Remembering Elliana: My Equal Opposite

Candace was my birthday present, Erin was my Father's Day gift, and Elliana was my equal opposite. Our birthdays are exactly six months apart. We used to play a game in which Elliana would ask me how old I would be when she was a certain age. I would always be forty-seven-and-a-half years older than she would be! 

Obviously, she and I were equally people and opposing genders, but she was large, and I was small. Plus, she moved slowly, and I was quick. Despite that, we were best friends from the start. If she saw me somewhere when she was a toddler, she wanted to hang out with me. That was almost always fine with me! Of course, that changed when friends started coming over, but all good things unfortunately come to an end.

Remembering Elliana: Shopping for School Clothes

Thinking back, I don't recall ever shopping for school clothes, except for taking the girls to the store and picking them up. By the time my ex departed for the east coast, the girls were able to get what they needed with me only needing to provide money and transportation. 

Taking Elliana out to get school clothes, then, had to be my first effort at buying school clothes. 

It was also my last!

I Want to be a Butterfly

Though butterflies are not as essential to sustaining life as are worms, flies, and bees, they represent transformation into something that is beautiful while fulfilling its ultimate purpose as it flutters and flits for the rest of its life. 

The transformation requires great effort on the part of the butterfly. It struggles so greatly to emerge from its chrysalis that its first few hours are spent recovering. 

During the time immediately following its emergence, it is little more than easy prey for things that will eat it up. Butterflies that survive the period of vulnerability provide beauty for those that see them, and the seeds for growth for the new life that blossoms just because the butterfly was once there. 

Things I Honestly Believe

Nothing is certain.

Lobbying is bribery.

You cannot see a hole.

XXX movies are overrated.

Aristotle screwed things up.

Einstein was as bright as light.

Socrates was a funny character.

If God has gender, She is female.

Remembering Elliana: Christmas Shopping at The Dollar Store

It would have been the Christmas of 2008 when I had the idea to take Elliana to The Dollar Store so she could buy presents for people who were going to be giving her presents. Rose went with us to get some stocking stuffers for her kids, but I think she had some idea about what was going to happen and wanted to see it.

We grabbed a cart and headed off toward the gifts for her grandparents, her uncles, and her mom and dad. Rose headed off on her own. 

We grabbed some of the goodies at the entrance, and then headed off for the candles. Before we got there, though, we ran into some stuff that would go along with the candles and other gifts. This continued on after the candles. We headed for the keychains, but we stopped along the way to get some other stuff for some other friends. 

Remembering Elliana: The Transpro Picnic

I worked for a non-emergency medical transport company named Transpro for a few months in 2008 before departing for Northwest Transport. Candace would sometimes drop Elliana off at the shop while I was washing my van after my shift. 

One day, Elliana was rinsing the van off when another driver approached her. He offered her a dollar to turn the hose on me. Elliana looked at me in bewilderment. She wanted the dollar, but she didn't want to hurt her papa. When I told her to go for the dollar, she soaked me! I tried to get out of range, but the hoses were powerful. The driver gave her three dollars and all of his change for the impressive soaking my three-year-old granddaughter gave me!

Remembering Elliana: Her First Shots

Javier called me somewhat in a panic. Elliana had been crying incessantly since she had her shots earlier in the day, and he could not figure out what the problem was. He had tried feeding her. Her diaper didn't need changing. She was uncomfortable and crying.

This was a job for Papa, so I headed over to see what I could do. Sure enough, she was crying uncomfortably when I got there.

Remembering Elliana: Elliana’s First Mariners Game

I was eleven when we went to San Diego to visit my uncle and his family. It was there that I saw my first major league baseball game. The Padres were playing the Giants. Juan Marichal pitched, Willie Mays was in center, and Willie McCovey was at first! All of these superstars were amongst the greatest players of the day!

Jump forward forty years to 2009. The Mariners had a new GM and a new manager. They also had an old, familiar face as that was the year Ken Griffey Jr. rejoined the team with which he began his illustrious career. He no longer played center field, but was primarily the designated hitter. He had struggled with the bat that season, so it was thought that he would retire that year.

I wanted my then four year old granddaughter, Elliana, to be able to say she saw him play, so she, Papa Mike, and I made our way north to see the final game of the season against the Texas Rangers.

Remembering Elliana: Blowing Bubbles

Note: This was written by me on July 28, 2009. That date has no significance to the reader. It has significance to me, because it means that I was inspired to write about this actual event, on Elliana's fourth birthday.

I only remember that when I open it to read it. It seems dust gets in my eyes when I do that, too.

I hope you enjoy it.

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Remembering Elliana: The Rules to Taggeret (Video Reading Included)

The most popular post of 2023.
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Elliana has several cultures in her genetic makeup. Her father has indigenous and Mexican blood on his side of the family. 

Elliana spent a lot of time with him at his father's home when she was young. 

I picked her up one day from Papa Ed's place. She told me that she and her young uncles and cousins played a game called taggeret. They had been playing it for a while. 

This was the first time I had heard of the game. She could explain it to me since she was just learning to speak. I asked her how the game was played. 

Remembering Elliana: Soaking Papa at Work

The final part of the day of work at Transpro was washing and putting away the van. Candace arrived while I was washing the van one sunny day, so I had Elliana, who was three years old, rinse the van while I finished washing it. 

Another driver walked up and decided to have some fun with the situation. He told Elliana that he would give her a dollar if she sprayed me with the hose. She looked at me a bit bewildered. She loves her papa, but a dollar is a dollar.

Remembering Mom: She Knew Her Tomato Plants

Back in the old days, we would buy a bag of pot and hope that no more than a fourth of it was stems and seeds. No matter what we tried, there were no good ways to consume the stems and seeds to get high. Just smoking the crap was more likely to give you a headache than a high. If a wayward seed made its way into a joint or a bowl of weed, it would pop like popcorn, except there were no kernels. The lit portions blown out by the seed popping were going to be holes in your shirts and cloth seats.

One of my final antics before leaving home was to use some of the seeds to start about twenty plants. I did it in the closet of my upstairs bedroom with a sun lamp my dad once used.

It wasn't an overly well-thought-out plan. Even cousin Guy caught me. I had to beg him to not tell on me.

Three Songs About Adultery

Nothing feels quite like finding someone to fall in love with and marry. However, not everyone has the same experiences in marriage. Some people just deal with commitment better than other people do. Each of these three songs is about love with someone who isn't committed to commitment.

Two of the songs are about people who are contentedly having affairs. One of the songs is about a married man, and the other is about a married woman. The final song is about getting caught having an affair. 

Three Songs About Theft

Like music, thievery also comes in many methods and styles. If we allow for the figurative idea of theft, the array is simply too vast. Even by limiting the topic to songs that are literally about theft, there were many songs to choose from.

I will end the post with a song about identity theft. Before that, there will be a song about shoplifting. I'll begin by one of the most common types of theft, and one that costs businesses money every day: employee theft.

Three Songs About Toxic Relationships

Even if we haven't been in relationships that were overly toxic, most people will have experienced some level of lost love by the time they are adults. For the most part, people know when to walk away. Some things are meant to be, and some things become painfully obvious they were not meant to be.

Sometimes couples do not have the good sense to walk away from toxic relationships. For whatever reasons they imagine, they keep trying to make it work despite that there are obvious problems between them.

Why I Gave Up Christmas Shopping

Christmas has always been a weird holiday for me. 

As a child, we celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve because my older sister's birthday is on the 25th. I always felt a bit bad for Maureen. People would give her one gift and tell her it was for both Christmas and her birthday. However, that was her problem. It only seemed weird to me.

The problem that I had with Christmas was that it seemed to be more stressful than happy for the adults. Also, the need to buy knickknacks for other people kept me from buying the slot car racetrack I wanted for myself. In return, I would get trinkets, toys, and clothes that cost everyone more than the racetrack that I wanted, if they had pooled their money. 

Topping Her Dad at Something

I was greeted at the door by my youngest granddaughter.

"Hi Papa. Merry Christmas and welcome," she said. 

It was not her normal greeting. She was excited because Christmas Eve is when her father's family gathers at her home to exchange Christmas gifts. I was there for the food and the cookies, and to see the grandkids before they got started.

The cousins had not yet arrived. Her mom and dad were getting things ready for the evening. She was all mine to talk to and play with for a while.

A Surprise at Breakfast

It is not unusual for me to gather my family for a weekend breakfast. This particular day was a Sunday at Bar Bistro.

I started out with my usual Bloody Meal, which is a Bloody Mary topped with toast, a hard-boiled egg, a couple slices of bacon, and some other goodies skewered on a couple of toothpicks so they don’t get into the drink. Elliana and Gemma like to take those things apart to munch on until our breakfasts arrive.

The Love of Doja

I heard a quotation that everyone believes that they have the best dog in the world, and none of them are wrong. 

I don't personally have a dog right now, but I do have five grandpuppies that I love for the love they give me. 

The oldest is Sophie. I went in halves on her with my ex-wife as a Christmas gift for Elliana in 2011. Sophie is a Yorkie mix who loves us all but would bark at us if we dared to hug HER Elliana! 

Though Sophie was Elliana's dog, she has lived her life with Elliana's grandmother. She is old now, and I rarely see her. I was teased when Laura and I bought her that I just paid half for my ex-wife's dog. That is essentially what happened.

Three Songs About Ex-Girlfriends

Music expresses moods. Whether we are happy or glad, or angry or sad, there are songs for every mood.

Love is one of the most common themes in music, and many sub-themes can be derived from within that. From first kisses to mourning soulmates, the spectrum of love is covered. Of course, part of the spectrum of love are lost loves. 

Even within this sliver of the slice of music that are love songs, we can find different moods. That is the case with these three songs about ex-girlfriends. One of the songs is about reflecting on what might have gone differently, but didn't. One of the songs is about an ex-girlfriend for whom some bitterness seems to be mixed with a bit of lingering desire. 

Before we get to those, here is a song to an ex-girlfriend that is about being bitter and spiteful, and holding a grudge.