Skip to main content

Things That Make You Go HMMMM - #9

Ted has been involved in Civil Air Patrol since the terrorist attacks in 2001.  It was his way of giving back.  He has worked his way up and has worked very hard there.   He was Director of Communications for the State of Utah for several years and received many accolades and awards for his hard work.  AND, I can assure you he has definitely put in a lot of work, all volunteer and unpaid, for it is something he truly believes in.

The last couple of years, there has been a decline in his motivation for being there.  Where he used to enjoy his time there - he no longer does so much.  It's not the same place as when I first met him - the participation is down, the unhappiness is up.  But, he continues to go every week - unless something else precludes him from doing so.  I truly hope it gets better soon - because I know it's something that he enjoys.
Difficult to see his name - but it's top center.

Tonight he went.  He happened to notice something out of the corner of his eye.  It was a plaque that he has probably passed by every week for several years.  It lists the people over the years that they considered the "best of the best" in the senior members - in other words, the grown up volunteers.  You see, they haven't been the best the last couple of years at having their annual banquet like they have in the past - something that Ted always enjoyed spending a whole day at.  It includes a great deal of classes, lectures (Ted usually would teach one or two classes) and closes in the evening with a more formal banquet.  Anyway, the thing that caught his eye was the winner of the "Senior Member of the Year" for 2008.  He was flabbergasted - it was his name.  He had absolutely no idea that four years ago he had won this award.  He had no clue whatsoever.  I think I am really sad that someone dropped the ball - because the one thing I know is - Ted would have really appreciated this award, Ted would have been humbled by this award, Ted would have been grateful for this award.  Someone truly took away a special moment for a truly special man.  I am sad that moment was taken away from him because they didn't take the time to appreciate him.

HMMMMMM

Comments

  1. That makes me sad too. He is a great guy and deserved to be recognized for this award not finding out this way by passing it by and spotting his name out of the corner of his eye.):

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Birthday Me!!

I turned 49 a year ago tomorrow.  I was all right with that.  I didn't really care.  But, about a couple of months after that, I realized that in less than a year I would be 50.  When my daughter turned 30, it really was a horrible feeling.  How could I have a 30-year-old daughter??  I am not old enough to have a 30-year-old daughter.  I also had to deal with my baby boy getting married last year - which made me feel like I really was getting older. I think it was after Crystal's birthday that I devised a plan.  I was going to take a couple of days off, I was going to get a hotel room - a hotel with a pool - and I was just going to hide out and ride it out.  I had it all figured out. Well, I decided that my kids might be a bit upset with me that I did this.  So, I went back to Plan B - I would do my usual and plan a "kids" birthday for me so that the entire family, including Zach and Chelsea, could have a good time.  I thought of going to Planet Play and setti

The Haunting

It's been a weird few days. I don't know what set me off. But, I've been thinking about Ted a lot. Mostly, I've been thinking about the night he died. And everything that happened that night. One of the girls I worked with lost her husband suddenly a couple of days ago. I'm not sure if that's what set me off - no, I'm pretty sure it is. So I've been going through old blog posts about our trips together. Looking at memories of our times together. We just had fun together and we just loved each other. Anyway, I've been reliving the night he died. Thinking about it pretty consistently. And the things that happened are truly haunting me. Like, how did he get where he was?? He and I had been sitting together and had literally just had an interaction. The interaction was, please sit back, you're blocking my view of the movie. And it was all done in hand gestures. But it was just so Ted. Completely and totally so Ted. Not even a few

First Date - - End of an Era!

It's no secret that Ted and I met on the internet. We jibbered and jabbered via Match.Com a few times and then he sent me his phone number. We won't go into details about what made me give him a call, other than I was in need of a boost. I gave him a call and he was "busy" for a bit working on his carbuerator (yes, I was shunned aside for a carbuerator) and he asked if he could call me back later. Well, he did call me later that night and we made arrangements to meet at Denny's on 3500 South and 2200 West the next afternoon. No, it wasn't a four-star restaurant, but it was a way for either of us to run or make excuses if things were not going well. We sat there for a few hours; I drank Diet Coke and Ted drank Iced Tea. We talked, mostly Ted talked, about stuff I had absolutely no clue about; I tease him a lot about everything he says pretty much floats above my head, because I have no idea what he is talking about. That was October 10, 2004. After a w