Back in the day, that was called kidding around. Some of that makes you tough enough to take on the junk of life. Taken too far, it shakes your emotional self. I am not a fan of what people tend to call 'kidding' - often in the form of sarcasm - I blame it on my mother.
Mothers - sometimes they drive you crazy, but when you get older, you realize what they were saying was true after all! My mother would say that with sarcasm, there is most often an element of truth. Today we call it things like bullying. That is bad stuff for sure.
Roger had interesting ways to try to determine what was teasing and what was indeed bullying. He knew that there were times when you had to face up to things in your character that needed some work. Sometimes these things came in joking little ways, but they were true.
We always had fun with Roger and technology. I think Karin put it something like this....
"My dad worked in a place with some of the most advanced technology in the world, NASA. Yet he insisted on carrying a pager, a decade after they had become obsolete. And he never did figure out how to turn the buzzer off!"
His response on earth was to laugh at us about our frustration with him. I am sure that he was still laughing when Karin spoke those words for his Eulogy.
I laughed a lot when I saw this cartoon. This would NEVER have been Roger. Had this been reality in Heaven, he might have been looking for an exit.
Roger's Lesson: Conversation. Real people. Eye contact. Those things are important. You can have friends all over the world, but there is absolutely nothing that compares with actually looking at a real human being when you are talking to them.
Tonight we celebrated Jim's birthday. (I did not ask what number - he is very young, yet oh so wise beyond his years for whatever age he is) Had Roger been present at gift time, he would have laughed, but he would surely have been shaking his head just as much.
Jacob had a birthday a week ago and received a piece of technology some would covet. Father and Son - they are so much alike sometimes. They both love white. Boxes. And logos shaped like fruit. "ANYTHING in a white box can't be bad!"
It might be a good thing that mama does not release an unlimited budget for toys! Keeping these two under wraps when it comes to technology can not be an easy thing. And little sis is not that far behind! Today was a sad day for her - even after she ate the chocolate cake - almost all of it!
Curiosity - oh! Well, Jim, I thought about writing all of that wonderful, feel-good stuff about how and why we love you so much, but I bet I did that last year. It still stands. You are still in the category of 'most wonderful' - and even more-so this year than ever before.
But this year - I think about how you make me laugh. I think about how you stay on the cutting edge of tech toys but you still have time for real people. You see needs. You serve. You share your really big heart.
We laughed a lot at Roger about his go-phone and pager and the crazy ways he just did not want to change with the technological times. He laughed with us and never ever thought of it as sarcasm, but as his ability to maintain who he was. (Old school, right?)
And we know that Roger was indeed looking right down on us tonight - enjoying our laughter - maybe even hoping they were serving up heavenly wings for dinner. We knew because that person - who was that person - walked by and put pennies on the table. The ones that were on the floor. The ones we never saw. The shield penny. Ever a reminder of his love for us. Ever a reminder of his love, his protection over his family.
I surely am glad that you are a big part of my family! I am forever thankful that God brought you into our lives.
You two are a pair! A really, really delightful pair!
But please, don't ever get too attached to whatever technological wonder might be in your hands.
You'll need that eye contact in Heaven!
All my love, sweet one!
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