linkerjpatrick

In case you haven’t noticed yet I am shifting things around a bit.  I removed some blog categories and for the time being have reverted to a simplier theme and also removed a few posts.  I may revert back to the theme I had been using after a few days but I want to make some adjustments. I definitely want to use this “personal blog” to share more of my “personal life” but I seriously leaning towards my passions of still photography, audio recording and video as ways share time with family, friends, explorations, business and creative ideas.

It’s my desire the use the “linker” part of my “name” as a way to show how we can preserve memories and make stronger connections in the present day with photography, audio and video.  Still fine tuning things but I think I have a firmer grasp on how to give this blog a better niche.

You know I am fascinated by and inspired by the ways we can be linked together as people through family, business networks, friends and technology. However recently my wife and I were effected by a broken link. My wife’s dad passed away this past week. As christians we believe he has literally gone to a better place free from suffering and full of joy but on this side of eternity the grief come from the broken link of not being about talk, visit, learn and be encouraged by him. This is the sadness we all feel when we loss a loved one and one who is a part of our life. Not only is it a link to that one person but their stories and other connections to others that sadly we often lose during their passing.

My wife’s uncle and her dad’s oldest brother also passed away earlier this year and during both funerals video presentations of their lives were shown on the screen in the church and we also heard stories from their lives from other families members we never heard before.

We will all have broken links at the passing of friends and family during our life time and we ourselves will be a broken link someday. While links may be broken for a time I highly encourage you to take photos, have conversations, talk to others about stories and ask ourselves what kind of memories we are leaving with others. What values, adventures and innovations will others link you to when you are remembered?

Almost every funeral I have been to I have been encouraged to carry the torch of the one who passed by doing those things they valued and added to the world in a positive way. Links may be broken but in memories what new links can you forge?

Tags: family, ideas

As I write this I am in the waiting room at Greenville Memorial Hospital. I’m not online as I don’t have an Internet connection but I am creating this post in a desktop blogging software called, Ecto which allows me to write offline and also save posts on my own computer.

My father in-law is currently undergoing a second surgery this month to remove a tumor. Afterwards he will need to undergo additional therapy for the foreseeable future. So far I have listened or watched the following podcasts on my iPhone this morning;

• Mac OS Ken
• Grammar Girl
• GSPN’s Weekly Lost Podcast
• Geek Brief TV
• Mahalo Daily
• and the last part of Podcast Answer Man that I started listening to yesterday

I’m also listening to CocoaCast, a podcast about Macintosh OSX program and the current episode is about the iPhone and Aperture software development kits.

I’m waiting (or would have waited by the time you read this) with my wife, her mother and sister while her dad undergoes surgery. I hope this surgery will get the remainder of the tumor which came upon very suddenly in the past couple of months. Well her mother and sister just returned from the cafeteria and we are headed down for breakfast. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of blog posts flowing in later today and over the weekend as I plan on doing a lot of writing today. Earlier this week I was focused on my still photography and video.

Tags: family, hospital, photography, podcasts, technology, wife

Tomorrow my wife and I will be spending a good part of the day at the hospital. Last week we learned her father has a brain tumor.  Most of her immediate family have come in from various parts of the country including Pensacola, FL, Illinois, Washington State and other places closer by. If their is grain of good news it’s that the tumor is in a spot that is fairly easy to operate and a good recovery is possible but needless to say the next few weeks will be interesting and challenging. This is also a good example of a post that may not have been the best fit for my business blog. I may not be blogging a lot tomorrow but will see if I can get some Twitter tweets out via my iPhone as we learn about the progress of the surgery.

Tags: challenge, family, hospital, Twitter