Hail to the Chief Part II

I am fairly certain that

O Captain, my Captain,

told us that the specific words were...

"Hail to the Chief cause he's the chief and he needs hailing..."

and so, to this day, those are the lyrics

I sing when I hear the tune.

Dads are never wrong,

right?

FTD captured the event pretty perfectly,

and the only real thing to add

is my adoration and admiration of

His Honor.

dear ole dad.

sweet little p thinks pretty highly of his Granddad too,

and insisted he be held while the new Judge

was taking his oath.

pretty sure Granddad didn't mind

(translation, loved every second of it, could hardly contain his joy).

p almost stole the show with his antics up front

which consisted of -

running away from his parents (a favorite new activity),

twirling his sweater over his head,

and throwing raisins all over the floor.

all of this was invisible to most of the crowd,

except the judicial bench.

awesome.

they really didn't seem to mind.

p got plenty of compliments,

but the real accolades were saved for RBD Jr.

much deserved, after a long wait.

i've said it before, but it deserves saying again,

we're proud of you dad,

we love you.

congratulations on your new title -

but to us, you'll always be:

dad

mr. skipper

granddad

pop pop

pops

mentor

friend

hero.

i'll leave the rest of you with some quotes that describe

the event, the family, etc.

from UF

"in all kinds of weather we all stick together"

and Psalm 16

 “Lord, you have assigned me my portion
and my cup. You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen
for me in pleasant places.”

we are blessed indeed.

we missed you RBD III.

stay safe.

Hail to the Chief

Did you know that "Hail to the Chief" actually has lyrics? Two versions are on wikipedia (and therefore, must be truth). The words written by Sir Walter Scott go like this: 

Hail to the chief, who in triumph advances,

Honour'd and blest be the evergreen pine!

Long may the tree in his banner that glances,

Flourish the shelter and grace of our line.

Heaven send it happy dew,

Earth lend it sap anew,

Gaily to bourgeon and broadly to grow;

While every highland glen,

Sends our shout back agen,

"Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! i-e-roe!"

No wonder the words are never sung. So, we didn't elect a new President, but we did participate in a formal ceremony which bestows RBD Jr., the captain of our ship, as "His Honor". To be honest, I wasn't giving the investiture as much respect as it deserved (outside of the total thrill and excitement of RBD Jr. and the family) until I discovered how many people took time to come down to the courthouse and participate. We had district judges, magistrate judges, a judge from Louisiana. There were former law partners of RBD Jr, lawyers from the bar association, practically every person in the neighborhood and half the population of his hometown. It was such an honor to see the love and respect the community has for what he has achieved and their desire to participate in our celebration. 

It's kind of fun to participate in all the pomp and circumstance once in a while. There were moments of sobriety, as we acknowledged the absence of RBD III. Moments of adoration, as speakers praised the intelligence, commitment, and passion of the new judge. Moments of hilarity in old stories and really old pictures. Most of all it was pure celebration of a difficult and long journey.

The Oath

It is not often children get to see the dreams of a parent come true and the magnitude of the day was not lost on us. We're so proud of him. And I'll tell you what, the judge can write a good speech. Any one who needs to bestow kind words upon their family in public should hire him as a speech writer. I think we all held back a few tears. Either that or focused on hilarious little p, who entertained us as always.

Proud of Dad and Pop Pop



Missing RBD III



My initial reaction to the whole thing is pretty much summed up in the following email:
1. I would like to say that I called Dad taking the oath with p on his hip in advance of it actually happening. 

2. I was surprised that p didn't give Judge B a "high-five", though I suspect he would have had he met big P before.

3. LDL, you looked really good in that shirt.

4. RBD Jr, you looked just as good in the judge's robe as you did in the bath robe. 

5. RBD III, we really missed you!!

Hopefully the rest of the blogging posse will share their stories too. It was a great day for family, friends, and parties.

hooray for the 4th of july -

it's hard to know where to begin.

as usual, there really is never a moment

of peace,

among the brothers & sisters.

i blogged about our heavy hearts last time,

so i'll work on keeping it light.

before we said "see you later RBDIII"

some of us celebrated the 4th the way you should,

at a Washington Nationals baseball game.

we met up to say hello to an old friend,

switched our allegiances dating back to a 1991

opening day game at Camden Yards

to the Nats.

we enjoyed the ball game, beer, hot dogs,

and ice cream.  we all know from this post

that p loves ice cream.

as in, i never get to eat any.

and p and uncle RBDIII got some good quality time.

p started out really enjoying his

shoulder ride -

and ended up acting more like a sack of potatoes.

it was fun.  a good 4th of July,

my favorite holiday, except for the whole deployment thing,

that sucks (totally an appropriate word for the occasion).

some other photos from the holiday weekend...

i've also been busy with some projects,

which i will post about that since this one is getting

a little long.

besides, maybe it will give some other contributers

time to contribute.

things i am excited about?

july 15; winnie-the-pooh in theaters.

a beach trip, o-town family celebration,

a little "sprinkle" for sprout # 2 (who has been named!!  initials MLL),

and then waiting...to be a family of four.









and now!? fathers day!

we woke up from our

super,

awesome,

incredible

birthday party.

and set out to d.c. for the

nationals v. orioles game

for fathers day.

p man napped in the car (never happens)

woke up just in time to meet J &M,

our gracious hosts,

and head to the ball park.

we were nationals fans this day,

we brought no luck to d.c. as they played

pretty terribly.

but we had a great time!

p was perfect, loving mostly the fans behind us...

and their peanuts and beer bottles.

he snacked on frozen lemonade,

survived a downpour during the

presidents race,

and clapped along with nats fans, and O's fans.

he loves to clap.

and then,

he waved to everyone on the way out.

precious.

 everyone got nats hats to take home...

 not only does p love to wear his around the house,

he wants us to wear ours too.

happy fathers day b!

and of course,

happy fathers day to the one and only Judge D.

you're the men.

p man has such great role models,

thanks for that.

love you both!!

O Captain! my Captain!

O Captain! my Captain! Our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting...

Poem to be continued...

I think there has been no blog about the time in DC

 because it is hard to find the words to describe the events. 

And as I was recounting Walt Whitman's opening lines I realized they fit nicely

(though, please pay no attention to the rest of the poem :) ).

The ship has been through a lot waiting for this Senate confirmation hearing,

but the prize we sought is won. 

Several Wednesdays ago our west coasters came to meet up with us east coasters

to celebrate our Captain's Senate confirmation hearing,

to finally confirm him as a federal judge for the middle district of Florida.

We couldn't be more proud. 

For a dad who has supported each of us,

through absolutely everything...little league, buzzin bees, dalton's diamonds, boy scouts, endless sporting events, college applications, college graduations, deployments, career changes, weddings (ok..A wedding), grandparent hood...it was something special watching someone who has helped us all work toward and achieve our dreams, achieve one of his own.

Technically, we are still playing the waiting game...but...

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting!

No one deserves it more.

Florida, you're in good hands (well, in as much as your federal bench).

Dad, we love you.  We're proud of you.

I think you would like to know that I can still recite the entire first verse

of Walt Whitman's poem no problem,

I had to look a little more for reassurance toward the end...I'll work on it. 

 For those who don't know, when we were younger our dad made us memorize "O Captain! my Captain!" and recite it (to him, the captain) when we were out on the boat...oh the memories.

p.s.  Judges can still be really awesome Granddads.

p.p.s  this is also why the family dog is named "Captain"

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.