Father’s Day
I lost my mother on May 24th at 96 and although I started a blog post about her shortly before she passed away, I have not yet gone back to finish it. Most likely that represents some psychological process somewhere between denial and the “magical thinking” found in Joan Didion’s book thanks to CK’s recommendation (which magically came with cookies; thanks, friend)
My parent’s were married for 41 years until at age 61 my father had a heart attack and was gone in an instant.
Their lives for those 41 years were inextricably weaved together and I was only a part of that quilt for 21 years. Yet, through anecdotes, stories, and even the faded B&W photos I thought I had a pretty good idea about the years that I missed. I realize now, I missed quite a bit.
Today is Father’s Day so this post is about my Dad; but its inspiration was found in my mother’s things; in her wallet and safety deposit box to be specific.
Her wallet contained pictures of her grandchildren and two pictures of my Dad. In recent years I had rummaged through her wallet many times looking for her Social Security number, Medicare card or credit card never really paying attention to anything but the item I was seeking. I had never notice her choice of wallet photos; frankly, I didn’t even know she carried pictures of my Dad.
One of the pictures I was very familiar with; taken shortly before he passed away, it captured him perfectly and we all had a treasured copy. The other one was taken during WWII and I have no idea, and now will never know, if there is a specific story that goes along with it or if there was a specific reason for its choice. I don’t recall ever seeing the photo before.
The other items were things that I HAD seen before, my Dad’s Bronze Star from WWII and the article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch about his award. What was noteworthy this time for me, was that when I read the article about his Bronze Star it was as if I were reading it for the first time. I thought I had read it but actually, I am still not quite sure if I had ever really read it before or had just seen it. I say this because this time I finally understood it.
My Dad was a supply Sargent in the US Air Force stationed on Guam during the War. He was also one of the most likable guys you would ever meet. He made everyone, including his oldest daughter, feel that they were the most special person in the world and for years after his death when I would run into someone that knew him I would invariably hear a story about how he had helped them, helped someone in their family or otherwise touched their lives.
For some reason, I had it in my head that he had gotten the Bronze Star because people, including his commanding officer liked him. I am not sure if this idea didn’t originate from my Dad. I had head him tell stories about how he had been able to “supply” many extraordinary things to his fellow soldiers on Guam: he was able to locate eggs for his unit that had been dining from tin cans and also cases of soft drinks that were unavailable except on the mainland at the time. He even had a side business ON GUAM for heaven sake, selling towels that he had imprinted with the words “Guam” and U.S.A.F.
His whole life, he was the recipient of gifts; sometimes a plate of food, a box of cigars or even a watch that someone used to say “thank you.” I guess I just thought that the Bronze Star fell somewhere into that category. OK, our childhood memories and impressions are often flawed, right?
So as I sat and read the article written by CPL. Wm J Fleischman, from “somewhere in the Marians” on April 6th (no year) I was struck by the headline: “St Louisian, Whose B-29s Never Missed Mission for Parts, Cited.” The article went on to explain that my dad’s job was to track supplies that kept the planes “pounding the Japanese” and that “in over a month not a single plane has missed a mission because it lacked parts.”
I had never thought that being a “supply Sargent” sounded too exciting. Sending airplanes off to fly wartime missions on the other hand had quite a different slant.
Now, my Dad had always been a hero to me. As a little girl, it seemed to me that there was nothing that he couldn’t do. I used to go to his office with him on Saturdays…he owned a building supplies company that he started whe he returned from WWII… and that was the highlight of my week. OK, and part of that was the unlimited candy, Coke, and office supplies that were quite limited at home by my more disciplined Mom.
But reading about his Bronze Star I saw for the first time that at a very young age, my Dad had already made a contribution that really mattered….he was a hero to others besides me. He was a war hero.
I was truly humbled. He was 30 years old and if he never did another thing, his life on earth had already mattered. As I mentioned, he died suddenly and there was no time to say goodbye. I have always regretted that I never had a chance to tell him how much I admired him…both his successes and his incredible perseverance in the face of adversity. But it was really not until I found this newspaper description of his Bronze Star, that I really appreciated that this was simply the way he had always lived his life.
Happy Father’s Day…..and if YOUR Dad is your hero, go tell him. Right now. And Tim Russert, what a loss for his father and his son and everyone whose lives he touched.
The Nikon D80 Blogger Program and My Canon EOS 30D
Photo taken with Canon EOS 30D
Picture This, I have had a long term relationship with Nikon. It seems now that it was one-sided. An elaborate invitation for a Nikon D80 did not arrive in my mailbox last April. I was not on the Nikon D80 Blogger Outreach dance card.
A Nikon D80 is a very nice camera….and I really needed a new camera.
So as I read some of my favorite bloggers write about their loaners, well I kind of wondered, what if…But like Peter Kim, cool has not chased me for anything more than expensive than a book.
But, it did make me start thinking…Now, CK did a great job articulating all of those blogger relations/blogger outreach and just blogger issues; credibility, transparency, incentives, even community building. And lots of smart, credible, community builders wrote thoughtful comments on her post.
It was just that I was thinking about my relationship with the Nikon Brand.
My very first SLR camera purchased shortly after college graduation was a Nikormat.My recollection is that I saved for quite some time to accumulate enough cash to make that camera my own.
As the years passed, I accumulated quite a collection of Nikons; even the lenses from the Nikormat found a home on my last film camera, the Nikon ProneaS. My first digital camera was a very large CoolPix990. The remnants of my Nikon graveyard is memorialized above.
I had been using a Nikon 7600 basic point and shoot when I began my pursuit of something more. As a matter of fact, I don’t think that from the time that I bought the Nikormat, that I had purchased a camera that wasn’t a Nikon. It seems to me that the D80 Blogger Outreach program changed my beliefs about Nikon.
Now, I am fairly brand loyal….I don’t get why anyone but Heinz or Hellman’s even bothers to make catsup or mayonnaise respectively; and no Pepsi is not an acceptable substitute for Coke. (Full disclosure, Heinz has been a client) But then again, after three Volvo’s, the last one was so awful I would not make any brand based assumptions in considering a future purchase.
And for me, Nikon meant camera. I started with the brand and then decided which one. Before the D80 Blogger Program that is.
I thought the Nikon Flickr program was inspired….sending D80’s to Flickr users and letting them experience the camera by creating content to upload on Flickr, that became brand advertising. The program was a kind of community mash-up that linked Flickr, photographers and the Nikon D80, engaging to all.
The D80 Blogger program was not built on exactly the same principles…and I am talking about the principles of designing the context for users to experience a brand, create content and let the content and the users market the brand, not anyone’s personal principles.
Joseph Jaffe, a D80 participant, seems to have something else altogether going on with his podcast for iPhones and more, and certainly is generating lots of opinions as John Moore points out.
All that aside, what theD80 program and the discussion that followed did for me was to point out that despite my years of Nikon brand loyalty that there were bloggers who perhaps had never spent a single cent on a Nikon product, who maybe didn’t even take many pictures or ever blog about anything photo related who were going to get a really awesome and expensive camera for f-r-e-e.
The Sprint Ambassador program evoked similar thoughts….Lots of bloggers I knew had free Sprint phones and free calls. I was a paying customer.
I had been a Sprint customer for years but for the past several had issues ranging from product quality to service quality, to billing and customer service. I not only couldn’t get my problems solved, when asked at the end of one of the many marathon customer service sessions if there was anything else they could do to for me and I mentioned that I could use a new phone, the rep said that they just weren’t able to do that anymore for customers. Guess all the phones were going to all those Ambassadors.
So, as I went into serious search for new camera mode, instead of evaluating Nikon cameras only, I looked at other Brands. I found my way to Canon and eventually to the 30D, purchased in July. I love it. I am still in learning mode and it will be a while before I can commit to Canon brand loyalty. That takes time and positive experience.
Aside, I read yesterday that the new Canon 40D is due out next month. Did I move too soon?
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