Post by markcameron on Mar 16, 2012 23:39:11 GMT -5
Team Cameron,
Get your calendars out. The golf committee has set the date for Friday, September 21 to host the 8th Annual Mark Cameron Golf Classic. They have told me there will be a few exciting changes but the one thing that will maintain is that everyone is guaranteed a great time. There are about 600 “Save the Date” postcards in the mail, if you don't get one it means they don't have your address. If you would like to get your name or someone else's name and address on the list drop an e-mail to info@teamcameron.org and you can be sure you will be one of the "people in the know."
Some of you reading this will appreciate my reminiscing to the good old days before technology took over. You can't go anywhere without seeing the scourge our society has become dependent on, I'm talking about cell phones. I remember the good old days when phones were plugged into walls and when I called my friends and if they were home we would share our story over the phone or make plans for one or the other to spend the night. Those were the days. They were simple times if you want to talk with someone you call them on the phone and if they wanted to talk to someone they answered. In fact when our family graduated to buying an answering machine and a cordless phone it seemed we were on the cutting edge.
It's was bad enough when you go to dinner with a small group of individuals that get caught up talking or texting back-and-forth with others. Now it seems every kid at the nearby tables is on the phone texting, updating their status, tweeting or playing video games. What happened to the days when a group of people sit down for dinner to talk while the children entertained themselves with four crayons and a place-mat? Now it seems people are more interested in sharing with everyone where they're eating, what they're eating along with every random thought that pops into their head.
I often wonder had things been different (without my injury) if I would have been texting throughout dinner and updating my status. I don't think I would have, I was never on the cutting edge of mobile technology. My cell phone always seemed to be a few years older than everyone else's and I was lucky to be able to turn on my computer and send an e-mail. I'm pretty sure I would still be working with a flip phone just like the one I currently use.
I'm sure that some of you will remember the story of the blue bar stool I left at Craig Hospital. But for those of you who have not heard the story; we called my cousin Michelle (living in Denver) to request that she stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a bar stool to give my friends and family a higher vantage point to visit with me while I was in bed. On her way to Wally World she stopped at a friend’s house that happened to have a bar stool in her garage sale. It was perfect. My family and friends spent hours in that chair while I laid in bed teaching myself to breathe unassisted, contemplate my injury and get our heads wrapped around the psychology of recovery.
During the final days while we were packing my room to move and attempting to navigate everything I had acquired over the five months of my recovery we quickly realized I was going to have to leave a few things behind. My dad had pointed out that although the bar stool had a sentimental meaning leaving it behind would mean so much more to those that followed. We took a black marker and signed my name and the date of my departure to the bottom of the chair and passed it along to a neighbor down the hall with the instruction that they sign and pass the chair along when the time came for them to check out.
Over these last seven years I have talked with a couple of the nurses and two or three patients that have enjoyed the comfort and convenience of that stool and each has told me that the chair is covered with signatures. Last month I was talking with Mike N, the father of a patient working his way through recovery and I asked if he had seen the chair. I was surprised to find out that the blue bar stool was actually in his son’s room. Mike assured me that they knew the story and had also planned to sign their name upon departure. He then followed up our conversation with an e-mail of a picture of the chair as it sat in their room.
I have often wondered about the conversations that chair has witnessed and I'm glad my dad suggested leaving it behind. I am additionally pleased to know people are still using it and passing it along.
In case you were wondering, I ate a Chicken Chimichanga at El Guero tonight for dinner.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Love you, Mark
Get your calendars out. The golf committee has set the date for Friday, September 21 to host the 8th Annual Mark Cameron Golf Classic. They have told me there will be a few exciting changes but the one thing that will maintain is that everyone is guaranteed a great time. There are about 600 “Save the Date” postcards in the mail, if you don't get one it means they don't have your address. If you would like to get your name or someone else's name and address on the list drop an e-mail to info@teamcameron.org and you can be sure you will be one of the "people in the know."
Some of you reading this will appreciate my reminiscing to the good old days before technology took over. You can't go anywhere without seeing the scourge our society has become dependent on, I'm talking about cell phones. I remember the good old days when phones were plugged into walls and when I called my friends and if they were home we would share our story over the phone or make plans for one or the other to spend the night. Those were the days. They were simple times if you want to talk with someone you call them on the phone and if they wanted to talk to someone they answered. In fact when our family graduated to buying an answering machine and a cordless phone it seemed we were on the cutting edge.
It's was bad enough when you go to dinner with a small group of individuals that get caught up talking or texting back-and-forth with others. Now it seems every kid at the nearby tables is on the phone texting, updating their status, tweeting or playing video games. What happened to the days when a group of people sit down for dinner to talk while the children entertained themselves with four crayons and a place-mat? Now it seems people are more interested in sharing with everyone where they're eating, what they're eating along with every random thought that pops into their head.
I often wonder had things been different (without my injury) if I would have been texting throughout dinner and updating my status. I don't think I would have, I was never on the cutting edge of mobile technology. My cell phone always seemed to be a few years older than everyone else's and I was lucky to be able to turn on my computer and send an e-mail. I'm pretty sure I would still be working with a flip phone just like the one I currently use.
I'm sure that some of you will remember the story of the blue bar stool I left at Craig Hospital. But for those of you who have not heard the story; we called my cousin Michelle (living in Denver) to request that she stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a bar stool to give my friends and family a higher vantage point to visit with me while I was in bed. On her way to Wally World she stopped at a friend’s house that happened to have a bar stool in her garage sale. It was perfect. My family and friends spent hours in that chair while I laid in bed teaching myself to breathe unassisted, contemplate my injury and get our heads wrapped around the psychology of recovery.
During the final days while we were packing my room to move and attempting to navigate everything I had acquired over the five months of my recovery we quickly realized I was going to have to leave a few things behind. My dad had pointed out that although the bar stool had a sentimental meaning leaving it behind would mean so much more to those that followed. We took a black marker and signed my name and the date of my departure to the bottom of the chair and passed it along to a neighbor down the hall with the instruction that they sign and pass the chair along when the time came for them to check out.
Over these last seven years I have talked with a couple of the nurses and two or three patients that have enjoyed the comfort and convenience of that stool and each has told me that the chair is covered with signatures. Last month I was talking with Mike N, the father of a patient working his way through recovery and I asked if he had seen the chair. I was surprised to find out that the blue bar stool was actually in his son’s room. Mike assured me that they knew the story and had also planned to sign their name upon departure. He then followed up our conversation with an e-mail of a picture of the chair as it sat in their room.
I have often wondered about the conversations that chair has witnessed and I'm glad my dad suggested leaving it behind. I am additionally pleased to know people are still using it and passing it along.
In case you were wondering, I ate a Chicken Chimichanga at El Guero tonight for dinner.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Love you, Mark