Happy Birthday java

[cmassicotte]

Java –

I know that for you and too many others this will not be a day for much happiness and celebration. Yet I sincerely hope that you will find some small, personal way to celebrate the day of your birth, and not let that small happiness be one more thing that the bastards have stolen.



For me it will mostly be a day of quiet and meditation and painful memoriam. But it will also be a day of celebration - a day in which I will honor and celebrate all of America’s heroes -- All of the honorable, courageous men and women who today and have in all the many battles past, sacrificed and bled, and died to protect and preserve my way of life.



It is right, and proper to mourn and to grieve our many losses. And it will be very hard to celebrate through the tears, and pain and heartbreak of the loss which we will all remember and confront today. Yet celebrate we must. We are the greatest country on earth. I say that with pride, yet without arrogance. I celebrate that. We have the best life and standard of living in the world. I say that with grateful thanks, not patronage. I celebrate that. We have the freedom to believe, or not to believe, in God. I celebrate that.



We have a community. A community comprised of people as different as there are countries and cultures in this large, yet seemingly too small planet on which we live. A community of imperfect people whose members so very many more times than not, work together to build, to share, to harmonize – whose widely diverse members have each contributed to, and who have all helped build this great nation. I celebrate my community.



We have heroes. Thousands of men and women who have given everything they had, who made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. There are and have been many more thousands of heroes among us, heroes who have also stood ready and willing, without hesitation, to make that same sacrifice – heroes who were not called to make that sacrifice, but all of whom gave us the gift of dedication and devotion to duty and country. I celebrate all of our heroes.



We have an idea. An idea so strong and powerful that it conceived a nation. An idea so simple that it quietly influences every action of our daily life. An idea so powerful that it has caused countless thousands of ordinary men and women to become extraordinary heroes. An idea so important that these same men and women have willingly, and without hesitation, given their lives to protect it. That idea is the idea that I am entitled to live my life in freedom, and with freedom, dignity and respect, and that each and every one of my neighbors is imbued with that same freedom.



Java – I celebrate you, my friend. Thank you for your wit, and wisdom, and the friendship you have given to the members of this forum, this community. May your tongue be always and permanently, embedded in your cheek. Happy birthday to you.



Chuck





There is no right way to do a wrong thing



Edited by - cmassicotte on 9/11/2002 2:49:08 PM

[aero_student]

Chuck that was very well put. Happy birthday Java! You are indeed one of the most excellent of spyderfolk. Celebrate proudly and remember those who died in service to their fellow man. I can think of no better way to defy those who would wish us harm than celebrating life that was created on the day they were destroying it.

[jabajet]

Happy Birthday Java-dude!

~Joe

[Sword and Shield]

Cmassicotte, that was astounding. Excellent work!

Now, Java-meister. Go forth and enjoy this day. While it is a day of sadness for the world, the sadness is also tempered by the joy of being here to be sad.

As a wise man once said, "You may curse life as you wish. However, you must breathe to curse." Take today and enjoy it. Celebrate it not only as your birthday, but as a day where so many gave so much for what they believe.

Keepin' it real...real sharp, that is.

[Xibalba]

Java,
If there is one thing that can bring a smile to my face on a day of sorrowful remembrance, it is the celebration of a birthday (especially the birthday of someone as kind and full of fun as yourself!). If I lived near you, today, the espresso would be on me!
Happy Birthday!

Mike

"'Good!' said Legolas. 'But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'" -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

[Joyce Laituri]

Hey Java,

I'll hoist my cuppa joe to you! Happy B-day.

Joyce

[vampyrewolf]

A year after a tragedy, and many years after a joyous celebration... embrace the joy, remember the sorrow.

[sam the man..]

happy birthday dude! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Sam

have bone implant will travel..

[java]

Thanks for all the good words and kind thoughts. During my years of service in the Air Force there were times we took our freedoms for granted and considered our service just a job. I seldom heard words spoken or written as heartfelt and eloquent. We have come a long way in the realization of who we are as a people and where we are heading - but still, we remain a beacon to oppressed people around the world and are still the land of opportunity for many with the desire for a better life.

I am often reminded of Lincoln's words when I think of our lives since 9-11-01 and how best to remember those who died living their American dreams and those who continue on:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The attached photo (and the other one posted under Never Forget) have been my computer’s background and screen saver for quite some time. They serve to remind me over the last year of what we must never forget and symbolize the hope that our future holds for ourselves and our children.

Thanks to the crew at Spyderco for their great products, customer service and this forum. And of course, thank you all for making this forum a great place to share our common interests, to celebrate our diversity, and to unite in times of adversity. Communication is the key to understanding - may we someday achieve peace through understanding. Thanks again and bless you all.

Stay safe! Stay sharp! <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Oh yeah, any feelings about birthday blues are gone after ordering the new Blue Rescue from Glasshartt today!! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

"In peace, sons bury their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons." - Herodotus




Edited by - java on 9/11/2002 11:35:35 PM

[voxnaes]

Hi Java!!!
Congratulations dear sir!!
Sorry for the "one day to late thing"!
Vox.

[jaxon]

Java,

Belated Happy Birthday to a true Gentleman.

Jaxon

[dialex]

I guess I arrived at the end of the party, but I just couldn't resist not to join in <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Many Happy Returns of This Day, dear <img src="http://www.spyderco.com/forum/uploaded_ ... gspidy.gif"> Forumite!

[SpyderNut]

Party?! Did I miss Java's party?? <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

(Now I REALLY don't like college...) <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Well, Happy Very Tardy Birthday, my Spyderco Brother! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> And I hope you enjoy that new blue Rescue. (Yeah, and if you ever need it resharpened, just send 'er my way....heh heh!)

Mike

[golok]

And a very happy birthday to you, Java.
Wherever you are.

[Jeff/1911]

Java,Chuck...

You fellows have stirred me with your thoughtful comment, and I greatly appreciate it.

Java, Here's hoping you had a good birthday and that you really enjoy that blue Rescue.

All the very best to the both of youse' -
Jeff/1911.

[java]

Fell <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>men and women,

Thanks for all the good words and kind thoughts - y'all are a great bunch of people and the Forum is a great place to hang out. It pains me so but I'll be AFK for the next 11 days attending training in Austin. Taking the bikes so I'll either be crashing into sedentary objects on the trails or functioning as a target for SUVs or pickups. Maybe I'll run into Lance Armstrong and we can put Vox's clains about switching allegiance to rest.

Keep it safe and sane (yeah, sure) here; stay sharp; and thanks again!

"A hole-less knife is a soul-less knife is a whole less knife!" - Java-nese proverb. <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

[Jeff/1911]

Java,

Catch you later, and don't forget to take along something sharp on your trip. Like that would happen...

JEff.