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18 novembre Amelia is back homeAmelia (4) is back home after a successful procedure at Children's Hospital. Her doctors checked her heart with a scope and found no issues, and they were also able to reset her rhythm back to normal. Her condition is called atrial flutter and is very common in those who have had major heart surgery. We'll keep an eye on her to see if her heart goes back into flutter. It could take 10 years, it might happen next week, but in any case there are good options and we'll just have to wait and see.
I think the biggest issue for the family has been the reminder, after four wonderful years with no issues, that Amelia is still fragile. Here are Julia's words:
For me, there has been a curious peace in the hole that would left by the death of my daughter. It's hard to explain: I know that I would be sad until the the end of my days if she were to die too early. But somehow, knowing that she could be gone at any moment vastly enriches my time with her, and with my whole family. Her laugh sounds sweeter, her tears require less patience, and my daily worries over work stress and such are less heavy. There's a great country song by Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying. While much of the song is silly - exhaulting carpe diem moments found through skydiving and other such cliches - the song captures a profound truth: life is somehow made more meaningful when death is nearer. Why this is is one of the great mysteries of life, but I give thanks for the reminder as I try to lead a life informed by it. 2 novembre Happy Halloween 2009Happy First Birthday, CormacI'm a little late posting this as Cormac's first birthday was Aug 28. He's our third so that's how it goes, I guess. Happy birthday, Cormac! The obligatory off-key song:
Julia made some creative cupcakes with the kids:
9 septembre Zack goes to schoolToday is Zack's (5) first day of kindergarten. We walked down to John Stanford International School where he'll join Ms. Lucy's class and spend half the day immersed in Japanese. We bought the house in Wallingford 7 years ago in part due to this excellent public school, and here we are now feeling lucky to be able to send our son there. Amelia (4) will follow next year, and Cormac (1) maybe 5 years from now.
Iki-mazo! (I think that's Japanese for "Let's Go!")
16 décembre We joined University Presbyterian ChurchJulia and I officially joined University Presbyterian Church on Sunday. We like the traditions (especially the choir, organist, and hymns), and the pastors who present scholarly sermons to full pews of people covering all stages of life (youths, students, families, retirees). It's a vibrant and supportive community, in that typically low-key, stoic and Protestant way.
My upbringing wasn't religious: my dad's experience with what he saw as the intolerance and anti-Darwinism of his Southern Baptist upbringing cured him of any desire to attend church past junior high school. So why did I join?
Julia and I are on the road now with our three children. It feels good to be members and to have committed to a group of fellow travelers.
20 novembre Fall18 octobre BattleshipsZack (4) is very into battleships these days. Last week was paper airplanes, and the week before chess. He drew chalk battleships on the sidewalk in front of Zoka's this morning, and was very earnestly telling a nice lady from the ACLU all about it. She smiled sweetly but it's not something liberal folks in Seattle know exactly how to respond to :).
When we got home he then built a lego ship with no help from me. To my amazement, it looked exactly like an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate, so we went to Wikipedia to find photos. He asked to see a picture of my ship, so we looked up the entry on Spruance class destroyers. I served on USS Leftwich (DD 984) from 1993-96 in Pearl Harbor, and knew that in 1998 it had been decommissioned and placed in the strategic reserve fleet. But I was a little surprised to find that in 2003 Leftwich had been used for target practice and sunk in the Pacific ocean. In fact, 30 of the 32 ships in the Spruance class had been used as targets, scrapped for metal, or made into artificial reefs (one was a still active as a testing platform, and the other sold to a foreign fleet).
Learning that a part of my past was now 5000 feet down at the bottom of the ocean made me vividly aware that my youth was now past. I can go back to college reunions or revisit towns I used to live in, but my ship and its' entire class were now gone, totally unreachable and never to be seen again. It was a bit of a sentimental moment, but one that passed quickly as Zack pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and starting drawing Leftwich for me. It made me wonder if he'll follow both his grandfathers and his dad into the Navy when he grows up, or perhaps be an artist. There are so many paths open to him, and I'm savoring every minute helping him explore them.
Rodney M Davis (FFG 60)
Zack's drawings
Update: We made a donation today (Nov 15) to Wikipedia.  17 septembre How Cormac got his nameNaming Cormac was a breeze compared to the vigorous discussion Julia and I had over Zack, our first son. We wanted an uncommon name that didn't seem too outlandish, and also honored our heritage. Freeland is a Scottish clan (a family genealogist traced the lineage back there, and we looked the name up in York on a family vacation in the early 80's), and Neal is Celtic in origin, so when we found Celtic name Cormac in Baby Name Wizard, it felt right. Plus it barely registered on the census rolls. Last fall I also enjoyed reading Cormac McCarthy's book The Road and seeing the Cohen brothers' film adaptation of No Country for Old Men. These works reminded me of how much fun Phil Hay and I had with Blood Meridian, which we read in high school.
We picked Julia's maiden name Claeys as his middle name. Julia's family has three girls, and there are no male cousins to carry the name forward. The name is Belgian, and as common there as Smith is here. Plus it makes a nice alliteration and initials: C. C. Freeland, sort of like e. e. cummings to my ear.
From one dictionary of Celtic names:
Cormac: The son of the chariot; first given, it is said, to a prince of Leinster who happened to be born in a chariot, while his mother was going on a journey.
28 août Welcome CormacCormac was born today at 3:55 pm, a little over three weeks early and just under six pounds. Both he and mom are healthy.
I woke at 4 am today to see Julia standing over me in our bedroom announcing that her water broke. After a quick consultation with a pregnancy guide and call to the nurse, things seemed stable so we pretended to hit the snooze button and slept in a bit more before heading to the UW hospital. Julia did so well, and things moved so easily, I actually dozed in the rocking chair for a good portion of the contractions building up to the labor. The nurse woke me with a kind reminder: "You won't want to miss this." A half hour later, the boy was out. I'm now home to get a full night's rest in my own bed instead of a hospital chair. I guess it's true what they say that by the third child parents are much less uptight :).
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