A Shout Out to Bruce

My regular musings from the field are taking a different direction in this post.  I'm dedicating it to my friend Bruce.  Anyone who has followed my blog will recall our Man-cation to London and Scotland in 2010 and our mini Man-cation to Pikes Peak in 2011.

We've known each other for about 23 years, more than half our lives and while I like to joke that the only thing we have in common is a love of Single Malt Scotch and Presbyterianism (he's a right wing libertarian who hates unions and I am a rabid socialist union member) he really is a good friend and someone I care about a great deal.

In 2007, he severely injured his left leg while attempting to rush the field at a USF Bulls football game. All this happened as his wife was in the final months of her pregnancy with their second child.  The injury was catastrophic and after years of surgeries and pain, Bruce is undergoing an amputation of his left leg below the knee on September 3rd. (I joked with him that my birthday will never be the same again).

My hope for Bruce is that this will lead to a new life, free of pain, with greater mobility, allowing him to do more with his family, and overall improve his health.  As a way of dealing with what is no doubt a traumatic event, he's decided to blog about it.  He's always supported and encouraged my blogging, so I plan to do the same for him and encourage you to participate in this journey, as I plan to do.  You can follow along at Left Leg Lost

God speed Brucie.....

Farewell

A week ago today, my good friend and traveling companion, Stu, lost his battle with cancer.  He and his wife Marty have been my good friends for over a decade and we enjoyed traveling the world together.  In 2008 we explored Cambodia and Malaysia.  In 2009, we went to Egypt and Jordan.  In 2011, we went to Iceland. 

Stu lived a unique and full life.  He started as a Flight Attendant in 1976 and after 10 years, left to pursue his doctorate in Geology.  He managed to see the good in most people, something I know I could learn to do a little better, and everyone who met him had nothing but nice things to say about him.

My trips with Stu and Marty will forever be some of my most treasured memories.  In honor of Stu, I thought I would post some photos from our travels over the years.

The Finnish Line

In early August, it was time to take the Latvians home.  I would only be going as far as Helsinki with the kids, but looking forward to a day to see that city, since I had only just visited the airport to change planes.

One of the kids I brought in June had gone back earlier, so I would just have four with me.  We posed with a group shot at DFW before heading out.

One of the kids who really touched my heart was Losha.  He was quiet and kept to himself, but he was ethnic Russian, and only spoke Russian, so he really couldn't communicate with the other children all that well.  Apparently during his time in Dallas, he also grew a mustache.

Two of my other DFW kids, Gundars and Elina.  They are siblings and were repeat hosted by the a family in Middlothian.

We got to Chicago on time and made our way to the connection for Helsinki.  All of the other kids were there waiting, and I think my charges were happy to see their friends again.  Our flight over the pond was smooth and fast at only 9 hours!  Again, the flight was full and so I had to sit in Business Class.  Rough life!  We arrived in Helsinki about the same time as David and his group from JFK arrived on Finnair and so the big group made it over to their connection to Riga and off they went.  David was turning right around and going back to Chicago, and I grabbed the bus and headed in to central Helsinki.

My hotel was located at the train station and right in the heart of everything.  My first stop was Temppeliaukio Church.  It's called the Church of the Rock, and is a Lutheran house of worship that opened in 1969.

The entire interior was excavated from rock and is bathed in natural light.  I just missed an organ recital by five minutes.

There is nothing particularly special about this ATM machine other than the bank is named Otto, which  was the name of my dog when I was a kid.

Here's a great shot of the Finnish National Theatre.

The Finnish House of Parliament

Here is the Helsinki Cathedral, built in 1852.  It was originally known as St. Nicholas' Church until Finnish independence in 1917, when it adopted the present name.  It is also part of the Lutheran Denomination.

I am not quite sure about this picture since Helsinki is more than 200 years old.....

This is the Upenski Orthodox Cathedral, which was completed in 1868.  I am a fan of Orthodox Iconography so I made my way up the hill to the church to catch a glimpse inside....

I was not disappointed.....

After a little dose of religion, I made my way down towards the Harbor and walked that area, taking in the sights. I had some dinner at a local place, and it was OK, but I realized I am not a fan of Finnish cuisine.

By now it was about 10pm and still bright as day outside, since we are so far north geographically.  I turned in for the night and had an uneventful flight home the next day.