Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is very special, because it is my father's birthday.

I call my dad Dr. Born Organized Clean. He is absolutely one of the most organized people you will ever meet, and he personally and his surroundings are always spotless.

He was a fabulous doctor, ob/gyn, and worked very hard. His dad left when he was young, so he went to work at age 11, delivering newspapers. He also worked summer jobs, and the money he earned went to support the family.

His hard work paid off with a full scholarship to college, or he wouldn't have been able to go. He had to sell several prized possessions he had earned to go to med school.

Even with a full class load in college and med school, he worked, and had time to date. In fact, he dated every nurse in the nursing school, my mom said. Since she was the only one his dog liked, she was the one he married, a month after graduation.

There are some great stories about how hard residency was. At one point during his last year, he needed his tonsils and wisdom teeth taken out. They gave him a Friday afternoon for it, and told him to be back at work on Monday morning. On Monday morning, someone found him passed out on the ward floor. Very generously, they sent him home until Tuesday afternoon.

Then there are the stories about his practice. When he first started, there wasn't a day that he wasn't called to the hospital to catch a baby. He had worked every single day for years and my mother finally said, "Get a partner, or get a divorce!" The partner was cheaper, so he went that route. By the time he retired, there were 5 in the practice.

I remember days where he would get to the hospital for 6am surgery, and not get home until after evening rounds at 6pm, and then have to get up in the middle of the night to go back for a delivery.

He was and is an amazing person, and to this day he stays busy with boards he is on, and charity work. At least twice a year he goes overseas, with my mom the nurse, as a medical missionary, taking care to people who often have never seen a doctor.

He is my hero.

So, happy birthday, Dad. You are amazing.


Today is:

Feast of Artemis/Diana -- Ancient Greece; Roman Empire

Go for a Ride Day

Independence Day -- Lebanon

National Stop the Violence Day

Start Your Own Country Day

St. Cecilia's Day (patron of music, composers, musicians)

Sts. Philemon and Appia's Day

Ydalir -- Ancient Norse Calendar (Celebration of the wintertime god of skiing and archery, Ullr)



Birthdays Today:

Scarlett Johansson, 1984
Scott Robinson, 1979
Mariel Hemingway, 1961
Jamie Lee Curtis, 1958
Billie Jean King, 1943
Robert Vaughn, 1932
Rodney Dangerfield, 1921
Benjamin Britten, 1913
Hoagy Carmichael, 1899
Charles de Gaulle, 1890
George Eliot (Mary A. Evans), 1819
Abigail Adams, 1744


Today in History:

The first Duke of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon, 845
Spain delegates "New Laws" against slavery in America, 1542
Dutch colonial forces on Taiwan launch a pacification campaign against native villages, resulting in Dutch control of the middle and south of the island, 1635
Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, 1718
Peregrine Williamson of Baltimore patents a steel pen, 1809
Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie called for a rebellion against Great Britain, 1837
In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched – one of the last clippers ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day, 1869
Victoria Street Cable Tram route begins in Melbourne, Australia, 1886
The Congress of Manastir establishes the Albanian alphabet, 1908
1st snowmobile patent granted to Carl Eliason of Sayner Wisconsin, 1927
The premier performance of Ravel's Boléro takes place in Paris, 1928
Gasoline pump patented that computes quantity & price delivered, 1932
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" first heard on Eddie Cantor's show, 1934
The Humane Society of the United States is founded, 1954
US President John F. Kennedy is killed and Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded by Lee Harvey Oswald, 1963
The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status, 1974
Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco, 1975
In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed, 1988
Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery, 1995
Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany, 2005