Happy Birthday Uncle Albert

Saturday was Pi day and Albert Einstein's birthday which reminded of my own uncle Albert who I credit as the person responsible for getting me hooked on math and science at a very early age. It was the simple act of giving me a set of magnets to play with to calm me down from some major meltdown tantrum I was throwing over who knows what. One of those things that a six year old thinks will be the end of his world as he knows it if he doesn't get it. Like a butterfly flapping it's wings on the other side of the world, that simple act caused a cascade effect of intense, unending curiosity that 48 years later still shows not the slightest trace of slowing down any time soon (maybe when they can pry my cold dead fingers from my math books). Thank you Uncle Albert for that wonderful gift.

My uncle Albert passed away in the early 70's after losing his battle with cancer. It was many years before I could hear the song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" without tears flowing. To this day I still get misty-eyed.