On March 7, Caitlin had her annual birthday party. We jokingly called it her “9 and 1/12” birthday, because it was one month after her actual birthday. Things were a bit busy in early February. Anyway, the celebration was held at a local venue that has an indoor playground, arcade, and party rooms. The Culpeper area needed one of these, truth be told. Ten kids showed up, and a good time was had by all. Even the parents liked the place!
On Saturday, February 7, 2015, my daughter Caitlin turned nine years old.
Two days old.
She was born on a cold morning in Takoma Park, Maryland, at Washington Adventist Hospital. She has always been an easy-going, high energy girl, and she tends to light up whatever room she enters. She is sort of a celebrity in the extended family, because she was the first Pugh girl born in over thirty years. There is a running joke within the family the Pugh men “don’t throw girls.” Generally the Pugh line is very male-heavy, so there may be something to that.
I broke with tradition.
Caitlin’s interests include Tai Kwon Do,
building toys,
Girl Scouts…
and just having fun!
Being in the third grade, she has had some exposure to the less savory aspects of growing up. I suspect she’ll have some rough patches, but I know she’ll manage.
Greetings, gentle readers! Yes, today is my birthday, and to celebrate that, I have gathered some pictures from my past, including some of the absolutely worst pictures of me ever taken.
I was born on February 6, 1967, at Cortland Memorial Hospital, in Central New York, at roughly 7:35 AM. I was born in the middle of the coldest, most bitter winter on record up until that time. (The winter of 1977 broke any and all low temperature records for the area; it was a doozy.)
As a boy I lived in the town of Homer, New York. I did most of the usual kid stuff, though not as much as most other boys, because I had an almost pathological hatred of High School. Why? Well, I was what we would now call a “nerd,” and Homer Central was a school where (at least at that time) athletes were demigods. Need I say more?
I went to college at St. Bonaventure University, in Western New York. and those were among my happiest years. During this time I experimented, unsuccessfully, with facial hair.
Gads, I look like Leon Trotsky!
After working a various jobs for two years, I returned to school at SUNY Albany, for a Master of Science in Information Studies. That’s a fancy name for a Master of Library Science.
Had I been drinking earlier that day? I look like I’m about to fall over.
I had some good times at SUNY, and I made some lasting friends. But on the whole, those two years were part of my job.
Career developments moved me to the Washington, DC area in 1996. I met my future wife there, and we were married in 2003.
I started working for the Library of Congress in 2003, and in 2007 I took a lateral move to the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. My daughter Caitlin was born in 2006, and somewhere during this time I went prematurely grey. I’m certain there is a connection.
In 2009, Lisa and I bought our first (and so far only) house, and in 2012 our son Michael was born.
Definitely the worst picture ever…
Last year, Lisa made me these cute Welsh cupcakes for my birthday.
And here is one good picture of me, just to show that it can be done:
And that concludes that. I have now completed forty-eight solar laps. I’ve done many of things I set out to do, and believe it or not, I think I’m in a pretty good place these days. Some things could be better, of course, and some things are a work in progress. And for some things, I’m just getting started.
Today would have been my father’s 78th birthday. He died unexpectedly in May of 1993, at the relatively young age of 56. The cause was eventually determined to be an angina rupture.
I had a lot of trouble writing something about him. I strongly suspect that my mom’s health currently being in free-fall has something to do with that. So, I’ll just feature some photographs that I pilfered from my brother’s facebook page. (Sorry, Jim.)
At his wedding in 1964.
With his father in 1953.
My father was a mathematician to the core. His world was defined by absolutes. He wasn’t a patient man, and he wouldn’t suffer fools. He was formidably intelligent, and apparently a very stern – but fair – professor. Many of his students at SUNY Cortland actually feared him, especially those in the 100 level courses. Though as I understand it, math and science majors actually tried to get into his 300 and 400 level courses on computer science and advanced calculus.
With mom, Memere, and my brother, in 1989.
He also had a very wry and ironic sense of humor. Sometimes his one liners would fly over people’s heads, but those who caught them usually chuckled. Or they groaned, because he was also a lethal punslinger.
With his brother, and brother-in-law, 1980.
He and I had many differences over the years, especially near the end of his life. He was a troubled man in many ways, but he always wanted the best for my brother and I. He did everything in his power to make sure we had at least the same opportunities that he had, if not more. And, he was a good dad. He’s proving to be a surprisingly hard act to follow.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him or miss him.
