Rodney C. Bright, superhero etc.

He kept at true good humour's mark
The social flow of pleasure's tide:
He never made a brow look dark,
Nor caused a tear, but when he died.
~Thomas Love Peacock











My wonderful Granddad passed on to the next world on the morning of February 15th just after reading the Sunday funnies (his favorite part of the paper). He was born in Salem, Oregon in 1928. He got an MBA from the University of Oregon (go Ducks!) and served during the Korean War. He was an exemplary man and everyone who came in contact with him was better off for the experience. He genuinely wanted to see others succeed and was funny, kind, and smart.

A true romantic, he held on through Valentine's Day to give my Grandma (his wife of 55 years) a card on which he drew (with help) a circle and wrote "Our love goes on and on forever." Smooth operator! :)

He was so active and healthy right up until the last few months. Had his prostate cancer been diagnosed years ago when it likely formed, it is probable that they could have beat it but it had spread deep into his bones and lymph nodes by the time he got a competent diagnosis. So, encourage the men in your life that are over 50 to get a prostate exam annually and make sure to always get a second opinion if you are unsure about a diagnosis (or lack thereof).

I'm so grateful that he and Brighton got to hang out and get to know each other a bit. I guess the price of having great people in your life is that it's so -well- sucky to lose them! Lucky for me, he taught me so much and I will have a lot of cool memories to share with little B.

Look Out World!!

On January 27th -at ten months old to the day - Brighton walked!!!! He has been all over the place ever since. Go, B, go!!








Other recent milestones include:
Waving and saying "Hi" (or more accurately, "Hi.Hi.Hi.Hi.Hi.")

Testing out his voice by screaming at the top of his lungs, then giggling because we have lost two years off of our lives thinking he was hurt or something.

Using a pen to scribble lovely pictures for us.

Says "Mom" and "Dad" - but "Mom" often gets translated to "Eeeaaaaaauuuugghhhhh!!!!" I'm not sure on the proper spelling on that, may have to look it up.

Every day he does something new and its more exciting than I could have imagined! We live for his daily discoveries and have become big, mushy softies who are totally wrapped around B's finger! We are gonna have to get ahold of ourselves! :)

Visiting Grandpa

Shortly after Christmas my grandpa, who has been battling prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, lost his ability to walk and became bedridden. Brighton, my dad, and I decided to head back down to spend some more time with him. B really cheered him up and I was thrilled to get to hang out with my amazing G'folks some more.






The two really entertained eachother and were a riot to watch. Brighton kept inspecting Grandpa's bed and "fixing" various parts of it as the hospice people had obviously not tightened everything to his specifications.