March Highlights:
- Lilah dresses up for formal dance
- Luke works with his grandpy to add color coordinated LED lighting to his gaming computer
- Luke wraps up season with his new Big Bear snowboard team
- Dads friends from Chile, Pato and Roly, come to visit
Only Had One Opportunity to Get Pictures of Lilah this Month
I didn’t have many opportunities to take pictures of Lilah this month, so when one presented itself I jumped on it, driving over to her friend’s house so that I could take snapshots of her and her friend Sabrina. It was nice to see both young ladies dressed up for a night out. Because of teenage driver license restrictions, both girls were forced to drive separately to Panera where they met up with more friends to have dinner before going to the dance.
Apparently, a good time was had by all, but I have very little details on the matter thanks to my tight-lipped daughter. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see Lilah at another swim event or two so I can get a few more pictures of her next month. Now that Lilah is on the varsity swim squad, she’s no longer undefeated, but seems to still enjoy herself at meets, something I can surmise by the fact that she comes home happy to talk about her exploits and the accomplishments of her team.
Luke Goes Engineer on Me Again
Somewhere, Luke got the bright idea to decorate the perimeter of his computer with LED lights. The LED lights come in this reel which you can unroll and cut to the length you need, then peel off the backing to affix the adhesive side of the lights around the inside edges of the computer. Luke explained to me that the lights come with a remote control that allow you to change the color of the lights so that they match the color of the electronics inside his gaming machine, which happen to be red. Great, cool idea, except Luke was not content to plug the lights in with the AC Power adapter. No, he wanted the lights to run off the power supply inside the machine because he had seen some youtube clip about how this was the “pro” way to do it.
Well, after stripping the wires, cutting the AC adapter off the real and then trying to do what the youtube clip described, we were left with lights that would not function. Several head shakes, hand slaps on the table, and mutterings from Luke about how things never work when he tries them, I had the bright idea to call grandpy who agreed to come over and help Luke fix the issue while I was away at work. I will not go into everything my dad did to get the lights back up and running, but he did it and explained to Luke what he did and why he did it. That did not, however, relieve us from the task of actually installing the lights on Luke’s computer. That’s where I was able to help by drilling a hole in his case and also cutting a segment of the case so that we could route the electric wires. In the end, it took a little longer, but all the Guerra men got to participate in the project and feel the sense of accomplishment that comes from solving problems.
Tio Roly and Tio Pato Come to Town
Last month, we had a great visit from my dad’s brother Mario. This month he received two more visitors, Roly and Pato, my dad’s other two roommates from when he first came to this country in his early 20s. Pato is in town until May, but Roly was only here for a week so I decided to drop in on the boys on Roly’s last day here. What was supposed to be a short visit turned into a 4-hour stay as they recounted some of the stories from their childhood, many of which I had never heard before. The topics included how they met, the circles they ran in, young love, and how two of them (my dad and Roly) reunited with their childhood sweethearts — my dad did it soon after his divorce in his twenties, while Roly did it much later in his 60s. But regardless of when they did it, both men are happy and content in their lives.
Hearing the stories of these immigrant men who made a life for themselves in the US, made me feel happy too. I had a great time just hanging out with them and being witness to the camaraderie they still have after all these years. The older you get the more you appreciate friendships like these and realize just how special and rare they are. When you’re around that kind of good energy, 4 hours seems like 4 minutes. Time and its many manifestations was another topic of conversation: how so many things they experienced feel as if they happened recently, how kids grow up so quickly, how the mind still feels young no matter how the body betrays its age on the outside, and how some memories stay with you forever, like the time I spent with these men on a Sunday afternoon. Thanks for sharing your remarkable stories guys. I hope we can do it all again one day soon.
That’s all for now. More next month!