Orientation

Today, Seamus and I attended kindergarten orientation.

Whew.


Everything went smoothly and pretty effortlessly (on his part) but a little less so for me (lots of sunglassed weeping - thank God for dark glasses).

Let's review: today was only orientation and you'd have thought I was sending him to the moon.

Fortunately, Seamus is delighted and excited. It's not that I'm sad - the emotion isn't sad at all really - what I'm feeling seems best described as tenderness. These are the moments that hit me the hardest - the tender moments when you see your child for who they are and for what they are dreaming. They are proud moments, often quiet and gentle. The kind of deep breath that is private and almost holy - in fact I think it is holy. They are the moments when you feel so clearly that this child is more than just your child. They are their own person, bigger and unique.

Last night the movie Parenthood was on TV - this is one of my all time favorite movies and I haven't seen it since right after Seamus was born. Both sets of grandparents came to San Francisco when Seamus was born (Doughertys were around for about ten days) and Schneemans came out the day after he was born for the baptism (along with uncle Chris). The night Dougherty's left we went down to see Grandma and Grandpa Schneemans hotel and have dinner. We had a lovely night, but by the next night I was feeling tired and ready to just have my feet up. Dad made a great dinner and we ate at our condo on Van Ness and then put in a movie. Dad and Grandma promptly fell asleep and my dad and I watched Parenthood while passing Seamus (also sound asleep) back and forth. We laughed and cried and it was (for me) a special kind of moment - maybe it was even a tender moment for him - I'll have to ask and see if he remembers. But that was the last time I saw the movie and now a few more years and experiences into parenthood, I found I love it just as much. Life is a roller coaster and you have to sit back and enjoy all the ups and downs because it's over faster than you can imagine.

Seamus, we love you so much and are looking forward to sending you off tomorrow. Have fun with your new and old friends, learn lots and make us proud.

Mucho cabin fun

Seamus catching the littlest fish in the world. Nice job on the joint effort between Seamus and MJD. Hopefully more updates to come soon!

Grandpa stories

Here's a story from a friend of my Dad (aka Grandpa Tom) about his college ROTC days. "Remembering Tom Dougherty & Life Lessons" Copying it over to our blog for posterity's sake.

"It was November 1967, during my freshman year, pledging and hell night were behind me. We were in the day room, and there was the always present card game. It was Pinochle. Tom Dougherty said “sit down Lowenbraun, we need a 4th person.” It was more like a command than a request. I told him that I didn’t know how to play Pinochle. Hell, I didn’t even know how to spell Pinochle. But Tom took me as his partner and he taught me how to play Pinochle. It cost me a few bucks, and Tom said I had to pay for my losses and his losses too because he didn’t have any cash. I never knew you could go to a card game with no money. But I did get his IOU, yeah right. Everyone passed around IOU’s even though we all knew they were worth less than Confederate script. Pinochle also almost cost me my education. I got hooked on the game and would cut classes just to play Pinochle. I would play in the day room, in the cafeteria, on the buses to drill meets, and all the way to Dayton, Ohio. I would play with people like Fred Palumbo, Richie Mahler, Joe Hughes, Joe D’Heron, Mike McCloud, Tommy Edwards, Frank Palmieri, and all the others. I even remember the time I was dealt 9 hearts on the way to Dayton. If you won, the rewards were, a dollar a game, plus penny a point, quarters for stars and holes. If you could collect it. Since that day in 1967, when Tom told me to sit down, Pinochle is absolutely my favorite card game. Thank you Tommy.

In my sophomore year Tom Dougherty was Company K-8 1st Sergeant.
That year I marched in front of Tom on the IDR A-Team. It was a great IDR team commanded by Frank Russomanno (1969). As always we were practicing outside in the Seton Hall parking lot next to the old gym. I remember how most mornings you forgot about how cold it was once the order was given “forward march” and you focused on what you were there for. Your teammates and brothers counted on each other. And I marched in front of Tom.
I remember Tom whispering to me “pull down, pull down, cant left, cant left, pull down. He was of course talking about how I held my rifle. Then he would whisper, “Lowenbraun, you pull down or I’m gonna kick you in the ass.” Tommy scared the shit out of me. When the command came for “rear march”, Tom was in front of me. Then it was my turn. It was my chance to tell him to pull down or cant left. Tom’s rifle was perfect, and it never changed position. It was as if Tom and his rifle were one and the same. Then the command came again “rear march” and I was in front of Tom again. He demanded perfection, and his work ethic was to be admired. Thank you Tommy.

I don’t remember which drill meet it was, but after the drill meet we were having our beers when Tom sat next to me and told me to try something else. Scotch…definitely Dewars. It was a tough night for me, but I got through it and survived. And since that night with Tom, Dewar’s is my go-to drink. There have been many nights with Dewars since then, and never a hangover. At my daughters wedding this August, I drank Dewars, and felt great. Thank you Tommy.
So it was like that with Tom. He taught me to play Pinochle, drink Scotch, work hard, and strive for perfection. I have worked hard and look forward to retirement, and maybe once a week, play Pinochle with old friends and drink Dewars. Tom taught me life lessons, and maybe he taught you some lessons as well. Not bad things to learn from a brother. He still scares the shit out of me. Thank you Tommy."

Mike Lowenbraun '71

Thanks to the men of Company K8 - Dad's ROTC fraternity brothers at Seton Hall

http://captainslogblog.typepad.com/companyk8/2009/08/remembering-tom-dougherty-life-lessons.html

Roll out the red carpet

Cousin Jason played with his new Flip camcorder in NJ. He assembled a wonderful cast and crew - excellent work for this first time documentarian.

Quote from Jason - "Apparently my water level selection skills need to be more in tune with my slip 'n slide audience's desires."

Our kids rule at skee ball. One quarter lasts a long time.....

Toothless!

Seamus is officially falling apart. He has now lost two teeth. It makes me feel so old that my bones ache (but let's be honest, it's mostly my heart that aches - how can he be this big?).

We love him - missing parts and all. The tooth fairy brought him 2 bucks a tooth - Finn is now thinking of ways to knock his teeth out to get in on the business plan.

Dad's Day and James' Birthday

I was able to be with my whole family (Mom, Katie, Anne, Andie, Kiddies, Pat, Jason, Robin) for Father's day. I can't imagine a better way to spend it - sending out lots of love to our Toms on this day as well, so it was nice that I could be some sort of "stand-in" for the day. We even hit the boardwalk for some fantasticness.

































For my birthday - I took the family to a waterpark! It was AWESOME - maybe a new family tradition. It was perfect - little something for everyone - lazy river, hot tub, Kowabunga Falls - perfect. I spend quite a bit of time convincing Seamus to go on rides with me - there were a number of BIG rides that required two people. Kind of a foreshadowing of things to come...but with roles reversed. To top off the day - we spent the evening with Uncle John, Maureen, Megan, and Katelyn. We were very happy that Katelyn had recovered from her bubonic plague so we could be a-visiting. Fantastic company and tasty Portuguese food - our Dougherty summer tradition.

The family gave me a new camera so enjoy the pics! The video is kind of slow action - but the boys love Videos on Blogs - so here we go! (I'll get better at the camera usage - I promise)