Coffee Break for Dad

Have you had a parent die? My father passed away on 18 Nov 2003 of pancreatic cancer. He would have been 71 years old today, Feb 22nd. My dad was a farmer and cattle rancher from DeLamere ND. His favorite thing to do was going to town for a coffee break, and shooting the breeze with whoever was there.

When a person dies life doesn't stop, it keeps going. It might slow down, but it never stops. December 2003 I got my Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and become an Over The Road (OTR) truck driver. In march of 2004, my brother's high school basketball team made it to the state championship game. He could have left the team, and nobody would have questioned it. But he did not, he kept playing. When he died, my two brothers took over the family farm. They expanded it and now it's 4 times bigger. My dad didn't get to see his youngest daughter graduate from college, or see his daughter's two little girls. He didn't get to see me in my first stock car race. That reminds me, I got to write about that yet. He missed his youngest son's wedding, and the birth of his grandson. As you can see a lot has happened in 7 years to his family.

Sunday Feb 20th was the Daytona 500. It was 10 years ago that Nascar racer Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona. When Dale died Nascar didn't cancel the next race, No they raced. I remember that race. It was held in Rockingham NC, and only a couple laps into it Dale Earnhardt Jr crashed. He was out of the race. If that wasn't enough, it started raining and the finish was moved to Monday. Dale Earnhardt's driver Steve Park won the race.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kajZ6VENnXo   A couple of weeks later at Atlanta GA, the man who was replacing Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, won.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJujUxwthkM   The best therapy was to keep racing.

Life doesn't stop for any one person, life continues on.

Next month is my mom's birthday. So God willing, I should be able to celebrate that with her. Now if you excuse me it's time for a coffee break.

  

Who You Are

When people find out that I was in the US Navy, some ask me, what was the best and worst things about the military? My answer, the best is the people you meet, and the worst is the people you meet. Some things in the military can turn you bitter and mad at the world, but you will also meet some amazing people that make it tolerable.

I also spent three years as an over the road truck driver, and the same principle applies. The best is the people and the worst is the people that you meet. Meet one person, remember there is always another load that has to go down the road, to where the next person is waiting.

Everybody you meet put a little something into a person's being. All the good and all the bad go in and it's up to you to decide how you want to be.

Best Super Bowl Ever

I want to congratulate the Green Bay Packer's and their fans for winning Super Bowl XLV. The game was a pretty good game, but I never could get into it. If neither the Packers nor the Pittsburgh Steelers had never won a Super Bowl, maybe I would had been a little more excited. The Packers had the lead the whole game, and the closest the Steelers got was three points. Pittsburgh had a chance to win the game at the end, but when Ben Rothlisberger's last pass fell incomplete the game was over, Green Bay had won. After that last play, the TV showed Ben laughing with one of the referees.
That summed up my feeling to the game. This game wasn't do or die for the Steelers like it was for the Packers. The score 31-25 makes it look like it was a close game, but it wasn't.

When I was in kindergarten, my mom was going to buy me a NFL football helmet out of the Sears catalog. I was only six years old and didn't know anything about football. So I picked what I thought was the best looking one. It was the helmet for the Washington Redskins. Little did I know how great a choice that was.

The first Super Bowl I have any memories of was Super Bowl XVI between the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The two memories I have of that game is One; the over the head catch by a Bengals wide receiver (Chris Collinsworth), and Two; the goal line stand by the 49ers defense (running back Pete Johnson getting stopped by Hacksaw Reynolds.) The 49ers won the game 26 to 21.

That super bowl was played when I was in 2nd grade, which was the year of my awakening of watching sports on tv. Sorry ladies, it's too late, you can't change me, I like sports. That year I also start following the NBA, where my favorite basketball team was the Los Angeles Lakers. What a great time to start with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics rivlaly. Remember how I said what a great choice I made about the helmet I picked. Well my favorite NFL team ended up being the Washington Redskins. I'm not lying, when I picked out that helmet I had never watched any sports on tv. The year was 1982, and today in 2011, my teams are the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Minnesota Vikings. How I ended up with those teams is a story I will tell in different blog post. Please put me out of my misery, I beg you.

What was it that made the Washington Redskins my team? For starters you need a quaterback, and Joe Theisman was my guy. I loved that he had that one bar helmet facemask. Then there was John Riggins and the Hogs. Do you remember what the wide receivers were called? The Fun Bunch    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLiKbVV288k  That touchdown dance they had was killer. Too bad you can't do that in the No Fun League anymore. The next season the Redskins make it to the NFC championship game, where they would have to beat their rival, the Dallas Cowboys, for the right to go to Super Bowl XVII.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUtfX2IMetY&feature=related  The team Washington would play in the Super Bowl would be the Miami Dolphins.

The day of the game arrives and I have my friend Ernie come over to watch it with me. The game was about to start when Ernie realizes that we are forgetting the Redskins helmet. I race back to my room and get it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbzdH7BLHgw&feature=related   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XVII 

This game had it all. Both teams had the lead, big plays and my team coming out on top, 27-17. That was the BEST SUPER BOWL EVER.

Shag, Scooby, and Rattlesnakes

My time as an over the road truck driver has sent me to some scary places. You can be parked in a deserted lot in a bad part of town, but nothing was scarrier than a rest area between Glendive MT and Miles City MT on I-94. The rest area is located a mile off the road with nothing around for miles. The landscape reminded me of where General Custer was killed at.

I had seen a few trucks stop there, but I never had. I was tired and desperate to stop, so I stopped, parked my rig, and went to sleep. I awoke having to go to the bathroom, so I get out of the truck and head toward the restroom. While I was walking, a strong gust of wind blew. then I heard a sharp howl. I sprinted back to my truck and took off. I ran so fast that not even Shag and Scooby would have passed me. If you don't know, a scared Shaggy and Scooby Doo can run FAST.

Oh by the way, If you see a sign at a rest area that says rattlesnakes have been spotted in the area. Do what the sign says and stay ON the walkways. Being five feet from one is close enough. Trust Me.

Day of Confirmation

If this is the first entry of my blog that you have read, I hope you read my first post first. http://ellick92.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-of-change.html  But if your one of those people who like to read the end of a book first, I can give you a quick summary. 

I wore eye glasses and on 4 Jan 2011 they broke. On that day, a Day of Change, I decided I was going to have laser eye surgery and eliminate the need for glasses. I used the need for glasses as an excuse for why I wasn't outgoing. Why I kept things to myself. Why I had such a hard time approaching somebody, to converstate with them, to know somebody new. You can ask yourself, how did he get that way? Well that answer will have to wait, because that is another story which hasn't been written yet. If you still haven't read my first blog post and are waiting for what the title of this entry means, skip to the bottom. But if you did read that post, then you can follow me to how the title of this blog entry came to be.

The next day I started an account on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/EllickErickson. If I am going to be more outgoing that is a good place to start. I made an appointment for an eye exam, to see if I am evan eligible for laser surgery. I had the exam on the 12th, and to my relief, was told I can have it done. The date for the surgery would be the 27th of january.

On Jan 17th I was looking through the internet, where I found a blog which interested me very much. My reading her blog inspired me to start my own blog. That day I became a follower of her blog. http://musingsofmissk.blogspot.com/ The next day I checked my email and to my amazement she had sent me a facebook friend request, which I instantly approved, without hesitation.

The day had finally come for my eye surgery. I laid down on the table, the doctor swung the laser over my eyes, I looked up at the red dot, and I got zapped. When the doctor had finished, he swung the laser away, I sat up and I saw with clear vision the most beautiful thing ever. A white cabinet of medical supplies. What did you think I was going to see? A highway to heaven, not quite but close.

January 31st I was going through my FB where my friend had posted an enty. She wondered why it seems that she is seemingly not just unsympathetic, but also unworthy of compassion. When someone else plays the victim card around her, they get the sympathy of others, while she gets treated coldly and often poorly. I replied that my bother-in-law says that I am selfish. Just because I keep to myself doesn't mean I don't care about something or someone. WE ALL HAVE FELLINGS, no matter how a person shows their emotions.

There is some foreshadowing in the above paragraph. Those people who have skipped to the bottom won't really have a good understanding of the title. Hopefully I do a good enough job so when WE get to the end it makes perfect sense to US.

Two days later my friend posted another entry on facebook, which she posted multiple times so that whoever it was intended for saw it. She posted this video by Dr Brene Brown about the power of vulnerability. http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html This is a 20 minute video, so I if you got time I recommened watching it, but the most important thing is to remember the name Brene Brown. What I got out of it was that everybody feels vulnerable. Some hide it differently than others. If a person says that they never have self doubt, anxiety or unworthiness, they are lying.

People like to read their daily horoscope to help guide them thru their day. I rather read my weekly horoscope, but not in the usual way that you would expect. I read the horoscope from 2 to 4 weeks in the past. It is amazing to me how acurate that past horoscope is. Most things it predicated do actually happen to you. Don't worry that your horoscope said this, it said that, so I must act and do differently. Just go about your life. It can confirm the path of your life is the correct one and for you to stay the course.

Friday 4 Sep 2011, exactly one month since my glasses broke, my friend posts a blog entry about vulnerability with Brene Brown's video in it. I read her blog, which I think is the best she ever wrote. Since I have already seen the video, I go to Dr Browns website and then to her blog. http://www.ordinarycourage.com/ On top of the page was this quote by C.S. Lewis 

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. TO LOVE IS TO BE VULNERABLE."  C.S. Lewis

I couldn't believe it. It summed up how I was going about my life. How it was easier to stay to myself, to keep from being humilited, made fun of. It was like my brother-in-law said about me, how I was selfish and didn't care about others. He doesn't know I do care, but it can be hard when others go about destroying the confidence in ones self. Jan 4th was the day of change, and 4 Feb 2011 is the Day of Confirmation. That it's time and not too late to breakout of that coffin and say, "Hi, my name is Ellick."

Karen, Thank You. I found it.