. The bill was introduced in the 106th Congress by Sen. Conrad Burns on April 14, 1999, and was signed into law by President Clinton as Public Law 106-81.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release
October 26, 1999
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today I am pleased to sign into law the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999. By making it easier to use wireless phones to report emergencies, this bill could save thousands of lives every year. Nearly 100,000 times each day, someone uses a wireless phone to make an emergency call. People with wireless phones can speed the delivery of public safety services by providing rapid reports of car crashes, incidents of aggressive or drunk driving, serious crimes, and natural disasters. Getting rapid care to someone who is suffering from a heart attack or is involved a car crash can mean the difference between life and death. The legislation I am signing today will improve emergency wireless communications in several ways. First, it will make 9-1-1 the universal emergency telephone number for wireless and "wireline" telephones across the United States. Currently, there are 20 different emergency wireless numbers in different states. Second, it will encourage statewide coordination of the efforts of public safety and law enforcement officials to protect our citizens and save lives. Finally, it will increase private sector investment in emergency wireless services by providing wireless companies with the same level of liability protection that "wireline" telecommunications companies have.

I want to thank members of Congress, the wireless industry, public safety officials, and medical professionals who worked together to pass this important legislation.

Those Flowers Started Blooming

Today was the day that I had been waiting for. I knew those flowers in the Nature Preserve were about to bloom any day. So I headed out with my camera and tripod. The only thing I didn't know was how hot is was going to be out there even in the shadows of the forest. I even wore the wrong shirt. It was a long sleeve shirt made out of polyester. I stayed out there as long as I could taking pictures of the flowers but soon I couldn't stand it anymore and I left but not without a few beautiful pictures.

 When I got to the Nature, I went straight for the farm house where they have some of the flowers along the fence that I had been looking for. I was happy to see that they were in bloom. That meant that the rest of the flowers deep in the forest would also be in bloom. I stopped and took a couple of pictures.

After I got a couple of shots, I headed down the path into the forest.

Along the way I stopped and took a picture of a field of lavender colored wild flowers.

In the woods there is a log cabin that has those flowers so I stopped and took some pictures.

After I was through there, I went down this path where I knew they had a field of these flowers.

 By this time I was about to pass out from the heat so I started to get out of there but I stopped to take a couple of more pictures.

I was pushing it so I finally left. and headed back up the path to my car.

 I just wish that it wasn't so hot out. When I got home I found out that I was walking around in 91 degree temperatures. I'm not use to that. But I am glad that I got my pictures.

Mother's Day in the Forest

 I went back to see if those certain flowers I have been waiting for were in bloom today but no such luck. It seems like they are just taking their sweet time about it. I even brought my tripod with me today. I'm glad I did though because my hands shake so much that I lose some good photos.

  It was kind of crowded on the path in the forest but I kind of expected that being that it was Mother's Day and all.

 Today I took a different path to see what I could find to photograph. I started my walk where I had left off the other day. It was along an old wooden fence with those lavender colored flowers.

 I walked across this wooden walkway that goes over a little stream. When I came to the end there is a memorial bench there with a woman's name on it. What caught my eyes was that someone had come along an put some flowers on the bench for that woman whose name appeared on the bench. I supposed that it was a daughter or son or even a spouse that had stopped by and say "Hello Mom" on this day.

   I continued my walk passing a few couples with their children. They started following me on the path. The kids were making a lot of noise just like I used to do at that age. Now that I am older I prefer to hear the sounds of the forest. It gives me peace. So I sat down on another memorial bench and waited for them to go by. As I sat there, I looked up and saw the sun shining through the trees."Cool," I said to myself. I wondered how this picture would turn out.  I got my camera and took a shot.

 The kids were gone so I got up and continued my way down the path in the forest until I came to this open area. The grass was cut and there where flowers all over. I looked over at this one  flowering plant and it seemed to glow as the sun came down through the trees. It was so cool. I hoped that I could get a good picture of it.

 I knew there was a Lilac bush around some place because I could smell it. I just love the smell of Lilacs I turned around and saw it behind me. Before I started taking pictures of it I had to get up close and take a whiff of it.

 

 After I took a close up picture of the Lilacs, I just had to smell the flowers one more time before I went on my way

 Further into the forest, I saw this little red flower. It looked like a school bell or something like that.  I bent down and with my camera on my tripod and started taking pictures. Some people walked by me and I thought to myself, "They don't see the little things that I see. They were in a hurry. To bad, they are missing out on a lot of beautiful things the forest has to offer.

Up ahead is a bridge that I think is cool. I've tried to take a picture of it with my old camera but I was never happy with the way it turned out. So I wanted to try using my new camera and see what happens.

   As you can see it's getting a darker in the woods as I go deeper into the forest. Up ahead were all these beautiful lavender flowers again. I'll show you.

 I got up as close as I could and took another picture.

 A little way down the path I saw this itty bitty little flower. I got down on the ground just as some people walked by. They probable thought I was either nuts or having a heart attack because the flower I was looking at was that small. I set my camera so that I could get as close to it as possible and got the picture. "Cool," I said after I took the picture.

  I was at the end of the path and it was time to go home and see how my pictures turned out. Today was a beautiful day. I am glad that I was around to see it.