Happy Birthday, Dad

My father, Sheldon Feuerstein, would have reached the grand old age of 83 on Sunday, October 7.

Two weeks after I turned 54.

It got me thinking: my dad was  just shy of 30 years old when I was born (my father's second child and only son). And when I was just a little bit younger (29), my second (and only biological) son was born (Eli, now a musician and APEX developer).

When I was born, my dad worked as an accountant for a CPA. Two years later, he got his law degree (but never really used it; turns out he didn't like being a lawyer very much - and didn't like being an accountant a whole lot more). He later partnered with his brother-in-law, Max Schuckman, and spent decades more crunching numbers, entering himself by teaching himself programming (first on an HP programmable calculator and later on IBM minicomputers - RPG, no less!) and painting.

When Eli was born, I was a low-level programmer consultant putting in my time at the big, red CNA skyscraper in downtown Chicago. One year later, I started working for Oracle Corporation, which led to major changes in my life.

Now I have a baby granddaughter, just like Dad had a baby grandson. But I am lucky: my lovely Loey lives just six miles away. I very much plan to be a big part of her life (and vice versa). Dad and Mom lived in NY while I had moved to Chicago, so they were only able to make occasional appearances in Eli's (and Chris's) life.