Sunday, July 12, 2009
I just got a degree!!
Its official, last week I finished my summer Chicano literature class which was my last requirement for my math degree. Now to just finish that physics thing...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Grandpa Cliff's Funeral Pt. 2
So I realize its been a long time since my last post, but better late than never I suppose. Unfortunately the details have faded a little bit but I will just write down a couple of things that have stuck with me.
I left off at that fateful phone call informing Michelle, Donny, Ally, and myself that my grandfather Cliff had just died. It was such a striking contrast to the good news we had just received minutes early that we didn't know what to think. Of course when I find out that someone has pulled through I feel relieved but there is always the possibility that something can still go wrong, but when we find out someone has died there's really no chance of things getting better. For instance there's no chance of getting a phone call ten minutes later saying "Oh nevermind, turns out he came back to life after all." After the second phone call I just felt a big rush of emptiness knowing that there was no chance of the outcome changing, just knowing that I would never receive another phone call about grandpa Cliff again.
The next couple of days were filled with aunts and uncles flying in to start planning the funeral. Luckily my grandparents had the foresight to buy a funeral plot years ago for a fraction of the current price. This lifted the financial burden a great deal from what it could have been. It's astounding what it costs to die.
On Sunday Ally and I drove back to Santa Barbara since Ally had to be back for some labs she couldn't miss. Luckily I was able to free up my schedule to drive back on Tuesday for a Dinner with the family. It was really good to see everybody. I especially liked sleeping at my parents house with David and Sara again. It seems like its been forever since we were all living there together. We stayed up late joking around and having lots of fun, it was something I really needed. the next day we went to the church on Cherry for the viewing and funeral. The viewing was more of just a family event. Everybody there probably hadn't been together in the same room for at least ten years. The last time I remember that happening was Cliff and June's 50th anniversary. It's odd that I usually don't cry or even feel too much when I hear that someone has died, but come time for the funeral I usually can't hold back. The funeral itself was really nice. I learned a lot of new things I about my grandpa that I had never heard before.
One of my favorite stories told was told by my uncle Kim. It was about when Cliff went with his son Brent to by Brent's first used car. The guy who was selling the car worked at the mall and had told them to come by and he would give them the keys to test drive the car in the parking lot. When Brent got into the car he shifted into first and the car just barely inched forward and wasn't very responsive at all. So they went right back to the seller and my grandpa handed him the keys and said, "nevermind we don't want it, its got engine problems". As they were walking aways the guy said, "well wait a minute, I know its got some problems but maybe we can talk about the price." So they got a much reduced price and as Brent got into his new car to drive home my Grandpa pulls up next to him and said, "By the way, this is a special edition car and the gear box is a little wider than you're used to so what you thought was first gear last time I suspect was third. So try pulling over a little more to the left this time." He did just that and the car worked just fine. This story was just so funny to me, and it was a side of my grandpa I never really got to know. There were so many other great things said that I can't remember, but just by seeing everyone who was there and judging by what everyone felt and said about Cliff I could just feel that this man truly had lived a good life. I realized that while he had not done some of the things that most of the world views as important, he had raised a good large family and had truly loved them. Being at his funeral made me realize that truly the most important thing a person can have at the end of their life is a family that loves them. If that family happens to be large as in the case of my grandpa Cliff, then there's only all the more people and love to go around. Also, because Cliff and June have raised such a wonderful family there's only all the more people to love and take care of my grandma after Cliff's passing. There are so many people I know that say they don't want a family, or want to wait a long time to have a family and then don't get around to having one, or they just think about how expensive kids are. Going to my grandpa's funeral made me realize how important family, especially as I get older.
I left off at that fateful phone call informing Michelle, Donny, Ally, and myself that my grandfather Cliff had just died. It was such a striking contrast to the good news we had just received minutes early that we didn't know what to think. Of course when I find out that someone has pulled through I feel relieved but there is always the possibility that something can still go wrong, but when we find out someone has died there's really no chance of things getting better. For instance there's no chance of getting a phone call ten minutes later saying "Oh nevermind, turns out he came back to life after all." After the second phone call I just felt a big rush of emptiness knowing that there was no chance of the outcome changing, just knowing that I would never receive another phone call about grandpa Cliff again.
The next couple of days were filled with aunts and uncles flying in to start planning the funeral. Luckily my grandparents had the foresight to buy a funeral plot years ago for a fraction of the current price. This lifted the financial burden a great deal from what it could have been. It's astounding what it costs to die.
On Sunday Ally and I drove back to Santa Barbara since Ally had to be back for some labs she couldn't miss. Luckily I was able to free up my schedule to drive back on Tuesday for a Dinner with the family. It was really good to see everybody. I especially liked sleeping at my parents house with David and Sara again. It seems like its been forever since we were all living there together. We stayed up late joking around and having lots of fun, it was something I really needed. the next day we went to the church on Cherry for the viewing and funeral. The viewing was more of just a family event. Everybody there probably hadn't been together in the same room for at least ten years. The last time I remember that happening was Cliff and June's 50th anniversary. It's odd that I usually don't cry or even feel too much when I hear that someone has died, but come time for the funeral I usually can't hold back. The funeral itself was really nice. I learned a lot of new things I about my grandpa that I had never heard before.
One of my favorite stories told was told by my uncle Kim. It was about when Cliff went with his son Brent to by Brent's first used car. The guy who was selling the car worked at the mall and had told them to come by and he would give them the keys to test drive the car in the parking lot. When Brent got into the car he shifted into first and the car just barely inched forward and wasn't very responsive at all. So they went right back to the seller and my grandpa handed him the keys and said, "nevermind we don't want it, its got engine problems". As they were walking aways the guy said, "well wait a minute, I know its got some problems but maybe we can talk about the price." So they got a much reduced price and as Brent got into his new car to drive home my Grandpa pulls up next to him and said, "By the way, this is a special edition car and the gear box is a little wider than you're used to so what you thought was first gear last time I suspect was third. So try pulling over a little more to the left this time." He did just that and the car worked just fine. This story was just so funny to me, and it was a side of my grandpa I never really got to know. There were so many other great things said that I can't remember, but just by seeing everyone who was there and judging by what everyone felt and said about Cliff I could just feel that this man truly had lived a good life. I realized that while he had not done some of the things that most of the world views as important, he had raised a good large family and had truly loved them. Being at his funeral made me realize that truly the most important thing a person can have at the end of their life is a family that loves them. If that family happens to be large as in the case of my grandpa Cliff, then there's only all the more people and love to go around. Also, because Cliff and June have raised such a wonderful family there's only all the more people to love and take care of my grandma after Cliff's passing. There are so many people I know that say they don't want a family, or want to wait a long time to have a family and then don't get around to having one, or they just think about how expensive kids are. Going to my grandpa's funeral made me realize how important family, especially as I get older.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Grandfather Cliff's Funeral Part I
On Nov.27 I was celebrating Thanksgiving with Ally's family. Everything was going really well and I felt a bad asking Ally if we could leave early to visit my family at my grandparent's house, but I really wanted to see them since I hadn't had the chance yet. She agreed and so we took off. When we got to my grandparents house my grandpa was resting a little bit in his chair. It was a little shocking to see a bloody tube clipped on to his ear, but I was glad he was at able to be home after having several trips a week to the hospital for various medical reasons. Later on in the night we just sat around with my parents and brother David and my grandpa listened to us talk while chiming in couple words(as my uncle Kim described it grandapa likes to be in the background at a party just listening).
The next day was Black Friday. Grandpa awoke with terrible abdominal pains so my grandma decided to take him to the ER. Right when they got into the car my grandpa started convulsing. It seemed that his heart had stopped and so his defibrillator was going off, hence the convulsing. My grandmother immediately calls the paramedics. While all this is going on Ally and I were over at my parents house just making breakfast when my mom got a call from my grandmother. So we finished making breakfast while my mom went over to my grandparents house. Later on my mom called to give us and update that the paramedics couldn't get my grandpa's heart started. We were worried and didn't want to burden them later on by calling to check his status every five minutes. After not hearing from them for a while(like a couple hours after breakfast) Ally and I returned to her parent's home where we were staying. Later I called my sister to let her know what was going on and it turned out she hadn't been told yet. She called my dad and then he called me back with an update that my grandpa was still alive and was at Good Samaritan Hospital, but was critical and had requested a Priesthood blessing from my father and I. When we arrived at the hospital we gave him a blessing and then the doctor came in to tell us what was going on. Apparently my grandpa's aneurysm in his abdomen had started to grow recently and had now started to leak. My grandma and grandpa had known about the aneurysm, but decided it was too dangerous to operate. Now the surgeon said that that going into this surgery he would have nearly a 0% chance of surviving the surgery. We had about half an hour to say goodbye to my grandpa and hold his hands before they took him into surgery. As they took him away he was still concerned about how my grandma was doing and tried to make sure that she got something to eat while he was in surgery. About half an hour after they started the surgery I left to go see Ally and tell her how everything was going. Later on my sister, her husband, and their baby boy went to the hospital to see my grandma, then after they left we met up with them at their place. After six hours of sugery we got a call that grandpa had made it and was now stable but in critical condition. Not ten minutes later we received another phone call from my mom saying that my grandpa's heart had stopped and they hadn't been able to start it again. This was roughly nine o'clock at night when my grandfather died.
The next day was Black Friday. Grandpa awoke with terrible abdominal pains so my grandma decided to take him to the ER. Right when they got into the car my grandpa started convulsing. It seemed that his heart had stopped and so his defibrillator was going off, hence the convulsing. My grandmother immediately calls the paramedics. While all this is going on Ally and I were over at my parents house just making breakfast when my mom got a call from my grandmother. So we finished making breakfast while my mom went over to my grandparents house. Later on my mom called to give us and update that the paramedics couldn't get my grandpa's heart started. We were worried and didn't want to burden them later on by calling to check his status every five minutes. After not hearing from them for a while(like a couple hours after breakfast) Ally and I returned to her parent's home where we were staying. Later I called my sister to let her know what was going on and it turned out she hadn't been told yet. She called my dad and then he called me back with an update that my grandpa was still alive and was at Good Samaritan Hospital, but was critical and had requested a Priesthood blessing from my father and I. When we arrived at the hospital we gave him a blessing and then the doctor came in to tell us what was going on. Apparently my grandpa's aneurysm in his abdomen had started to grow recently and had now started to leak. My grandma and grandpa had known about the aneurysm, but decided it was too dangerous to operate. Now the surgeon said that that going into this surgery he would have nearly a 0% chance of surviving the surgery. We had about half an hour to say goodbye to my grandpa and hold his hands before they took him into surgery. As they took him away he was still concerned about how my grandma was doing and tried to make sure that she got something to eat while he was in surgery. About half an hour after they started the surgery I left to go see Ally and tell her how everything was going. Later on my sister, her husband, and their baby boy went to the hospital to see my grandma, then after they left we met up with them at their place. After six hours of sugery we got a call that grandpa had made it and was now stable but in critical condition. Not ten minutes later we received another phone call from my mom saying that my grandpa's heart had stopped and they hadn't been able to start it again. This was roughly nine o'clock at night when my grandfather died.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Last night I dreamt I was eating mayonnaise and when I woke up all my mayonaise was gone
True story. When I was a missionary in Albania one of the guys with whom I served was very prone to sleep talking, walking, and all kinds of fun stuff. One night I woke up and could see a light coming out of the refrigerator in the kitchen and then a little later the guy with whom I was serving, for reasons of anonymity we'll just call him Toni, went back to his bed and fell asleep without saying a word. The next day during lunchtime Toni opens the refrigerator and asks me what happened to all of his mayonnaise. I remind him that I don't eat mayonnaise and then tell him what I saw the night before. He then shakes his head and says unconvincingly, "No, that couldn't have been what happened um..."
And that's why you don't buy mayonnaise kids.
And that's why you don't buy mayonnaise kids.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Get Partially Real
So this past week I had 'midterms', even though the quarter is ending in less than three weeks, in Partial Differential Equations and Real Analysis. Some of you may be saying to yourselves, "Oh Billy, having midterms this late in the the quarter isn't that strange, sometimes teachers like to have two of three midterms and so one of them ends of happening later in the quarter if they're spread out evenly." True that, I agree. Both of these however were the only tests we've taken this quarter and so they were more like finals than midterms.
My real problem stemmed from over studying for one midterm and under studying for the other. PDE's is a relatively easy class and so I didn't take much time studying for it, while real analysis is usually always killer. Oh well, better luck next time I suppose.
My real problem stemmed from over studying for one midterm and under studying for the other. PDE's is a relatively easy class and so I didn't take much time studying for it, while real analysis is usually always killer. Oh well, better luck next time I suppose.
Hellboy
Right now Ally seriously wants to kill me because I'm watching the trailer for Hellboy 2. Imagine what will happen when it comes in the mail from netflix...
Abortion
Ally and I were recently talking about abortion, since it poses so many interesting ethical questions, and the conversation ended something like this:
Billy-"I think if someone could make a clone of himself without a brain and the clone just lived on life support, then it would be okay for someone to use the clone for spare organs, limbs, etc. "
Funny how easy it is to get off topic like that. Its just that abortion really brings up so many questions such as 'what is life?' and 'what role does science play in defining the matter?'. I was thinking about how in many countries and states the general rule for how late is too late to abort is 'If the fetus can survive outside of the mother's body then its too late too abort.' (hold on because now things are going to get a little sci-fi). What about the day when science will be able to create a test tube baby and nurture through its entire gestation period, will abortion not be allowed because technically the fetus could survive outside the mother's body any moment after conception? It just seems to me that we're defining when its okay to terminate a potential human life by how advanced our medical resources are. Personally I think that just goes to show the lengths we go to as a society to get around answering a philosophical question like 'when does life start?'
Naturally the test tube baby idea led us to talking about cloning and whether or not it is right to clone one's self and then use the clone for 'spare parts' in a manner of speaking. I felt that it is the mind which defines us as human. Since having a brain seems to be a necessary, but perhaps not sufficient, condition for the existence of a mind, then if the clone had no mind then there would be no crime in using the body for any purpose we saw fit.
Anyway, that's the kind of conversations I have with Ally sometimes when we're lying in bed trying to go to sleep. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Billy-"I think if someone could make a clone of himself without a brain and the clone just lived on life support, then it would be okay for someone to use the clone for spare organs, limbs, etc. "
Funny how easy it is to get off topic like that. Its just that abortion really brings up so many questions such as 'what is life?' and 'what role does science play in defining the matter?'. I was thinking about how in many countries and states the general rule for how late is too late to abort is 'If the fetus can survive outside of the mother's body then its too late too abort.' (hold on because now things are going to get a little sci-fi). What about the day when science will be able to create a test tube baby and nurture through its entire gestation period, will abortion not be allowed because technically the fetus could survive outside the mother's body any moment after conception? It just seems to me that we're defining when its okay to terminate a potential human life by how advanced our medical resources are. Personally I think that just goes to show the lengths we go to as a society to get around answering a philosophical question like 'when does life start?'
Naturally the test tube baby idea led us to talking about cloning and whether or not it is right to clone one's self and then use the clone for 'spare parts' in a manner of speaking. I felt that it is the mind which defines us as human. Since having a brain seems to be a necessary, but perhaps not sufficient, condition for the existence of a mind, then if the clone had no mind then there would be no crime in using the body for any purpose we saw fit.
Anyway, that's the kind of conversations I have with Ally sometimes when we're lying in bed trying to go to sleep. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
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