The Sooner Geek

I read the following that was written by my cousin, Carmen, at my grandpa’s funeral with all the other grandchildren around me.

Though the time we were lucky enough to spend with Jimmie Brown was too brief, we know we were truly blessed to have him as our Grandpa. He made sure that every moment spent with us was precious. The memories he made with us and the lessons he taught us are a testament to the truly amazing man he was.

He made sure his children and grandchildren had opportunities and experiences he didn’t have. Because he was thoughtful and generous, he made sure we did not waste them and shared all that he had with us. Grandpa’s intelligence and curiosity made him truly wealthy with knowledge. But his love of sharing that knowledge has enriched all of our lives. While we’ve all heard tales of how loud he could yell, he was truly patient with us. He wanted us to be well-educated and well-prepared for the world and gave us the gift of what he knew. It is a testament to his patience tha the took the time to teach us how to drive everything from a motorcycle, four-wheeler, to a standard shift and made sure we knew how to do it right. He’d smile and wait quietly and tell us to try again even as we would stall out again and again and again.

He didn’t only gift us with his wisdom but taught us to be thoughtful and to truly care for what we had, whether they were cars or people. He showed us how to recognize and share the joy from our days by being gracious and polite to all those we met. Or by singing, Good Morning to You, on early mornings. Grandpa knew how to play a good joke or give us a good surprise or scare. He definitely shared a sweet tooth with us and we never even had to ask. He’d have a peanut butter cup or root beer or snickers bar hidden away for us, too.

Our grandpa was the definition of generosity and always had a new story of treasure to show us. Each visit brought a new lesson . Often he said, If you take care of your things, they will take care of us. And there is more than enough proof in the toys, guns, antiques, cars, machines and home that Grandpa kept running smoothly, but he truly embodies this lesson in taking care of his family and loved ones. He gave us time and knowledge, love and stories and laughs, and we can only hope to make him proud. His kindness, wisdom, and generosity is truly a legacy we can strive to carry on. We are truly fortunate to be the grandchildren of Jimmie Brown and can only hope to strive to live up to his name and legacy.

Here is the obituary that my grandma, uncle Kenny, and I wrote that was in the Sunday edition of the Daily Oklahoman

Jimmie Luther Brown, Sr. of Choctaw, OK, born Oct 23, 1931 to LeRoy Brown and Beulah (McCoin) Brown  passed at the age of 78 on Friday, July 23, 2010 of natural causes in Midwest City, OK. Jimmie married Alice (Burris) Brown on October 27, 1956.

He is survived by his wife; Alice, one daughter Leisa B Aiken (Dan), two sons Jimmie L. Brown, Jr. (Mercedes) and Kenneth L. Brown (Michele). Also surviving are his sisters, Martha Otto and Esther
Brown, five grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by 3 brothers and 2 sisters.

Jimmie was honorably discharged as a Tech Sgt; serving 10 years in the US Air Force and Air Reserve. He retired from Tinker AFB as an equipment specialist in 1982. Services will be 2:00 pm, Monday, July 26, 2010, at Barnes Friederich Funeral Home Chapel.

I will really miss my grandpa, but I will live everyday to make him proud and try to live up to his name that I was given. It’s only been lately that I’ve really come to be honored and realize the enormous legacy my name came with.

Note: Sorry this is so late, with my previous post I hope it’s understandable why this was delayed.

Last night my wife, myself, and a couple friends attended our first Yard Dawgz and AFL game. We were given great seats by the Yard Dawgz, we arrived early enough to see all the pregame activities and get an overall feel for how the game would work.

My first thoughts were on how this would differ from the traditional game that I’ve enjoyed. First thing I noticed was the field  of play was the same size as a hockey rink, 85′ long x 200′ long. The field is divided into 8 yard deep endzones and a 50 yard field (half the length of the traditional field). The large nets at the ends of the fields also confused me at first, I realized the center section was for field goals but couldn’t figure out a purpose for the large net sections on either side. On the first kickoff, it was obvious, the kickers don’t hold back so that the ball doesn’t go too far, they just nail the nets and the returner has to catch it off the nets and go from there. Here’s a diagram of the field I found online:

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This will be a short post, if you want to talk to me about it in depth, feel free to get in touch with me.

Today I closed a long chapter of my life; my employment at Farmers Insurance came to an end.  Closing this chapter was my choice, I accepted an offer at another insurance company as an APD field adjuster.

It was has been a very odd last few days, filled with excitement and anxiety both.  Right now it all feels very surreal, though I’m sure that will fade over the weekend.   I didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone, but those who I was close to I’m sure we’ll keep in touch.  I’ll definitely miss my team and those I worked with and I wish them well.

The new chapter starts with training on Tuesday, June 1.  I’ll be in training for a while and am eager to expand my knowledge and skills and put more of my skills to good use.

It’s a few days late, but as all of us in OK know, and most likely many around the country, we had several major storms and tornadoes in the area. So, my attention has been distracted by dealing with the damage to my car and work as an insurance adjuster.

I want to just say thank you again to everyone that helped in some way; whether it was with a donation, a retweet, a share on Facebook, or encouragement. I appreciate it all very much, it was all beneficial and necessary to be able to raise as much as I did. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I had some awesome conversation over beer with Sid Burgess, and we started talking some on ereaders, he mentioned that he was looking for a an alternative to reading on the computer. I would love to own an ereader, I just want to see some capabilities added to them before I spend money on them, and maybe some changes in the market and how they’re sold. Read the rest of this entry »