If Dad were alive today…….Entry for September 22, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

He would have been 74 today. He would still be living at 121 Whitman street…in his stubborness. He would be retired, healthy and comfortable. There would be photos covering the walls of his 12 children and all their grandkids. He would have photo albumns filled with all the places that he and mom went to: Europe…Germany…Ireland…and always Florida…his favorite retreat. Most of us would all go and visit him there at 121….and we would always find him in the backyard sitting in the sunroom that he had built…next to the large built-in pool and his tomatoe gardens.He would sit on the bamboo rocker that Bernadette bought him for his 70th birthday…..the sun in his eyes…Rebecca on his lap…telling stories. The Korean war and how he made staff sargeant….and how he almost died in the early 70’s from a rare stomach disorder…..how he almost lost his business in the 80’s from all the new malls…how he cried on 9/11….the Giants winning the Super Bowl in 1986…..how proud he is of Gregory for running the family business with his brother Glenn. We would always be welcome there over the years….our old rooms always ready…..his office upstairs in the middle room where he sent us emails. Still making sure we went to church every Sunday. On his 74th birthday today….Beverly would have come with her homemade cake…like she does every year…we would smother him in cards and ties…..and sit around that big old table like so many hundreds of birthdays before and sing “Happy Birthday”….and when the lights are turned on…we would all join in: “Daddy cuts the cake….Daddy cuts the cake….Hi Ho the dairy-Oh….Daddy cuts the cake……………………….”

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Entry for September 20, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

Carol is back in the Hospital.(4TH TIME THIS YEAR) She went in to see Dr. Forbes for a follow-up and he put her BACK in the hospital. She cound not breath again. Oxygen in blood is low. I just got off the phone with her and she says she is just not feeling like her old self since the last time she was in there.
Go to Grants wedding to see your Aunt Carol. I can’t emphaisize enough on how important it is to see your sick Aunt. Some of my brothers & sisters feel like I have been pressuring them to come to Florida for Grant & Vicki�s wedding. The main reason I have been trying to get everyone to come is to give us the chance to be together for a happy occasion. I want to see everyone & be happy, not to see you through the tears.
Today is Sept 18th. any flights booked after Sept 21st will be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. So a few days are left.
Don’t worry cause I will never try again to get our family together.
You know. Barb is right. We will all be together again………………………In Heaven.
Carol is in room 42 at HRMC the phone # is 863-983-9121

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An open Invitation………….Entry for August 31, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

In countless ways, the Internet is radically enhancing our access to information and empowering us to share ideas with the entire world. Speech thrives online, freed of limitations inherent in other media and created by traditional gatekeepers.

Preserving the Internet’s open architecture is critical to sustaining free speech. But this technological capacity means little without sufficient legal protections. If laws can censor you, limit access to certain information, or restrict use of communication tools, then the Internet’s incredible potential will go unrealized.

The government has time and again tried doing just that—indeed, censorship laws have often aimed at speech that could not be similarly restricted offline. And when old laws are not properly adapted to this medium, it’s all too easy for the government, companies, and individual litigants to undermine your rights.

I cant believe Summer is sinking into the mountains. Florida escaped another Hurricane. Belinda is going to have a baby. Grant is getting married for the second time. Beverly was married three times not two. Greg may never get married. And now it is getting busy again for me at work. Sometimes I stay late and throw some photos togther and try to add a little something to this web site when I can. It has been an incrediable journey for me so far. Going through thousands of photos, millions of memories….sometimes I have laughed….sometimes I have cried. I was never a very good big brother. I missed ALL your weddings and I wish I could blame everything on the insanity of my last marriage. Putting this web site together has helped me heal a little bit…and I miss everyone alot. I really think that if we can keep it together….the REAL vaule of this web site isn’t today….but it will be ten….twenty years down the road….our children….our childrens children……our childrens childrens children….lol. I always wanted this to be OUR web site….you can take it…or leave it…I don’t care I am having fun and learning alot…about web software, development and animation. You really can say whatever you want…..if you are happy…..or bitter.
This is the open invitation…call me….write me….send me photos……of you…..your kids……your pets….send me poems….letters…..If you want to make a Blog post/with a photo…..without a photo…..if you want to take something down..put something up…just let me know…..this is our website.
Tommorow I hope to have updates in Britts page. Finally a page for Ohio in Places and a long weekend….a couple of BBQs…..some rest……siging off

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Prayer for a Safe Pregnancy…….Entry for August 23, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

This life you have given us
is so tiny, fragile, and vulnerable,
safe in the womb of flesh and hope,
yet subject to danger.
O God of love, creator of life,
hear our prayer.
We want this baby so much.
Please grant this child of ours
a full term of nurture,
the joy and mystery of life,
and the blessing of your love.
Grant us the fulfillment of our dreams,
a baby to cherish and protect,
a child to teach and guide,
a blessing to our family.
Amen.

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The OH in Ohio…….Entry for August 14, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

A recent shot of Berns twins. It is always so cool to get something from that state..over yonder…in the heart of America…..where they can only simulate the ocean with a “Wave Machine”….where Bagals and pizza are only imitated…where pork roll is when a pig does a tumblesault in mud….I have some great photos to start Ohio Places….Bonnies home taken from Joe and Belinda visit…(if I only could get to it) RUMOR has it: Greg and Bonnie are going to Grants wedding. I miss you Bern…your kids are getting so big. It would be so good to see you again….anytime…anywhere. The last time I saw you we were gathered around Moms coffin…Larry-the waves are calling!!! Geoffery with a G….Kris and Cass… hello from the BLOG. Thanks for the email Bern…keep ’em comming. Love you. signing off………..

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The jaws update…something to chew on…….Entry for August 10, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

A recent letter from Glenn was full of complaints…his dream of teeth had fizzeled….nobody writes him in weeks….other guys eat better than him and have tvs and cd players…Nicole sent very blurry photos…prison sucks and so on and so on….meanwhile I had just sent him a bunch of really crisp injet photos and a nice letter…I know that other people like Gary do write him…Carol and Barb give him a little bit of money every month so he can buy the things he needs….meanwhile we DID raise the money for his damn teeth and the money order with the detailed instructions was mailed TODAY. Thank you everyone who took their hard earned money towards helping their brother out. Ok..so prison sucks….isn’t it supposed to? A couple of Glenns letters has had that “attitide” that just wants me to grab him and shake some freakin sense into him. NEWS FLASH: Life goes on outside the jail cell….we all have VERY busy lives to live…bills to pay….jobs to work…children to look after…raising cost of inflation…and I get the feeling sometime that I wish I had better headlines for the FT family website…then: “Read Glenns Letter”…He is there for a reason….a very good reason…and after jail…..in my opinion….he needs a 90 day or MORE REHAB….and then maybe a year or two in a halfway house….or else it will always be….the same old Glenn….the one I hear echoing in his letters sometimes. siging off

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Celestial City: Entry for August 9, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

A very unhappy man heard of a place called Celestial City, where everyone lived in bliss. Gathering his belongings into several large packages, he traveled until he reached the Citys narrow gate. He tried to enter, but his large packages prevented him from succeeding.
“To enter Celestial City,” said a voice on the inside, “you must drop everything you now consider valuable.”

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A prayer for Carol…Entry for August 3, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

We humbly ask you dear Lord…to watch over our second mother. Our prayers and thoughts concentrate on her healing…..feeling better….going back home where she belongs…Carol get well soon!!!!

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There will always be darkness……Entry for July 26, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

…in our lives. Stages of no way home…where am I….how did I get here…and sometimes it is a comfortable place…I’ve erased my past one hundred times but it is always part of me. In the New York Times yesterday a bunch of educated scientist led by Marcia Ferri of the Italian Agency for worldwide public health came to the conclusion that 12-step programs—do not work. The review covered only carefully controlled trials. What a bunch of bleeping bleep! I would like to see these so-called scientists determinations explained to people I know who would be DEAD-institutionalized-or sleeping on the street-if it wasn’t for 12 step. IRONICALLY—-Glenn did it——he took me to my first meeting many years ago. I knew right away that I belonged there—-although it took me a few years to get it. I should be dead. It was alot more than alochol for me. There were alot of layers to my onion….I’m still peeling the damn thing. We are complicated human beings….I woke up in a holding cell once….and spent 17 days in jail….it just wasn’t for me….I wasn’t a good jail person…I never wanted to go back….but if I should be dead….I should have spent almost HALF of my life in jail…..like our brother Glenn. READ his letter…if you can. I know it’s hard sometimes…to help people that it seems have had so many chances…life is just too damn short….he is always little Glenny….to me…..in his droopy underwear singing “Downtown…..downtown….” I have REVAMPED the ARTWORK PAGE—-check it out. There are also NEW PHOTOS in Our Childrens Children—Madison——and an awesome new photo of Nicole and Maddy on the Nicole page…..thanks Nicole for sending them to me……signing off

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If I lived in Florida…….July 24, 2006

Posted on May 8, 2009 by George C. Hartman

I would build bird cages and raise families of them. In the hot Summer I would climb my roof towards puffy clouds and photograph the sunsets. It is hot down there now but it is a good hot. The kind that tears into your creativity and melts your cares away. “You got the good life down there boy!” You’ve surrounded yourself with people that love you….birds…..animals….sunsets….a nice little spread. Don’t mind me…..the heat is getting to me…..Today when I got into the work after vacation, there was some strange tall dude at my computer….turned out he was Eliot Sela…a famous designer….we are working with him on a new job for Mastercard and the new logo that he has designed for them. He was beyond cool….he was thrilled with my passion….he opened up some of his work for me and took it apart to show me his technique. It was an awesome expereince. This is the new Blog….the new life….like when you packed the car after high school and drove away from 121 Whitman heading south…..real south….you had some friends with you….”We’re going to freakin Florida..” you all said…..and now Gary is the only one left. He’s got a touch of grey now and he’s shaved off his nose catapiller….if I lived in Florida…..I wondered out loud….looked up at the clouds…..where is this Summer going???? where is the time going….we are all getting so grown up and…….and…….and OLD….. HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY BRENDA!!! you made it girl….you had one heck of a year….Rebecca needs a diaper change….signing off

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