Once school was back in session, Ray might call us all into the family room on a Friday night. He'd empty his pockets of change, and we'd all play math challenges—problems to work out in our heads. The challenges were weighted for our age group so that each of us had a shot at winning some change. It was actually fun (as long as I won something)!
When I was struggling with concepts of Trigonometry in High School, sure that I would start receiving my very first failing grades, Ray had me go fetch one of Rob's Tonka trucks. He then sat me down and showed me how a point on a rolling wheel is actually drawing a curve in the air. (Try it... you'll see a sine curve drawn for you in space-time!) And comprehension dawned. He helped bridge the chasm between my inherited right-brained thinking and the scholastic world of concept. Though I'm not always happy when I get stuck in conceptual mind, I'm always grateful that this somewhat tenuous bridge exists. Ray had given me a template for creating my own visual/conceptual bridges in the future.
In 1985, Ray picked up a stack of TI-99/4A personal computers, and sent one to each of his grownup kids as an early Christmas present. Mine arrived around Thanksgiving. My husband Louie and I decided to keep it a secret from the boys and let it be a big Christmas reveal.
I spent the next month cramming on Basic, and programmed a graphical-musical Christmas card that played Joy To The World in three-part harmony with animated holiday graphics. Wasn't that what everybody does with a computer? The Christmas card program used up all the memory in that little machine—every last bit. And it was magnificent. I owned a computer!!!
That computer gave Little Louie his start in programming, turned me into a bona fide nerd, and enabled me to stay relevant with the digital age even though I was heading into mid-life myself. This was a bigger gift than I can even describe. So much good has come into my life because I had a chance to get comfortable with computers and programming while most of the world was using typewriters and Wang word-processors.
YOU ARE READING
Gifts From My Dad
Non-FictionA tribute to my father, Carroll Raymond Bryan, Jr. This bit of writing is my gift to my father who passed from this world three weeks ago. It is about art and love, and anything that is not up to that measure will not be found here. Author, artist...
