Tommy’s First Six Months

Click on the link above or image below to see a slide show of Tommy’s first six months.  There are nice photos of Katie’s as well as my parents and other family members.  The Medium version will load and play immediately.  If you would like to watch the Large version – depending on your internet speed – you may want to press the Pause button to allow the video to load first.

December 25, 2010

Christmas Day

Katie and I are spending a week in New York at our apartment (Christmas 2010).  We are so blessed to have Tommy, Yuki and Ryusei here.  We had a lovely Christmas day with our family.  Katie’s mother, Grace Tharp flew in from Florida.  Yesterday, on Christmas Eve afternoon, Katie babysat while Tommy, Yuki, Grandma Grace and I went to see  “A Little Night Music” which is the show Jessica is currently doing on Broadway .   What a fantastic show!  Then we all met at Jessica and Dan’s apartment for a lovely evening of fun and wine.

Today, after a lovely Christmas lunch at our apartment, all of us went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, then went to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, had dinner, and sent Jessica off to do her Christmas evening performance of the show.

This Christmas I have been particularly homesick for South Africa and my family there.  I put together a little slide show of photos I had on my computer from 1979 – scanned from our old photo albums.  There are pictures of Tommy’s very first days, of our American family and my Mom and Dad who came to America for Tommy’s baptism on my Dad’s birthday, September 2, 1979.  My father was quite ill, having suffered TIA’s for some time, even though he was only 62.  They made it to the USA okay, and we had a wonderful celebration of Tommy’s baptism with family and friends.  That evening my Dad was taken to Riverside hospital after another attack.  We made it to our apartment in Birmingham, Michigan the next day, and spent a lovely two weeks with my Mom and Dad, and the new grandson.  This was an important trip for my Dad, since Tommy was named after him, as was I.  He said to someone in South Africa just before they came to the States for the Christening, “I can now die in peace, since my grandson was born.  Once I have seen him, I can die”.

My father became very ill, but made it back to South Africa.  Two weeks later we were in South Africa, because the doctors advised us to come.  A few days after we arrived he passed away.

This Christmas I missed my South African family deeply, and particularly my Mom and Dad.  I am sure it is because of the wonderful time we are having with our kids, and with Ryusei, our grandson who reminds us so much of Tommy at that age.