Losses...We Got Losses...

Rick,

My deepest and sincerest condolences to you. May your father's soul rest in peace.

And may you continue to shine his light around the world with you, and may his love for you dwell in your heart forever.

I am sorry to hear about your dad Otter.

Peace and hugs.

Rick/Otter

My condolences re: your father's passing.
In his memory, let's keep working for peace and democracy.

Your Dad Did
by John Hiatt

Well the sun comes up and you stare your cup of coffee, yup
Right through the kitchen floor
You feel like hell so you might as well get out and sell
Your smart ass door to door

And the mrs. wears her robe slightly undone
As your daughter dumps her oatmeal on your son
And you keep it hid
Just like your Dad did

So you go to work just to watch some jerk
Pick up the perks
You were in line to get
And the guy that hired you just got fired,
Your job's expired
They just ain't told you yet

So you go and buy a brand new set of wheels
To show your family just how great you feel
Acting like a kid
Just like your dad did
And...

You're a chip off the old block
Why does it come as such a shock
That every road up which you rock
Your dad already did

Yeah you've seen the old man's ghost
Come back as creamed chipped beef on toast
Now if you don't get your slice of the roast
You're gonna flip your lid
Just like your dad did, just like your dad did

Well the day was long now, supper's on
The thrill is gone
But something's taking place
Yeah the food is cold and your wife feels old
But all hands fold
As the two year old says grace

She says "help the starving children to get well..."
"But let my brother's hamster burn in hell"
You love your wife and kids
Just like your dad did
Just like your dad did
Just like your dad did

Otter:

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Please remember the good times you had with him and take each day as it comes.

Rick, my condolences on the loss of your father.

(Ed Note: For political comments please use the next thread down. Christy, I moved your comment there, too. Thanx.)

Sorry. Didn't think anyone was still on it.

I'm always on it... (wink)

It's so odd, I remember the day my Mom died totally unexpectedly 6 years ago, how that day seemed to drag on as if in slow motion, yet every day prior to it seemed to zip past exponentially, and the days since have gone even faster (hence the exponential reference)...

Wishing you peace on the journey, my brother.

Rick, I know you were a roadie before and created many excellent stage productions. (I know of a lot you did in 04 for JK.)

Anyways, I thought you might appreciate this song for you and your dad.

...a small city on the shores of a great lake, one from which I filed a number of dispatches during the interim period between my life in Sili Valley and and my moving to Beantown. Here are a couple of examples that still stick in my mind:

Waging Peace in Flyover Country

Two Funerals and A Waiting

I didn't know Suz had posted anything about this until I got a phone call from ABQ John this afternoon. Thanks for all your caring and support, y'all.

There's a typically brief and sketchy bio of my dad in his obit on the local fishwrapper's website (and you can even drop a comment there if you like, ain't the internets grand):

Donald J. Albertson

These things are never easy, of course, but this was as easy a passing as there could be. Dad saw this coming a long time ago, he's been gradually (and then emphatically) tying up each and every loose end from his long and giving life -- along with the aid of my amazingly-overcompetent sister, who has spent the last few weeks dotting every single T and crossing every single I in close conjunction with dad before he went into hospital, so that there is nary a frayed end left to tug on now.

He held on against the odds until my older brother got in from California late last night. He could no longer speak or even make hand gestures, but you could tell he knew we were all finally here and that it was okay to finally let go.

And then, yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon on a gorgeous balmy late-summer day, well cared for and in no pain... he breathed very deeply two times, let go a very long, slow sigh... and he died.

Requiescat in pace, dad.

blessed be,
Otter

(Sorry, subject line for previous comment should have been "Erie, actually, about 100 miles due north of Pittsburgh..." except for what I didn't realize DCP don't take no subject lines. Opening paragraphs of previous comment make much more sense when you consider that in context.)

Otter,

Karen and I posted the above as a team. Just don't want to take full credit.

Peace.

And thank you for sharing his last moments with us.

Otter,
Sorry to hear about your father - take good care of yourself at this time and hold with you all the best memories - see the best of your father in yourself - that's what I've done over the years since my dad passed away in 1995. Hang in there!

Furry otter guy,

Thinking about you, and sending prayers up for your dad, and for your family in this difficult time. I'm so sorry about your loss.

This goes out to Otter (and Marc dodging the tropical storms):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYPTsPHXZUY&feature=related

Chuck in Houston

Rick:

May the circle be unbroken:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zqFda3HTpw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_a92GAwDE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd36QgNKZEM&feature=related

Chuck

I'm so sad for you Rick. I know you have enjoyed many of Eric Bogle's songs. Sadly I can't find it on YouTube, but the lyrics are here. Those of us who don't have a father now, know a lot of how you feel, yet for each of us it is different.

Scraps of Paper
These days my life seems somehow like a tired old cliché
A bad movie scene that just goes on and on
With dialogue like " It's so sad how fast time slips away"
Or "You never really miss them until they're gone"
Funny how those old clichés come true
I never thought I'd miss him, but I do
Chorus:
My father died in summer, and all he left behind
Were little scraps of paper, little scraps of rhyme
I read them and felt something inside me break
And angrily cried out "Too late, too late!"
Surely there must be something better?
Surely there must be something better?
He and I were always strangers, searching for someone
I was looking for a hero, and he a friend
So while I searched for my father, he was looking for his son
So strangers we remained until the end
But the man who wrote his heart into those rhymes
I know he could have been a good friend of mine
So I sit here where he lived and died as the ghosts around me weave
And evening shadows lengthen on the wall
And in this dark and empty room it's so easy to believe
That he never lived at all
But the little scraps of paper in my hand
Prove he lived to me - the father and the man
© Eric Bogle

No wonder they’re now effectively saying “drop dead” to the likes of Lehman Brothers!

Re: Koreans say assets at leh way too risky
22-Aug-08 12:16 am

The Financial Times has just reported that Chinese and Korean investors have flatly rejected pleas from Lehman Brothers for bail-out funds.

Lehman’s third-quarter losses will be a staggering $4 billion — 700% worse than prior estimates — according to Citigroup’s latest review.

Lehman is desperately seeking buyers to the last profitable asset it owns, Neuberger.

Lehman, which is 1.6 times larger than Bear Stearns was when it failed, may be too big to save. And even if it is saved by the government, its shares will probably be worth close to zero.

If you think the Bear Stearns failure was a disaster, better hold onto your hat ...

Lehman Brothers is 60% larger, and this time around it looks like there might not be a sugar daddy to buy out the besieged company. If that’s the case, its shares could soon be worth close to ZERO!

In June, Lehman, America’s fourth-largest investment bank, posted its first quarterly loss ever: A staggering $2.8 billion in just three months.

Now, just yesterday, Citigroup raised its third-quarter loss estimates for Lehman nearly 700% to a staggering $4 billion!

The clincher: According to this morning’s Financial Times, Lehman is fast becoming the pariah — the leper of the financial world. The super-rich Korea Development Bank and a leading brokerage firm in China both rebuffed Lehman’s pleas to buy up to 50% of its shares.

This year and last, wealthy foreign investors and sovereign wealth funds — in China, Singapore and Dubai — have repeatedly come to the rescue of U.S. banks and brokers in trouble, including giants like Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Lehman Brothers itself.

Each time, these giant foreign investors thought they were getting a bargain. And each time they forked over billions. But now look: Every one of those so-called “bargains” has turned to dust, delivering nothing but massive losses to the sovereign funds.

No wonder they’re now effectively saying “drop dead” to the likes of Lehman Brothers

http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_L/threadview?m=tm&bn=10602&tid=118452&mid=118479&tof=30&off=1

My Condolences Otter, from Down Under.

My condolences Otter. I am thankful that you were able to be with him at the end, and that he knew everyone was finally there with him and that he could go. I am especially thankful that it was a peaceful passing.

Hey Rick,

This sweet otter video might be appropriate right now. It makes me think of you and your dad. It might be a tearjerker, though, so don't watch it now if you're tired of tears.

Oh Otter,

I am so sorry for your loss. I read your post and I know that you and your family are grateful that your father passed on so peacefully. No doubt, it is a bittersweet moment that will stay with you as long as you have your precious memories of him. Please accept my most sincere condolences for you and your family.