The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown

A father is defined as:

a. A male person whose sperm unites with an egg, resulting in the conception of a child.

b. A man who adopts a child.

c. A man who raises a child.

This year I am celebrating my 23^rd Father’s Day. In contrast my father is celebrating his 51^st. I still remember the day that turned me from a mere child to a father. The birth of my first child and my second child are days that I will always remember. I remember the moment that the doctor handed me my child right then and there I went from being a kid to becoming my father. I knew what this child was going be able to do, when they had to be home from a date, how they would do in school, and how I would love him unconditionally.

What does it mean to be a father? I am sure that there are many thoughts on what it means to be a father. For me it means that I am responsible for the heath and well being of my children until they have reached a point in their lives that they can survive on their own. So far I have discovered that even when they are 23 and 21it has still not ended. As a father it not just the heath and well being of the children that you must do but also you must teach them the skills to survive. It is important to remember that children are adults that need training and as a parent it your job to make sure that they become a respectable member of society.

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

We all learn from our parents and as children we marveled at what they can do. As adults we see the role that they play. Some of us may not know our parents, some may loathe them and some may want to be them when we grow up. I took many things from my parents and have passed it on to my children. There many things that I did not take and my children have no idea they even exist.

On this Fathers Day I plan to do a little internal reflection on how I am as a father and spend some time with the ones I love. Happy Fathers Day.

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland

Ciao,

Sir J Rotten

6.14.2010

Road to Recovery

I know it has been awhile since I last blogged there has been many things that have happened. The first thing I should tell you about is that I have not been on the bicycle since the beginning of March 2010. The root cause of this is I suffered from AVN, not the Adult Video Network, but Avascular necrosis. The short version of this is a disease where there is cellular death (necrosis) of bone components due to interruption of the blood supply. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and the bone collapses. I my case it caused bone on bone in my right hip. There was a lot of pain and made things very uncomfortable for the day to day life.

In early March I join the group for a ride 40 mile ride on the Silver Comet here in the greater Atlanta area. The Comet (aka The Vomit) is a Rail to Trails trail. The pace was to be winter pace 15-17 MPH but when you get a lot of testosterone in one location the original plan is thrown to the side. The pace for that day was 20 MPH. It was not that I could not handle the pace that ended my riding season it was the increased amount pain that followed for the next five days.

At that point I decided to have a conversation with Dr Rollins, my family doctor, about the increase in pain. After that conversation I decided to get the surgery. I selected Dr. Kress to be my surgeon and the surgery was promptly set up for March 12^th 2010. On June 17^th it will be 5 weeks since surgery and I must tell I feel a hell of a lot better.

It was decided that total hip replacement was what was needed. The surgery itself was pretty straight forward. An incision was made the femoral head was removed and a titanium hip prosthesis, with a ceramic head and polyethylene acetabular cup were installed. There are two things that amaze me, one I was out of the hospital in less than 28 hours and I was walking within 4 hours after the surgery.

I am still not allowed to ride my bicycle. I have been advised to wait the full 6 weeks before I start. If you are a cyclist then you can understand the insanity I am going through.

In a few short weeks Yellow band chef and I will be headed to Europe for our EuroTour 2010. This year we will be headed to Rotterdam, Brussels, and Amsterdam. Again this year we will be following a few stages of the Tour De France. The stages we are planning to see are the Prologue in Rotterdam, the departure from Rotterdam, the arrival in Brussels and then the departure from Brussels. We will then be watching the tour on the television like everyone else.

This year on Euro Tour we will be do our best to keep you update on our adventures.

Ciao,

Sir J Rotten