Grades, Christmas, Cycle of Life

Hello all,

It has been a crazy month. The final portions of the semester went well. I had an amazing last minute curve from one of my professors that made a B- into an A-, and wrapped the semester with straight As (yay!). I now have a better GPA to quote to the job people; it's an incremental improvement, but I'm quite happy with it.

And now, the lovely Christmas vacation is upon us. I've been going crazy with the spending money since I've been home, alas. Much of it is gifts though, and I'm having a good time, and not only in the geeky late night Internet cafe way. I played pool twice at a bar, and felt socially pretty accepted, which is always good.

Unfortunately, some of that good time is tempered by the fact that my grandfather is very ill. He has been progressively worsening for many years, and for the past year or so has been completely out of it. He's so small now (he looks like a skeleton), and he can no longer form words at all (as opposed to merely forgetting which string of words he was forming). They've discontinued his medication and we expect him to expire sometime in the next couple of days.

Perhaps I'm just a morally bankrupt person, but I really think this is a good thing. 50 years ago, my grandfather would have died when he fell off the bleachers at a Little League game, but pacemakers kept him alive and let me get to know him. That same medical technology has extended his life way beyond what should have happened, though. In cases like his, I wish we could euthanize the old -- he would not have wanted to linger like he has, for three or four years with no ability to comprehend what was going on. I'm glad his struggle is over, and that our family can grieve and move on, as opposed to being sad every time we think of our ailing patriarch.

And as one man dies, another is born. My old friend Andy Levy became a father this past week when his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Congratulations, Andy! I'm sure you will be an excellent father. Your child is lucky to have you.

Update (8:30AM 23-Dec): My grandfather has passed. There went a great man -- husband, veteran of the great war, father of seven children, and member of the greatest generation. He will be missed.