David’s Birthday Today

David Houghton

Today is David’s birthday.  I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the fact that the family is gone.  I miss them and think about them a lot.  David was a loving brother and very protective of me.  I miss him and I miss them.

I remember on one summer in Italy, David got a boat for his birthday.  I think it was his 9th birthday.  It was a “2 person” inflatable raft.  We used to love going out in it when we went on our family camping vacations.  We used to go a lot to a lake just outside of Perugia, Lago Trasimeno.  We made lots of friends in the campground and liked taking them out in his boat.

Another time we went to Lago di Garda which is closer to the alps, colder, and more windy.  There was one windy day where my dad must have promised David he could use his boat before we went home.  It seems like we had a 10 mile-per-hour wind, but it was blowing steadily toward shore, so we were allowed to go out while dad watched us from the car with his binoculars, ready to jump to action if necessary.  My mom and sister were in the car too.  We had already packed up the campsite and made a stop by the water on our way out.

It was pretty rough and not too pleasant, but David was having fun.  My dad and brother had decided on some signals so my brother would know how far to go out.  It was a lot of work to keep from being blown up onto the shore.

Suddenly, dad gave the signal and David quickly navigated in, deflated the boat and rapidly folded it up – while wet.  Usually, we took a long time to let it dry and then carefully folded it, but this time it was hastily folded, stuffed in the trunk, and we were on our way home.  When we got home, we didn’t unpack and dry the boat, so it got moldy after a few months.  Luckily, a lot of it cleaned off as it hadn’t sat too long.

I still remember the rubber smell of the boat when he got it.  We had bought it at a store called Standa, similar to a small Kmart.  We would salivate over it each time our parents went shopping there.  After a while, our parents gave in and got it.  When we went to the lake, sometimes we would see bigger three and four person boats, which were very big to us and lots of fun to look at, even though they were everywhere.

In Perugia, we would window shop at a  Scuba shop with various gear and David was very interested in this.  I suppose he watched Jacques Cousteau in the states before we came to Italy, so that’s probably where it all started.

Anyway, back to the boat.  He was so excited to open the box on his birthday.  He slowly went through all the pieces and then proceeded to blow up each compartment with a foot pump.  After it was blown up, he took it out on our deck and sat in it in his bathing suit.  I put my bathing suit on too and convinced him to let me sit in it with him.  Little brothers didn’t always get their request granted, but this time he did.  After about 15 minutes my mom came out and was a little alarmed at what we were doing and told us to put the boat away and come inside.  I think the new concept of the boat, which could be dangerous in the water, made her react even though we weren’t in the water.

It was fun growing up with my brother.  He was a few years older, so he was always doing interesting things.  I remember in Italy, he used to complain about me following him around the house.  I wasn’t really conscious of it until he “caught” me doing it and then told on me.  I suppose I did it because it was boring to be by myself.  Other times, he didn’t mind me tagging along.

The following summer, I got a similar boat of my own and we would both take them out on Lago Trasimeno.  We were stronger by now and could get around pretty well, covering good distance with just a few strong strokes.  I remember one evening at sunset we were rowing around and zipping back and forth really well with our powerful strokes.

Another time when we had both of our boats out, we convinced some similarly aged girls to ride in our boats as we took them through a marshy area where the reeds made narrow canals that we had fun navigating through.  David an I were very cautious when they were in the boats, barking back and forth to each other as we carefully coordinated and choreographed our maneuvers through the canals.  The girls were a little scared, but it was fun to provide a tour for them with our formidable little boats.

I remember one birthday while we were in Perugia, he wanted a cake, but didn’t want any rum in it.  Actually at the time, that was really hard to find.  We took a half day with my mom to go through all of the bakeries we could find, and couldn’t find a cake without rum.  I remember going up to the shops, seeing a delicious looking cake, and asking the baker – they all had rum.  I don’t quite remember what we ended up doing, but it was a compromise.  Maybe we got him a double sized pastry of some sort.  I don’t quite remember.

Another sight in Perugia, I do remember seeing university students  living out of their backpacks on the streets.  They lived in the worst of conditions.  It seems like they were confined to certain areas and it was really bad.  We didn’t see that in 0ur home town of Padova.  We saw lots of things, good and bad, that shaped our experiences and our identities.  I suppose it made us diverse in our thinking and understanding of different cultures.  Italy doesn’t seem like it’s that different from America, but when you get there and live there, the culture, way of thinking and everything is totally different.  I think it’s good to be able to see situations from different perspectives.

David had his own set of friends at his school.  I remember feeling lucky because his school teacher was very strict, while mine was more laid back.  One time David threw a birthday party and had about 10 of his classmates over to play games and things.  I remember how excited they were and the high level of energy as they played.  They had a lot of fun.

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2 Responses to David’s Birthday Today

  1. Cathryn says:

    Remembering David, as always, July 11th a day so imprinted in my mind, the celebration of his birth day, just four days after the day that marks the day he left. It does not feel right to write about David in the past tense, nor to refer to David in the third person, or second; which does not leave a lot that can be expressed this way, other than the effort to reach out and share what we feel in common. Remembering David with love on this day, as always.

  2. Nana Linda says:

    John and Catheyn I too thought of David all day on his birthday! It was wonderful seeing your messages today! I checked the blog on the 7th, decided I would post some thoughts on Dacebook and had several share photos and memories! This has been I think has been one of the hardest years! I miss each of them everyday and remember the Specialness of each! My thoughts have been with your family and do remember well the times we were able to share! Many changes in the last four years! To David I hope you felt my love and Birthday Wishes! You were always a son to me and the Morherly love you shared with me, the wise advice you shared and your Love, caring and protection of our DeDe, Luke and Ryan will always live on in my heart and memories! Someday we will be together again and until then you will never be forgotten! Just a few days and Luke’s birthday will arrive, it is hard to think of him at 17! Ryan graduating 8th grade and thinking if the experiences they won’t have here with us! Love to the Moon and Back forever!

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