Time and Date.com

I used to use this website in my teaching, and returned to it again when I realized that Mom's and Ken's deaths were both around 49.5 years. I was curious to find out just how far apart they were. Using the calculators on this site, I found that Ken lived 20 days longer than Mom, and that Dad reached 49.5 in the middle of 1969.
I kept going to find out just when I would reach the same age as they did upon passing. I was the exact same as as Mom the day after this past Xmas, and today is the day I'm exactly the age Ken was on March 21st, 2005. Hence this entry.
It may seem a bit morose, but I find it very profound as well as disturbing. It's very strange to think of oneself as being older than your older brother, and certainly than your mother. Inconceivable, yet true. On top of that, I couldn't help but be a little superstitious, wondering if I would make it to 49.5 myself. After Ken's death, all bets were off.
I'd like to believe that this is one of the last hurdles I need to overcome in dealing with my grief. As noted below, it is not as persistent as it had been, but it still rears its sad, menacing head at times, and will certainly continue to do so. I did tell you that Dad and Ken died on the same day, 3 years apart. How can I not be haunted?
PS A great way to view Ken's photos is using a piece of freeware that enables you to view online photos in an amazing '3-D' wall, whether they're in a Google search, or Ken's Picasa pictures. You'll understand it once you try it. Go to http://www.piclens.com/ to download the browser add on. Then come back and try it after clicking on the Picasa link to Ken's pix on this page.

Technology Marches On

Ken would have loved this stuff. We talked a lot about the miracle of the internet, and how it could be used for so many positive things. Blogging alone would have been a thrill for him, as I no doubt know he would have started his own on any number of subjects. Scanning and uploading/organizing photos would have been a top priority for him as it is for me. He just might have upgraded his old clunker of a computer.
As you may have noticed, I found a way to use Yelp.com for a while to show some of the 'Geography of Ken's Life'. I will probably remove that soon as Picasa now has enabled me to embed a slide show right on this blog, but also to map the photos I've uploaded so far. But please don't stop with the slide show: you can now click on the 'Ken's photos' link, then click on the fairly small 'View Map' link. I have mapped nearly all of the photos so far, with only a handful I'm not 100% sure about yet as far as where they were taken. Please keep in mind that I have only scanned and uploaded prints so far: there are many more slides I have to scan and upload. So please check back once in a while as I continue to build on a project I will continue to build on indefinitely...
PS Speaking of technology, below is a YouTube video of Nunley's just before it was closed in 1995. We were there as kids, as teenagers, and with Marie, including its last day.

Finally

Dear friends of Ken Wicht,

It will soon be 2 years since Ken's passing. I had planned on this blog being up a year ago, but there was more to deal with than I had imagined. I had to make numerous trips to Freeport, Long Island, to deal with what was left of Ken's material life, as there is no one in the family left on Long Island to help out.

I invite anyone, especially those who knew Ken personally, to blog here, and/or e-mail photos that I will upload. If you have prints, I can scan and return them within a few days.

There are many more pix to come. Most need to be scanned from slides or prints and formatted, which is time consuming. Please bear with me as Ken's blog develops. In the meantime, click on the 'Ken's photos' (PICASA) link (upper right) to view what I have uploaded so far.

There is so much to write about Ken: from his love of language (fluent in Russian and Spanish) and words, to his great photography; from becoming a Master Diver and cave diver, to our travels together; from his becoming a pilot, to his stint in the Air Force; from his in-depth knowledge of the Civil War, to his love of music (oldies to classical and jazz), not to mention his encyclopedic knowledge and love of baseball, Ken wasted little time.

When you learn the daunting background he had to endure to live this much, you will agree with Ken's Russian auto mechanic who said to me, "Somebody should write a book about that guy." Hopefully this blog will emerge as a reasonable and loving facsimile.

Thanks,
Paul