Leif and a Canadian Cannon

Here's Leif in Canada, August 1989, age 14, already six feet tall, wearing his snappy gray outfit with his Member's Only jacket. I think this was taken in Quebec City, but unfortunately, the slide wasn't labeled.

He always loved guns of any kind, climbed on every cannon he saw from the time he was very small. I wonder, now, how many he clambered around. He was curious about how the mechanisms worked, and from a very young age could figure out how machinery operated.

He had a quick mind for anything mechanical and could figure out how to fix things. When he died, for an apartment dweller, he had an amazingly good collection of tools. He worked on his cars and his motorcycles, and on some of our cars, too.

It's too bad that we don't foster all the kinds of intelligence there are in this world. We seem to think academic learning is the only way to go, and often don't understand or respect other kinds of intelligence and talents that don't require "book learning." I think someone like Leif might have been a lot happier if he hadn't thought it necessary to go to college, but could have found another path to use his mind. He was certainly not averse to learning . . . but he liked things like the real-time collaboration he found in online games requiring strategic thinking, the hands-on use of skills and mechanical understanding, the mental repartee of ideas he seldom found in classes (with a few outstanding exceptions).

He would have made a good Viking. His name fit him.

Leif in Quebec City, Canada in August 1989

 For so long, I thought I'd never see any "new" photos of Leif. Now I am blessed with many of them! In scanning the slides we took back when taking colored slides was a popular means of photography, we've discovered many photos of Leif we didn't remember and hadn't seen since they were taken and developed. We only printed a few when we took them, so this is like finding a treasure.

These photos were taken in Quebec City, and Leif was, as he often did, acting silly. He found a way to wrap his feet around the railing on the stone wall and look as though he were falling off without actually doing it.

We had a great trip through eastern Canada with Leif, and he enjoyed seeing the cities and experiencing French Canada. He was 14 years old, but already over 6'1" tall. You can see he liked to dress well, with his nice slacks, dress shirt, purple tie and Members Only jacket. Those were his choices, not forced on him by his parents. And of course, snazzy sunglasses.

I'm so glad we got to take him on that trip. I wish Peter A. could have been with us, but he was already away from home at the Air Force Academy.

Leif & His Dad by La Creperie - Quebec City, Canada - August 1989 - Age 14

Yesterday we saw a classic car show and of course we couldn't help talking about how much Leif would have enjoyed it. There were the usual assortment of muscle cars and 1940s and 1950s classics, lots of Corvettes, and some cool trucks, but it was the DeLoreans and the Jaguar from the 1950s that really caught my eye as something Leif would have appreciated. Those and the drag racers. I wish we could have shared it with him.

Knowing we can no longer share our travels and such events with him makes all the photos of the times we did terribly precious, so photos like this one are important, with each of the memories that go with them.

This is another photo from our trip to Canada the summer of 1989. We really enjoyed all of it, but especially Quebec City, where we marveled at the Le Chateau Frontenac and the magnificent view from the bluff over the St. Lawrence River.

It was there that we saw a musician playing a "glass harmonica" made from glasses filled with different amounts of water. The sounds was quite beautiful and magical. He was selling CDs and I've always wished I had purchased one. Leif found the instrument and the musician fascinating. It was one of the things he photographed in Quebec City.

Quebec City was the place we got a parking ticket because we weren't able to accurately read the signs in French, which apparently gave some reason for not parking there. Leif found that quite amusing. Of course, he didn't have to pay the fine.

This photo was taken outside a restaurant we particularly enjoyed, La Creperie.

Leif was fourteen and a half.

Leif & His Dad - Quebec City, Canada - August 1989

Here's another photo of Leif and Peter W. on our trip in Canada. They are posing in front of the Cafe de la Paix, a restaurant we particularly enjoyed in Quebec City.

I think one reason this trip was especially interesting to Leif was the European qualities of the Canadian cities and the French language in Quebec. Although Leif lived in Germany from when he was two-and-a-half until he was five-and-a-half, his memories of it were fleeting. We moved from there to Japan and then Hawaii and then to Illinois, so his cultural experiences had been vastly different. The only time he'd been back to Europe was our brief, five-day trip to Germany in May 1988, just the year before we went to Canada.

Leif enjoyed dressing up and wearing a tie, unlike a lot of boys and men, or at least he did when he was younger. He always liked going to really nice restaurants, and his dad joked (not without reason) that Leif would always order the most expensive thing on the menu . . . unless we gave him a price limit before he ordered. He enjoyed good food and drink and elegant surroundings.

I'm so glad we had the chance to take him so many places. We had been thinking of trying to take him on another trip or cruise in the two months before he died, but he had no vacation left and couldn't afford to take leave without pay from his job, nor did he have a passport. How I wish he had lived to travel with us again.

Leif in Montreal - August 1989 - Age 14 and a half

Someone recently asked if I'd been to Montreal. That brought back memories of our trip across eastern Canada in August 1989. It was just the three of us, Peter W., Leif and I. Peter A. was at the Air Force Academy. As you can see in the photo, Leif was already towering over his father (and, of course, me, too), tall and slender.

Although a lot of kids at this age might not have appreciated a long car trip with their parents, away from their friends, Leif really enjoyed the trip. He took a lot of photos, particularly of interesting architecture, liked the museums, the scenery and the food. We visited Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and smaller towns. In many ways, these Canadian cities reminded us of Europe, partly because of the architecture, and partly because of the food and outdoor cafes.

This photo was taken in front of Brother Andre's Chapel in Montreal.

We also visited Niagara Falls, which impressed Leif mightily. He took a lot of photos of the falls from every viewing angle.

Leif remembered this trip with a lot of interest and fondness, and when he was later stationed in Fort Drum, New York in the army and we drove there to visit him and Nikko, we all went to Ottawa so that we could experience it again and show it to Nikko. It was then that we found the Zaphod Beeblebrox Bar that they posed in front of. The two of them went back again to "party."

Leif and the Trip to Canada - Summer 1989 - Age 14

I found these photos in Leif's album. I don't think I ever saw them before and I don't know who took them, but they were taken with Leif's camera. Perhaps he put it on a picnic table or tree stump for the one of the three of us, and maybe I took the one of him running and acting silly down by the stream. I don't even remember exactly where this place is, but my, how we all changed since 1989. Twenty years, and so much has happened, and Leif is no longer here.

We had a good time with Leif on that trip, visiting Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, cities, museums, countryside. Leif was fun to travel with and he enjoyed the trip.

I see a picture like this one of the three of us and it is so typical, Peter W. always with his arms around his family, those protective loving arms. In those days, we could still protect Leif from some of the blows of life. How I wish we had been able to protect him from some of the far worse ones that happened to him once he left our care and lived on his own as a grown man.

Since the photo was taken, Leif grew his hair long, then cut it short, then had an army haircut and eventually shaved his head when his receding hairline was making him bald on top at the age of about thirty. And we have grown gray and gone from middle age to being "seniors."

I never thought I would grow old with out one of my sons. That hurts every single day.

Leif's Seventh Home - Fort Sheridan, Illinois - August 1986 to July 1990

We wanted to stay in Hawaii, but the army wasn't going for it. Instead, they sent Peter W. to MEPCOM, the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command at Great Lakes, Illinois, north of Chicago. After checking out all the school systems on the north side of Chicago, we decided the best one for our sons was in Highland Park. We could send them there if we chose to live at Fort Sheridan instead of one of the Great Lakes housing areas, though Peter would have a 20-30 minute commute (which he did not enjoy). That meant that Leif could go do Northwood Junior High School for three years and then his freshman year in high school at Highland Park High School, where Peter Anthony would compete his senior year before heading off to the Air Force Academy. Leif did some of the best academic work of his entire school career there.

We lived at 419-D Nicholson Road on Fort Sheridan. Behind the house was a part of the golf course and just a couple blocks walk brought us to the shore of Lake Michigan. Leif picked out a cute kitten, Scamp, who was our favorite cat. I've written about him before and posted photos of him with Leif.

Leif played soccer all four years. It was there that he got enamored of radio controlled cars and built at least three of them from kits, modifying them to make them even faster, and using them in science fair experiments.

His best friends there were Robert and Chris, and they spent a lot of time at our house. We also had visits from my family, and Leif's cousin Holly spent time with us a couple of summers. We were fortunate to see a lot of my sister Sherie and her family, as they lived in Michigan about two hours drive from us.

During our time in the Chicago area, we also did a lot of things in the city, from seeing a big car show (Leif loved that!), to the time Leif and I went to the top of the Sears tower. We went to the museums and aquarium, and flew NINE times on military aircraft space available, free, back to Hawaii for long weekends. We also flew military space-A to Germany in 1988, the last time we were there, and visited Peter W's relatives, as well as taking a long trip through the eastern half of Canada. Leif was with us on all those trips and enjoyed each one. Of course, we also went to visit Peter Anthony at the Air Force Academy and looked forward to him coming home to see us for a short time each summer and at Christmas.

By the time Leif was in seventh grade, he was also living in his seventh home.

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The photos above are:
1. Leif's school portrait, probably fall 1989.
2. Leif's school portrait, probably fall 1988.
3. 419-D Nicholson Road, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, a townhouse, where we lived for four years.
4. The living room at 419-D Nicholson Road when we lived there.

Leif & Nikko - Ottawa, Canada - July 1999

Leif and Nikko had been at Fort Drum, New York for a year and he was on order to go to Bosnia with the peacekeeping force. We wanted to see him before he went, so we drove to New York so see them. Although we could have stayed at their apartment, we discovered that Fort Drum had the LeRay Mansion, built in 1826-1827 on base, and it was divided into DVQ (Distinguished Visitor Quarters) suites. Peter is eligible to stay in DVQs on some bases, and we were lucky to be able to stay at the LeRay Mansion.

Leif, as an enlisted Private First Class, had never been to that area of the base and had no idea anything like that, with the Historic District around it, existed there. It was a beautiful park-like setting.

Leif was able to get some time off while we were there, so we were able to see some of the local sights. We took a boat trip on the St. Lawrence River to see the Thousand Islands area with its incredible mansions on these privately owned islands. We went out to eat, particularly at Leif's favorite place in Sackets Harbor, to the west a few miles on Lake Ontario. I think it was the Sackets Harbor Brewing Company, which would fit, as Leif loved beer.

We also went to Ottawa, Canada for a day. Leif had been there with us when he was in high school and we took a long trip through Ontario and Quebec, but Nikko hadn't been there, and we had a great day walking around seeing the sights, crossing the bridge into Hull, and enjoying beautiful weather.

This photo of them was taken on the bridge between Ottawa and Hull, and you can see the Parliament building in the background behind them.