His 50th Birthday.
I thought of my father this past Sunday, on what would have been his 65th. It got me to reflect on some of his previous birthdays. Which one did I remember the most?
Easy..
His 50th Birthday was on September 8th, 1998. I don't remember who was there, but he, my mother and some others went out to celebrate with a dinner. I did not. I wasn't mad at him, I stayed home to be somewhat selfish.
Selfish? Yep..
Selfish is knowing that on September 8th, 1998, Mark McGwire hit Home Run #62, breaking a record long held by Roger Maris. You don't see history often, so that's why I stayed home. I'll always remember one of his Birthdays. That means quite a bit to me.
Miss you Dad. Wish I could have helped.
Michael Edward Haas, M.D.
Learning the "Fosbury Flop"
In the summers in Lenexa, KS, where we grew up, we had to create our own fun. One of the things we did was put up a high jump, made with long bamboo poles. I think maybe we were Olympic hopefuls!
We practiced learning how to jump over the cross bar -- first, going over forward (straddle style), then learning to do a scissor-kick, and finally, learning to go over backwards -- the famous "Fosbury Flop" (created by high jumper Dick Fosbury and made famous in the 1968 Summer Olympics).
Mike was always the "coach" -- telling us how to do it better. :-) I don't seem to remember ever seeing him actually do the high jump himself! I have always loved track and field sports - and I think it goes back, in part, to those early summer days.