Goodbye to Dad

Our family has always been a tight-knit one. Family dinnertime, family scripture reading and regular family prayer were all part of our daily diet together with the kids. The extent of our closeness came to a poignant head one day during my third year of medical school. I was chosen as a state delegate to attend the American Medical Association’s medical student chapter meeting. It was to be held in Chicago over a Thursday and Friday. I recall Kathleen coming with me to leave me at the airport, and that all three of our small kids were in the back seat. When I turned to say goodbye before getting out of the car, I found the two oldest to have tears streaming down their cheeks. Jessica our oldest, with her lower lip quivering, asked me quietly, “Daddy, why do you want to leave us?” It was such a surreal moment – to suddenly be confronted with a sense of your real value in the eyes of your children. We of course had a very joyous reunion three days later when I arrived back from the meeting. But oh, how precious are our little ones, and the love and admiration they have for their dads!

LESSON LEARNED: While we busy dads may not realize it in the fleeting time we have with our kids, we are idolized by our little ones.

FEEDBACK: DAD, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH FINDING OUT HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE IN YOUR KID’S EYES?

Seven New Planets

Seven new planets deemed habitable to sustain life were discovered recently in a solar system 40 light years away, as described in an article published in Nature Journal of Science this week.  All seven orbit a small dwarf-like star that has only 8% the mass of our own sun.  Further, the Hubble space telescope, and later the James Webb scope to be launched in 2018, will be able to detect chemical fingerprints that will describe the atmospheric structures, and whether organic life may already exist on one or more of these seven planets.  I find this all fascinating, but not particularly surprising given how advanced science has become.  As a child, I envisioned other distant planets on which people already lived in Star Trek-fashion, but it was all speculative stuff back then.  Such notions were distinctly frowned upon in proper society, though my impressions were collaborated in the tenants of my religious upbringing.  Isn’t it fascinating to have what was considered “fringe thinking” and borderline crazy years earlier can become exciting, commonplace understanding within our own lifespans? Just goes to show that Galileo was on to something, eh?

LESSON LEARNED:  Sometimes when what you believe can’t be seen or proven at the moment, you just need to hang on to your faith and be patient.  Science has a way of catching up to religion eventually.

FEEDBACK:  CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES OF SCIENCE CATCHING UP TO RELIGIOUS TENENTS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME?

Oreo Died Today

Oreo died today.  But only for a couple minutes.  Serves her right, that glutton.  In spite of being about 90 in human years, she is surprisingly agile when it comes to stealing food.  She usually snatches it from unsuspecting grandkids, thinking she has rank over the little humans.  So this morning, the dumb dog snatched five-year-old Emmett’s asiago cheese bagel right out of his hands and tried to swallow it whole.  I wasn’t there to witness it myself, but I hear that after the gagging fit, she keeled right over and appeared to be suffering from either a stroke or heart attack or both.  So dramatic.  Kathleen had pity on her, and gently rubbed her tummy.  She suddenly got up and ran out into the bushes to finish her retching.  The whole experience lasted only a couple minutes, and apparently played out like a comic strip.  She was fine fifteen minutes later like nothing had ever happened.

LESSON LEARNED:  Dogs will be dogs, even if it kills them.

FEEDBACK:  ANY OTHER FUNNY ANIMAL STORIES OUT THERE?

Just Keep Driving

Washington University in St. Louis was a fantastic place to do my pathology residency. With over 88 operating rooms in the University hospital alone, it was a bastion of education, vibrancy and learning. It was also infamous for high stress and high expectations. Intense prayer was my daily routine, and I regularly petitioned the Lord to sustain me through this difficult time. I remember that on one particular rotation, my weekly assignment was to present interesting cases to a room full of surgeons at 7:00 a.m. The low-bar expectation was that my cases would be prepared, polished, and that I of course would be there on-time to present. But on one fateful morning, my alarm clock was accidently set to 5:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 a.m. I burst out of bed at 6:40 am, knowing full well that I could never make the 30-minute drive from the outskirts of town in time. Frantically, I grabbed my glasses and dressed in mid-air while running for the door. It was still dark outside as I raced down the freeway, all the while praying my heart out. What happened next was completely unexpected, and I still have no explanation how or why, other than to say I know it was a miracle from the Lord. I distinctly remember the on-coming car headlights on the opposite side of the road to suddenly shift. Instead of passing me at what had been their usual 70 mph rate, they suddenly became a shower of high speed flickers that passed me almost faster than I could see them. I remember pausing mentally in my morning flight, asking myself what in the world was going on. I was given a distinct prompting in my heart and my head: don’t try to understand; just keep driving. When I arrived at 6:55 to the presentation room, no one was even aware of my mishap or the subsequent blessing I had been given.

LESSON LEARNED: Miracles continue to happen in our day, and with sincere prayer we can call on the powers of heaven to aid us during trials.

FEEDBACK: WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH A SPECIAL ANSWER TO PRAYER, ONE IN WHICH YOU KNOW THE LORD HAD A HAND?

Peter's Stolen Magnet

I still don’t know why I did it.  Four-year-old me was playing with my best friend Peter.  He showed me his brand-new magnet his dad had given him.  It was huge: round and hockey puck-shaped.  The best part was how much iron that would stick to it as we rubbed it through the sand.  It was so cool, too cool; and I was completely mesmerized.  But not to the point of stealing it.  At least I didn’t think so until mom came to pick me up and Peter wasn’t looking.  It wasn’t premeditated in the least.  But opportunity came knocking at that instance, and I did it without even thinking about it.  The moment I walked out the door with the round bulge in my pocket, I knew I had made a big mistake.  I felt terrible, and the drive home was black.  Half way there, I pulled out the magnet to show mom how cool it was.  She wasn’t as impressed as I thought she would be.  The car wheeled right around, and we were back to Peter’s in a jiffy so I could give it back.  And I felt so much better!

LESSON LEARNED:  Stealing really stinks.  Even four-year-olds know that.

FEEDBACK:  WHAT EPISODE OF STEALING TAUGHT YOU THAT IT STINKS?  (YES, WE ALL HAVE ONE).