Sebastian’s Self Portrait
One of the sweetest things happened on the computer the other day with Sebastian. After going to Church on Sunday, we fired up the web cam for Tess’ family in Yellowknife, Canada to view the Terrific Trio and Sebastian. One by one the triplets trickled by as Grandad Blake and Maureen the Gorgeous Gran, (aka MoZiLLa) said hello and flashed smiles to their Hong Kong grandkids.
Sebastian took great interest in this production, pushing in wherever and whenever he could. We put the phone on speaker phone behind the web cam, after which MoZilla and Sebastian were able to have a private chat. Soon it was time to say good-bye and we turned off the web cam.
Later Sebastian asked me if he could watch himself on the computer. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, how long will this last? Long enough for a nap?” Normally I would be protective of the computer… a quick flip of the wrong button and “shazam” something gets deleted. But then again I thought, “why not” and quickly placed Sebastian in front of the web cam program that allowed him to make all sorts of faces at himself. He loved it. After he lost interest we fed the babies and went swimming.
Meanwhile, Sunday evening Tess and I had dinner at some friends in our building. Prior to leaving I checked e-mail on the computer. As I sat down I saw fifteen open windows cascading all over the screen. “Grrrr…” I thought, “NOW what’s wrong with this computer?” I clicked one of the screens and to my affectionate surprise was greeted by a picture of Sebastian. Somehow Sebastian, who knows nothing about how to operate a computer except that it has something to do with clicking the mouse, had found the “still shot” control on the web cam. The little wizard took fifteen pics of himself gazing at the screen and in several cases directly into the web cam. The grainy nature of the pictures gave the self portraits a stirring, timeless perspective. I quickly saved the little treasures and have posted the top two for your viewing pleasure.
One Million Point Smile
Okay, okay, okay… so I was rrrrng… I mean wrrrrrng. Well, whatever, the point is that all the hoopla about Jasper’s teeth turned out to be one big false alarm. Jasper’s two front teeth have broken through and as you can see from this set of pictures the little lad has a gorgeous set of pearlies that make his smile look even cuter. As the first tooth was on its way in, it must have managed to wrap itself around a mountain of gum flesh, giving it the appearance of Frankenstein. The gum flesh is gone and a whole, complete, happy tooth busted through. Preemie Pinball deducted no points (for now) and the pastured racehorse is hoofing it back to the track.
One Year @ Home for Sela & Jasper
Today marks the one year anniversary of Sela and Jasper being fully discharged from the hospital after their respective "home leaves." At left, they can be seen with Tess at home on May 23rd. The picture at right was taken about three weeks ago on the building playground.
The Walk to Emmaus – Day 1
I am writing from the Tao Fong Shan Christian Mission in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. This weekend I am participating in a 72 hour men’s Christian retreat called The Walk to Emmaus. The retreat is based on the biblical story of two men who walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus shortly after Christ’s Resurrection. Along the way they met a stranger they did not recognize who talked to them about God. During the walk they opened their eyes to realize the stranger was Jesus.
Thus far The Walk has been powerful, profoundly moving and extremely funny. To start, in this environment it doesn’t take long for one to hear the noise and turmoil of daily life washing away. In its place a quiet peace and stillness settles in.
We’ve also had some drama… just before breakfast two participants were bitten by wild dogs. One of them had to get a rabies shot because the bite drew blood. Yes, the Shatin Sharpe’s are vicious. Never a dull moment anywhere in Hong Kong!
It’s late and Someone advised me to go to sleep so I shall.
Happy Mother’s Day, Tess
The top twenty things about Tantalising Tess that make her a terrific mother, wife and friend… (not in any particular order):
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Great conversationalist – much better than I am at parties and on the playground.
- Creative writer – thinks of things that never cross my mind.
- Incredible ability to observe – whenever we are out on hikes, Tess sees and points out things that I would have missed for sure. (Like unusual snakes and spiders and bugs.) This is also great for kids.
- Educational mom – Tess is always doing things with Sebastian or the triplets – puzzles, reading books, drawing, games, singing songs – which they love and are typically not in my automatic repertoire.
- Socially sophisticated – in other words Tess will tell you one minute into a movie, who will sleep with who and probably the ending of the story. This applies to real situations, too. Therefore, if you meet Tess at a party and have your eye on someone, well, Tess will have read your mind by that point. I, on the other hand, am incredibly naïve and still mulling over whether or not Daisy and Jay slept together in The Great Gatsby… even after seeing it twenty-five times.
- Tess speaks her mind – Tess is never afraid to speak her mind to people who step out of line – such as taxi drivers who take circuitous, long routes or waiters/waitresses who ignore us at restaurants or farcical people who missed the point somewhere along the way.
- Forgiving – any time Tess and I encounter conflict in our relationship, (“now, now… conflict is our friend” – spoken like a true HR professional!) Tess is a master at processing the situation and forgiving me for whatever misdeed I committed.
- Appreciates fine things – like diamonds.
- Incredibly thrifty – Tess thinks she spends too much money. In truth, she hardly spends a cent. (Maybe she knows I am saving for the diamonds.)
- Pragmatic – Tess likes practical, useful gifts. Not really into flowers and the like. Lots of our family decisions are oriented around being pragmatic. (Not at all influenced by our current circumstances! Ha!)
- Loves a good laugh – the more laughs the better and preferably multiple laughs. Not into ridiculous, slapstick humour – has to be the clever stuff.
- Excellent cook – including making tempting, tasty things for Sebastian and the triplets… even if the Terrific Trio have to have everything puréed.
- Into down time – especially with the events of the last two years (including the OHSS) Tess recognizes the value of chilling out and taking it easy.
- Supportive of work – I work for an incredibly dynamic, high speed Nasdaq Darling. In April alone we bought three companies, including closing one in under five days. In the last two to three weeks I have had countless late night conferences calls with the US Acquisition Team. No complaints from Tess.
- Tess has a great family. Very easy going, fun to be around and like giving me massages!
- Tess is incredibly loyal… not only does she stand up for herself; Tess also stands up for her friends and family.
- Tess is thoughtful… always writing thank you notes, or sending cards, gifts or e-mails to friends and family no matter where they may be on the planet.
- Tess plays a mean game of Scrabble… reportedly undefeated. In any competitive situation, Tess on your team will exponentially increase your odds of winning.
- Off the beaten path – not only is Tess fun to be around, she also loves to do unusual things. In our relationship we’ve never been in a rut of partying every weekend or doing the same thing over and over. Tess is always open to trying out new things and places.
- Beautiful – downright gorgeous.
Vietnam: Letting Go of the Past
I wrote the following after Tess & I visited Danang, Vietnam in April 2000.
The 25th anniversary of the United States’ withdrawal from Vietnam was upon us. Judging by the media coverage this commemoration received, the Vietnam War was not forgotten. By coincidence Tess and I found ourselves in Vietnam leading up to this occasion. Two years previous, Tess participated in a press trip that included a short stay at a gorgeous resort on a beach in Danang, Vietnam. This beach is commonly referred to as China Beach, located on the Gulf of Tonkin. During the Vietnam War, China Beach was almost the nucleus of US military activities. Today it is a long stretch of sandy white beach, with one five star resort: the Furama Resort, Danang. At the north end of the beach rise several jungle-shrouded mountains. It was from these mountains that the Vietcong watched every move of the US military. You can see a picture of the Furama Resort on the front cover of People Magazine commemorating the The 25th Anniversary.
Tess and I discussed the war several times during our five-day stay. We agreed that the nation dragging around the past of the Vietnam War was the United States, not Vietnam. For most of her life, Vietnam has been at war. This is a people who have grown accustomed to war being a regular and accepted part of life. The end of the Vietnam War marked the beginning of now thirty plus years of conflict free life. Quite possibly, the longest period of peace that Vietnam has experienced for some time. And since then, the Vietnamese government has slowly begun to open up the economy. It has a way to go, but many who visit Vietnam frequently, or even live there, say that the pace of change in Vietnam operates at Internet speed with or without the Internet. After continuing to read about The Vietnam War, and living in Hong Kong for the time I have, I have had the chance to ask many Asians (including Vietnamese) about The Vietnam War. (The Vietnamese call it The American War.) The response always contains the following theme: "You have to let go of the past and move on…"
The Vietnamese are extremely friendly, with an intense desire to better themselves and help others. Vietnam boasts one of the highest literacy rates in Asia, if not the highest. Even the number one motivator for mothers giving their children up for adoption is not to find a better life for the child, but a better education, if you can imagine that.
The Vietnam War has fascinated me for years and years. I have read easily more than a hundred books ranging from historical to personal accounts. Two nights before we left for our Easter weekend in Danang I sat up for three hours reading through a fascinating web site dedicated to the Vietnam War. Naturally I followed several links soon finding myself reading the nauseating detail of United States government interviews from the search for MIA (Missing In Action.) Therefore, Tess and I were quite amazed to experience what we saw that week while transiting through the Hanoi International Airport en route to Hong Kong.
On several occasions while dealing with the insanity of Hanoi’s airport, we glanced outside to see a massive United States Air Force transport plane (C-17) sitting on the tarmac. There were no 747’s at the airport that we could see, but had there been, I am sure they would have been dwarfed by this huge, gray, obese machine.
The rear ramp of the machine sat extended onto the tarmac like the lazy tongue of a dragon, panting in the hot sun. Nothing seemed to be happening, except for numerous civilians and military personnel running around. Each time I looked at the beast, I half expected a fully restored ceremonial Jeep to ride out of the dragon’s gaping mouth. As our transit bus drove us to our Cathay Pacific plane, the beast’s neighbour, we noticed six sets of trestles set-up behind the military plane. We boarded our Cathay flight and waited to depart.
Roughly ten minutes before we left, I glanced out our window to find the scene behind the beast transformed into a military ceremony. Sitting on each set of trestles was a silver coffin. Four of them were already draped in fresh, new American flags. The other two were being draped as we watched. Four soldiers, each wearing a different style uniform and looking as though they each represented one arm of the United States military, cared for the coffins. Several more senior looking military personnel looked on, saluting the coffins as they were draped. With the last two coffins completed, the four soldiers than proceeded to effortlessly carry the decorated coffins into the belly of the plane one at a time.
On the far side of this occasion stood a small crowd of onlookers, some military, but mostly civilians with a lot of cameras. What was more interesting, though, was the crowd watching the proceedings from our side. "Who were these people," I thought to myself. There were eight lines of roughly six people in each line. Two of the lines clearly consisted of military personnel in full military dress. Their movements were consistent with the salutes of senior personnel saluting fallen comrades. To the left were six more perfectly formed lines of civilians.
What we were watching was six fallen soldiers on their way home. Their departures were perhaps 25, 30 or maybe even 40 years late. Certainly, their status during those long years was MIA, and there on the anniversary of The Vietnam War, these MIAs were no longer MIA. They were going home. Standing there, in the blistering heat, were a handful of friends and family representing each one of these soldiers. One line of family and friends for each soldier. We learned after the fact that Senator John McCain was one of the people dressed in civvies. In the last week the media has carried numerous pictures of this event. IN someof those media stories, if you look closely, you will see a picture of a Cathay Pacific plane in the background… Tess and I were on that plane.
I sat on CX 743 and watched in awe. After so many years of personal fascination and curiosity towards The Vietnam War, it was an extraordinary privilege to share this moment that provoked all types of introspective thoughts. Suddenly our plane nudged forward. We pulled away as the last coffin disappeared into the dragon’s mouth. – April 2000
