Life Right Now

Sorry I haven't posted much news recently. A lot has happened since I last posted:

I resigned from my position as a Primary Care Doctor at the community clinic in Oglethorpe County. I still love primary care and love the patients I left there, but that clinic wasn't the right place for me. Over the year I worked there it became obvious that I had very fundamental differences with the clinic's management.

Now I am back to working in the Emergency Room. Although it isn't my dream job like primary care, ER certainly does offer excitement. It also has less hours than the clinic, so the added benefit is that I am able to spend more time with the rapidly growing TMD and his beautiful mother. Probably I will be doing ER for a while.

Motherhood

Baby Boy and I made a video for J on Mother's Day:

New Years 2009

On New Years we took TMD to visit his Great Grandma Davis. She is his last great grandparent since Pop Brit passed. Although she is 90 years older than he, TMD really enjoyed visiting his grandmother, and she loved having him visit.

Here are some more photos of our family over the holidays:

William Britt: 1922-2008

Last night William Britt went to bed and he didn't wake up this morning. He was 86 years old. Pop Britt was an amazing man and he will be deeply missed.

He was the grandson of a slave, who was only allowed to cook food for white soldiers when he volunteered to serve his country, but he lived to vote for the first black president. He was always proud that he worked hard his whole life and took good care of his family. I am proud to have known Pop during these later years as he welcomed me to the family with his booming voice and firm hug. I married his beautiful granddaughter and am the father of his newest great grandson.

He is now with his dear savior Jesus and his beloved wife Sarah who went a few years before him. We all wish he could have stayed longer, but are happy for the bold and loving impact he had on this world.

Full

Sorry for the recent absence of posts (both here and on the Gridbook Blog). Life has been incredibly full recently. Baby boy had his 4 month birthday this weekend, and he celebrated by going to visit his grandfathers 62nd birthday.

I suppose the biggest news from me is that I am now exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up: I am the primary care doctor of a small town. It is truly a wonderful job but it is also exhausting. I love what I do, but it keeps me away from home a lot, while my amazing son is growing so rapidly and my wife has her hands full with his exuberance. (I mostly miss the people I worked with in the ER, but my wife misses the schedule.) My friends also complain that they don't see much of me anymore, therefore as you might expect my blog frequency will drop.

But a full life isn't a bad thing, and I will try to keep you updated on things. Once we figure out a way to balance everything.

One year ago today...

One year ago today J. and I walked the streets of Ortona, Italy the town on the other side of the world where my grandfather Eduardo Pantaloni grew up. Then we hadn't even yet conceived of the little boy (Eduardo's great-grandson) who I hold in my lap as I write now. It makes me want to visit that place again.

I think of Eduardo (who changed his name to Edward Patton when he immigrated) growing up in Ortona and my little TMD growing here in my lap. Eduardo died on Christmas day when I was only a little boy. One of my strongest memories of him is only a few days before he died telling me about the beautiful farms in the seaside village were he grew up.

He has been dead for decades now, and no one in his home town remembers his name. He is even a distant memory to me. It makes me realize that even though I am 30 now I will also someday be gone and forgotten even in the places that were once my home. This makes me glad that I am a father. TMD may not know it now but his great-grandparents who will only exist to him as black and white photos have left themselves in J. and me. Similarly I will leave myself in him.

We're Back From Florida

Our beautiful boy continues to grow well. He was well over 10 lbs at his one month visit.

We just returned from our trip to Florida where TMD met more relatives and got his first beach experience. I'm not sure our one-month-old was as excited about the beach as his older cousins, but at least he'll have some great photos of his visit when he gets older.

Here are some photos from the trip as well as some other photos J and TMD took for me for Fathers Day.

We'll be back with more news soon.

Baby Video

Two silly parents showing off a baby.

New Friends

Little TMD is growing like a sprout! He is now 2 weeks old. We took him to the doc for a weigh-in today and he came in at a hefty 8 lbs 1.5 oz. I hate having to leave for the long shifts. It seems he is adding new expressions every day.

He had lots of visitors recently. J's family was in town for a week and just left yesterday, so he got to bond with his Aunt, Grandmom, and Granddad. He also got to meet the cabin-maties, my beloved group of roommates from college. He also got to meet the ladies at his own baby shower on Saturday.

Now after his eventful social calender he is back to the dull home-life of having to hang out with just Mom and Dad.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Back from the cruise

We're home. After the intense heat and sun of the Caribbean we came home to Georgia with the temp in the 20's. Then our furnace in our house broke down for about a day and a half. We got used to shivering again. But now life is about the same. I am back at work. Our baby boy is kicking now.

The cruise was nice. Despite all of my disagreement with cruises in general, I really loved having a chance to get time with Joya's family. I particularly felt that I got a chance to really grow closer to Joya's siblings Tommy and Sheila. It is nice that they now know me as more than just that odd guy their sister married. I really like my in-laws.

You can see the pictures here.

Joy

I am amazed sometimes at how blessed I am. So many things to be thankful for...