Richard Charles Smith

Notes, to start:
• "Miracle Baby"- born prematurely, his Mother kept him alive on the warming burner of her range, in days before there was any care for premmies.(see, "Miracle Babies Stories, below) He was a special spirit, a Libra, musical and fey, and yet a Year of the Boar practical cat about things...he liked the world and loved people, and liked talking about just about everything, and he was very bright and skilled so his observations were often worth remembering. Men of stature in science and medicine and business would visit him and engage him for chat just for the lights he brought to things, and I was impressed with him.
• "Charlie" as a child, he did not know his real first name was Richard...
• "Smitty"-the classic nickname, his name in WWII, and sporadically at work always...his pioneer Army Air Corps experience was his pride, and his frustration was his health which qualified him for flight mechanic , and not piloting.
• "flyboy" - do not recall his being called by this one, actually, but he insisted he was that brash before marriage
• "JollyCholly" - when he was developed over-roundness-not really charming..."fattydaddy" would guarantee grounding for a week, and was seldom used, except when he became that alarming,
• "Father", when I was too grown up to be silly; my brother and sister called him "Dad".

Hiya, Pop! Born on October 9th, he was musical brilliant and his hands made the gold foil used on NASA's LLM..."one small step for man". If anyone doubts that our souls are lifegivers, they should have been at his deathbed...with all his functions being kept up by machines and "any minute now" prayerfully hovering in the room, I reached my Father's side. Although I had been his onsite person for most of the ten years of his failing, my own health suffered in an accident and I had to be separated out for my own good. I was oldest and he had been exemplary; a loving, responsible interested, interactive father, when I was a girl . He screened my dates, and made friends with my "Handsome Prince". Marriage and work/love were wonderful. When I became widowed, after a time, I dated, and will remarry, but my father won a lot of my time and love during his last days, which were difficult for all. I thanked God for all my super childhood memories, and reminded myself of the debts I owed Him that no one can ever repay to another person. When I was grieving for my late husband, first it was our children who lit up my life, but,too soon, mine was an empty nest, though I rejoiced in their recovery from their own sorrow, and their renewed ability to "take flight" with their age peers. I missed them more than I cared to admit, and it was my Father, at that point, who threw loving and creative and powerful energy into my family circle and helped a lot with my gifted children. And so, since I was "running around single", I was preferred to be his aide during his decline. He and I found a copy of Mother Theresa's book: "Something Beautiful for God", looked at one another and said: "Let's do this!" Those days were full of special challenges and burdens, but with a light and happy smile, we were inspired and got busy and it worked. Barbara Bush was exhorting recession-struck American and we were energized......and we pulled up the bootstraps and got busier! ..the sinking ship regained the waves and sailed home with honors. But my Father's health continued to fail, and now he was dying. Mother was at his side, making me feel specially loved, as well, as she told him she loved him , for the last time. They married young, were a beautiful couple and set a fine example, but truly matured into different worlds. They divorced and remarried when we grew up, and all were friends. I was able to be proud of them. So,there was not block to the last bonding, as I approached his death bed. I called his name, and he regained consciousness for me, opened his eyes, smiled and tried to speak! Everyone gasped, and the nurse hugged me and said, "See!", when I looked at her astonished....."Love has mighty power!" "...but we must let him go now." I held his hand and felt an energy bond between us, but felt his energies were going somewhere I could not and should not try to go. I was frightened for a moment, and then, a brave soul, I was tempted to go along with him, wherever he was going...a last adventure! But my spirit centered and allowed him to God's way. His eyes closed, and soon he was gone, and the only thing missing was a roomful of doves ascending in the joy of the liberation of his special soaring spirit from a body that had sufferredd long and painfully and had been a prison for some time! Later in the Month, I enjoyed the May evening in a quiet walk,catching sight of Venus , his ruling star...and remembering an old Charlie Chan joke we'd shared in childhood, I found one more happy "Hiya, Pop!" "Number one daughter here and OKFINE! "....

Miracle Babies Stories 1. Toddler Found on Freeway After Car Crash HIXTON, Wis. (AP) - A 2-year-old girl who survived a car crash that killed her parents wandered across a freeway and was found in a grove of trees three hours later by authorities who tracked her footprints in the snow. The girl, Anita Kayachith, was at home with relatives in Minnesota on Monday, three days after the wreck. ``She is doing great. She is wonderful,'' said Houmpheng Phongsavath, an uncle of one of the victims. The car was struck by a tractor-trailer that slid on ice and crossed the median of Interstate 94 early Friday, the Wisconsin State Patrol said. The car slid under the truck. The girl's parents, who were from Brooklyn Park, Minn., were killed. A trooper who noticed children's clothing, diapers and a ``sippy'' cup in the car started searching for a child. Trooper Rhonda Waldera, who is pregnant with her third child, spotted small footprints in the half-inch of new snow. Anita was sitting by a fence, in a pink shirt or jacket and in stocking feet in 25-degree cold. ``She was quiet. She didn't say anything. She wasn't crying or anything like that,'' said Lt. Darren Price. Investigators said the toddler was probably sleeping in the back seat of the car and climbed out after the accident. ``She has just a scratch on her head, but nothing big,'' said Sandy Kayachith, whose brother, Laotian-born Souvorachak Kayachith, 21, and his wife, Melinda Athakhanh, 20, died in the crash. ``I think my brother was just holding on and then helped her out,'' she said. ``I think their spirit guided her and protected her, and that's why she lasted so long.'' The family was traveling to Georgia and Florida to visit relatives. 03/10/03 16:08 © Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Miracle baby , of the canine variety: Dosa was hit by a vehicle in Clear Lake, California, and the officer on the scene gave the "mercy shot" to put her out of her misery. She was then placed in the usual body bag, and taken for humane burial to the area Veterinary clinic. But when the bag was opened, the pup was alive! Astonished vets got busy and the pup is fine, but may go to a new home, since it's owners failed to keep her leashed. We lost one who broke his restraints and was killed, so I wondered about that aspect of the story, but praised Dosa's Angels, and felt she must have some mission to be so saved!

Miracle Baby Grew In Liver, Not Womb Her name is Nhlahla. In Zulu, it means "luck," making it the perfect name for this miracle infant who developed in her mother's liver instead of the womb. This is how lucky Nhlahla is: Out of 14 documented cases of a baby growing in its mother's liver, she is only the fourth to survive such a pregnancy. BBC News Online reports that doctors in Cape Town, South Africa performed the difficult delivery on Tuesday. Here's another miracle: In her seventh month of pregnancy, this mom-to-be underwent brain surgery. Find out what happened. Although the baby required oxygen at birth, she is now breathing on her own and weighs a very healthy 6.17 pounds. The mother, 20-year-old Ncise Cwayita is also doing well. Liver specialist Dr. Jack Krige, who helped deliver the baby, told a South African newspaper: "She is the real thing. She is truly a miracle baby." The BBC reports that in about 1 in 100,000 pregnancies, the fertilized egg falls out of the fallopian tube and can implant anywhere in the abdomen. Although such an occurrence is extremely rare, the embryo can attach itself to the liver, a very rich source of blood. The baby is protected inside the placenta, but since it doesn't have the added protection of the womb, it is more at risk. Find out the best month to conceive a boy and the best month to conceive a girl. Most pregnancies outside the uterus result in a miscarriage in just a few weeks. In baby Nhlahla's case, doctors only discovered this week that she was not in the womb. And it wasn't until they actually began the operation on Tuesday morning that they realized the she was in her mother's liver. The baby isn't the only miracle. The mother is a miracle, too. One in 200 women who have an abdominal pregnancy die before anything can be done to help them.

Toddler Rescued From Algerian Quake Ruins By KIM HOUSEGO CORSO, Algeria (AP) - Dust-covered but alive, a two-year-old girl was pulled from the rubble of Algeria's earthquake, a moment of joy for rescuers as the smell of decaying bodies stifled hopes of finding many others alive. With the death toll topping 1,600 and expected to climb, grief turned to anger with widespread complaints that rescue efforts were inadequate and that shoddy construction compounded the devastation of Wednesday evening's quake. After two days of counting bodies and fewer and fewer survivors, the remarkable rescue Friday of wide-eyed toddler Emilie Kaidi from the rubble of her family's home in Corso, in the quake zone east of the capital Algiers, offered momentary hope. Guided by her plaintive cries and an ultrasound locating device inserted into the wreckage, rescuers found her beneath the shattered concrete of her collapsed ground-floor bedroom, protected by a door that had fallen across a television set. Rescuers asked for total silence as they sought to precisely locate her, witnesses said. A half-hour later, a Spanish volunteer, wedged in a tiny hole in the rubble, handed the black-haired little girl dressed in a red shirt up to other rescuers. Another volunteer immediately put his hand over her eyes to block out the blinding daylight. She appeared unharmed. ``It warmed our hearts and gave us hope,'' said Amirouche Istanbule, who watched the rescue. Emilie's parents also survived. But her sister, 4-year-old Lisa, died in the ruins of the four-story building, said another witness, Amar Boutihe, a 46-year-old construction manager who lives across the street. ``The mood really changed an hour later when they brought out her sister,'' he said. By Friday, the death toll from the 6.8-magnitude quake east of Algiers had risen to more than 1,600 and was expected climb, the North African country's Interior Ministry said. Another 7,207 were injured.

How my Father proceeded to make it alllll better with my Mother...

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? Have I told you lately that I love you? Could I tell you once again somehow? Have I told with all my heart and soul how I adore you? Well darling I'm telling you now Have I told you lately when I'm sleeping Every dream I dream is you somehow? Have I told you why the nights are long when you're not with me? Well darling I'm telling you now. My heart would break in two if you refuse me. I'm no good without you anyhow And have I told you lately that I'm lost when you're not with me? Well darling I'm telling you now! --repeat first two verses/ 2nd verse, last line twice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words and music by Scott Wiseman and Gene Autry Originally made famous by: Gene Autry

Relevant Links

NASA/DuPont GoldFoil Project
United Technology/Sikorsky/Heinrich Adenstedt
WWII- Army Air Corps
his music-

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Tree In The Meadow There's a tree in the meadow, with a stream drifting by, And carved upon that tree, I see "I love you til I die." I shall always remember the love in your eye The day you carved upon that tree "I love you til I die." But further on down lovers' lane a silhouette I see. I know you're kissing someone else, I wish that it were me. By that tree in the meadow, my thoughts will always lie. And wheree'r you go you'll always know, I love you til I die. --repeat from "... further on down lovers'....." to end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Music and lyrics by Billy Reid, 1948 Originally made famous by: Margaret Whiting