No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on November 14, 2023

Aka my Dad.

Today is one of those more important numbered birthdays in my mind.

My father is a prime example of success in achieving the American dream. 

Child of immigrants, he had to work hard for every gain in his life.

And work he did at all kinds of things however from an early age his love was science, and he had the brain for it.

He has a PhD from Johns Hopkins and did his post doc work at Harvard. He taught at Georgia Tech along with his research. He has a couple of patents in his name along with textbooks and a lot of papers in various journals.

He married my mother when both were at OSU (I refuse to use the ‘the’).

They had four children with very different personalities and skills. There is a running joke that if we put our brain trust together, we could try take over the world! 

My father taught us so many things. From the fine arts to shop safety to photography. The list is very long. He also taught by example showing us how we should treat people with respect and dignity. There was no do as I tell you rather than what I do in our household.

He taught us to be honest and if you make a promise, then you keep it. I knew if he said that he would do something with me later, it was going to happen.

His whistle was known all over the neighborhood as the signal that the O’Shea children were to come home ASAP.

I knew where I stood with him. I still do.

He is a good father and a great grandfather to his grandchildren. I always love watching him with them.

My love of puns was kindled by him.

I would not be the person I am today without him. I know he has my back and I have his shoulder to cry on if needed.

I could not ask for a better one.

I am grateful that my father took the time to show me the world.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 5, 2023

Today is my mother’s birthday.

She is an amazing woman who, along with my dad, has been my rock through difficult times.

My mother taught me a lot by example. She is polite to everyone not just the people who can help her.

She taught a lot of people how to be a nurse and how to teach nursing to others. I am sure there are now students of hers working with the next generation of nurses. Her work added to the education of nurses and her techniques are still being taught.

I am very proud of my mother and her accomplishments.

She is a Master Gardener and knows a lot about plants from identifying to curing plant ailments to getting rid of pests to what grows where. She oversees the gardens where she lives. She also has a garden patch in a community garden where she continues to grow vegetables which she has been doing her entire life. Her herb garden is out on her patio. She has a green thumb.

Her cookies are famous in certain circles. Her Christmas cookies are the stuff of legend. I can’t tell you how many times her chocolate chip cookies gave me comfort.

My mother expanded our pallets with her cooking. She makes wonderful food and she can make eggs benedict under very trying conditions.

I love her for making me the person I am today. She is/was on speed dial after I had Caroline and when I have a medical question or a cooking question or a life question.

She has held me when I cried and cheers me on when I go for something.

She does this for all four of her children and three grandchildren.

She is my mother and I love her.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Love

Your daughter

Kathleen

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 1, 2023

First of all, not dead 

But a lot has happened since I last typed on these blogs.

On November 22, 2022, Peter lost the strength in his legs and arms and was taken to a hospital.

On November 23, 2022, he had a heart attack but the hospital was the right place to be and they revived him.

On December 11, 2022, he had major but life-saving surgery.

Since then he has been in a re-habilitation center working on getting his limbs to cooperate.

He is scheduled to come home soon. It will a big relief and a big change. 

He is working hard to get himself back up and moving.

I am surviving. I am making a lot of decisions really quickly and have to get things done. 

My job is being very patient with me and I am very grateful.

Caroline started her 2^nd semester as a sophomore. Think good thoughts for her as she tries to get into the program she wants to get into.

So there in a nutshell is what is going on. 

I have missed this.

I am grateful that Peter is getting the help he needs.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 5, 2022

Today is Caroline’s 20^th birthday.

I’ll let you let that fact sink in.

Caroline was born during a snow storm. When Peter left the hospital, he had a heck of a time getting home.

I had no idea what the weather was nor did I care. I was spending time getting to know my daughter.

Over the years I have watched her grown from infant to toddler to child to teenager to adult.

It has been an interesting twenty years.

I have watched her art style refine since she could hold a drawing tool.

I remember the first story she told about a Mamma Unicorn and a baby unicorn were eating hay (the hay was paper I cut off while I was cutting a pattern)

Since then she has written a lot both for school and just to write. She had a short story published. She had art published on several books as well as magazines.

My child is intelligent and creative. She is also very disciplined. I think I can count on two hands the number of times I had to remind her to do her homework. She still works very hard on her school work. She has a goal and I think she is going to get there and amaze the world.

I love her more than I can express.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Hope the day was good to you. 

Glad I was able to burden your ears with my lack of singing voice.

I love you and believe in you.

Love,

mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamama

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 14, 2022

Today is my father’s birthday. 

To many he was the professor who taught them about physics or a myriad of other topics. At his heart, he is a teacher. He loves sharing things he finds interesting.

He is still one of my role models and teaches me new things.

He has a love of language and made sure that all his children left the house with a neutral accent and an extensive vocabulary.  If we didn’t know what a word meant, we could go to him and get a definition. 

This love of language included good shaggy dog stories and puns. Puns were like breathing in our house. Many a dinner dissolved into a pun off. Served me well when I was introduced to Milo O’Shea years later and we ended in a pun off theatrical version. The person who introduced us said, “I knew you were related.” Probably not, but we did have fun.

My love of puppets comes from things I watched as a kid. My father and I would get up on Saturday and watch cartoons together. One show I loved, and still do, was Kulka, Fran, and Ollie. There were a number of puppets in shows I loved like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Captain Kangaroo. Then Sesame Street came along and my mind was blown. We watched the Muppet Show as a family. It was one of the few must see TV shows that the whole family enjoyed.

My father made time of each of his children individually. I appreciate that. He would read to me. My love of Wind in the Willows came from sitting next to my father and listening to him read the books and give each character a voice. He read the Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring to me. When I started to become a voracious read, he gave me free reign to his science fiction and fantasy books. He introduced me to Heinlein and Asimov and Bradbury among many others. Peter and I read to Caroline and now she is a big reader too.

Photography is another passion of his that he passed down to me. He is an amazing photographer and taught me a lot about framing pictures along with other things that it takes to make a good photograph. I took photography in High School and was lucky that our neighbor was another camera nut with a dark room in his basement he let me use. My father would be my critical eye for my work which I still appreciate.

He is always there for his children and grandchildren. I know he has my back no matter what.

I know he loves me and I love him.

Happy Birthday Dad!  Hope the day brings you lots of lovely memories.

Love,

Kathleen

Your eldest daughter

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