This webring community is indeed a great sign of hope for the continuance of
civility and compassionate humanity.
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Winters <prairiewinters@xxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 1:27 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] Story: A Special Birthday OM
> Kelton
>
> A great story of your father. I enjoyed every bit of it. And it shows
the
> caring people can demonstrate when they are moved. Morgan and John did not
> know your father personally, but that did not stop them from showing their
> kindness and concern for you and your father. Hats off to humanity!
>
> Bob Winters Washington State
>
> > From: Kelton Rhoads <krho@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 08:45:20 -0800
> > To: "Olympus List" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: [OM] Story: A Special Birthday OM
> >
> > "We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are
> > threescore and ten . . . "
> >
> > Sorry to write such a long message, but this is important to me.
> > Yesterday was my dad's 70th birthday. His name is Gayle, which means
> > "her father's joy." (I guess my grandparents didn't do their research.)
> > Fathers come in all varieties, and among other things, mine was one who
> > was enthusiastic about just about anything that caught my
> > interest--including OMs. When I spent nearly my entire bank account on
an
> > OM-1 and 50mm lens as an 8th grader in 1976, he was the one who found
> > something extra for the 75-150mm and later, a 24mm Zuiko. As I was
> > rediscovering Olympus in the early 1990s, Dad obligingly shared the
> > interest again. As an educator, his time was a little more flexible than
> > most, and he could occasionally slip off to a morning swap meet. In the
> > pre-eBay years, he snagged a couple of bargain Zuikos and gave them to
> > me, including a couple of 50s, a 100, and a 200. One day, however, he
was
> > exceptionally lucky and found a chrome OM-2 sitting on a seller's
> > blanket. But another customer was closer and had seen it first. "How
> > much?" asked the customer. "$20," said the seller. The customer put it
> > back on the blanket and Dad pounced. That OM-2 gave him good service for
> > a year but then quit. A Shutterbug reader at the time, I had located a
> > "bargain" Olympus repair service in the advertising pages and sent it
in.
> > The camera worked for another year and then quit again. By that time, I
> > had discovered this list and had learned about John Hermanson, so I sent
> > it to John (www.zuiko.com). It has, of course, worked flawlessly ever
> > since, and has been an excellent host to the Zuiko zoom lenses that dad
> > has received on birthdays. (I have the primes, Dad has the zooms.) About
> > 2 years ago, dad retired. Having been a minister, a teacher, & a school
> > principal, it was surprising to see him become increasingly shy and
> > taciturn. I had missed some of the transformation during the hectic year
> > of my dissertation, but upon graduating and returning to California, I
> > found him to be distinctly more pensive and withdrawn. I mentioned this
> > to his physician. I thought perhaps if Dad and I spent some time
> > together, he would come out of his shell. So, when I drove up to Las
> > Vegas to meet Gary Reese and provide Zuikosamples for his lens tests, I
> > took Dad along. It was an odd trip, because dad would only speak when
> > spoken to. He would not volunteer a comment or utter a word unless
> > prompted, and he found nothing on the trip interesting, except breakfast
> > at the Casino where we stayed. Gary Reese probably remembers him only as
> > a shy, retiring old man who was eager to be helpful but generally
> > disinterested in conversation. This was a very different personality
from
> > the enthusiastic, take-charge, interested-in-anything Dad that I knew.
> > After the trip, I again called Dad's physician and pointedly commented
on
> > his personality change. Eventually, the physicians found a brain tumor
in
> > Dad's cerebellum. He survived the surgery and targeted (proton)
radiation
> > in good shape, and within several weeks, wanted to hit a swap meet. I
> > recall his walking most of the swap meet, and riding in the wheel chair
> > for only the last portion of it. When the physicians thought Dad had
> > recovered sufficiently from the surgery, they performed a routine
> > preventive procedure for brain cancer survivors: full-brain radiation. I
> > found out later that, while no choice (and precious little information)
> > is given to the patient or his family about this procedure, full-brain
> > radiation is performed because there is about a 30 hance that a brain
> > tumor will recur. Thus, full-brain radiation is a safe and conservative
> > strategy (from a health provider's standpoint), but had disastrous
> > results. Since radiation, dad has virtually lost his ability to walk and
> > to control a host of voluntary, involuntary, and cognitive functions
that
> > you and I take for granted. For the past year and a half, he has been
> > interested in nothing, says nothing, does nothing. As he says, "I know
> > I'm not right." He has essentially become another, different person
since
> > radiation. Occasionally, a fragment of the old dad will float across his
> > person and quickly vanish. The only thing that holds his interest for
> > more than a moment are beautiful things. He will stare for hours at
> > something he considers to be beautiful. This gave me an idea, so I
> > contacted Morgan Sparks for a skin for Dad's old OM-2
> > (http://homepages.together.net/~msparks/leathers/index.html). I told him
> > this was to be a birthday present for Dad, and Morgan sent me a
beautiful
> > natural lizard skin. Unfortunately, I omitted mention that Dad's camera
> > had the less common square, rather than rectangular, MD badge. Morgan
> > offered to create a special skin, and asked that I send the original
skin
> > for him to use as a template. I did so, but I sent the skins during the
> > Xmas rush. Despite delivery tracking, a "temp" postal worker failed to
> > deliver the package (which contained both the original synthetic skin
and
> > Morgan's rectangular-badge lizard skin. I offered to pay for Morgan's
> > lost skin but he would not hear of it.) Morgan contacted John Hermanson
> > for a sample of a square-badge skin, and the two of them worked together
> > to create a new template, allowing Morgan to make a custom skin for
Dad's
> > camera. The skin arrived in time for me to re-cover Dad's camera, to add
> > a "focus-noncritical" 28mm Zuiko (complete with Olympus filter and
> > "funnel"), and present it to Dad for his 70th birthday. His eyes widened
> > as he recognized his old OM-2 in the sumptuous new covering, and I could
> > tell that he was touched as I told him how Morgan and John had rushed
his
> > custom skin to me in time for his birthday. I caught him playing with
the
> > camera and peeking through it while he was alone--it's a rare thing for
> > dad to do anything but stare or sleep when unattended. This is a good
> > sign! I think that on my next visit I'll take him to a local arboretum
> > and see if he is interested in taking pictures of flowers with his
> > stunning, leather-skinned OM. To Morgan and John I say: your kindness to
> > this old man on his birthday will not be forgotten. You can see Dad and
> > his camera at http://home.earthlink.net/~rhoadside/om/bday.jpg
> >
> > Kelton
> >
> > < This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
> > < For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
> > < Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
> >
>
>
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> < For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
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>
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