wow

i still can't wrap my head around why the police would invite springchicken to the retirement ceremony. "Yeah hey, we shot and killed your dad twenty years ago. sorry about that. anyhoo, i'm retiring from the force, thought you might want to come celebrate. bffs?"

Tastes like...whoa

Interesting.

Wanebo

Wanebo, i don't think that was a typo in the headline

*Facepalm*

Guess I gotta go do some sponsoring now.

Obligatory:

I'd hit it.

ekdikeo4: Obligatory:

I'd hit it.

umm.. I think I'd better rephrase that.

I'd tap it.


(why is voting on in this thread?)

Wow. That's really interesting. Looking forward to reading the rest.

Very interesting. I feel like saying something about being able to pick your friends but not your family, but that would be kinda weak. I'm looking forward to how the cop deals with this, it sounds like he has some issues if he's inviting the daughter of someone he killed to his retirement party.

Hang tough girl...

The typo was mine...Sorry Wanebo...Want your 5 bucks back? :)
When I signed up for fark, springchikun, the one I've used since 1997, was taken so I had to settle for the variation and I forget sometimes...
I really hope you guys read the rest of the articles...This process was insane... Want a sneak peek at the speech I wrote for the retirement? It might help you understand better:

Walter Anderson a famous painter, once said:
"I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself."

A little over 20 years ago, Tadd gave myself, my Mother and my Brother our lives back. He gave us a chance to thrive, and we did.
I was born with no real chance of survival. Not, survival past infancy, but the ability to live a normal live and flourish. My father was an Alcoholic, a drug addict and worst of all, he was physically abusive to my Mom and Brother (and that would be putting it mildly). At the age of 7 years old, I had no idea that it was not normal for your father to beat your mother regularly because it was always a part of my life. My mom didn't want this for us, but everywhere she went for help, she was either turned away or offered only a temporary fix. My mom never gave up, trying to give us a better life. She never stopped trying to provide normalcy for us. She even placed us in protective Foster Care for a little over a year, in the hope that it would make a difference. It didn't. In the end, she knew I think, that she wasn't going to be the one to be able to get us away from him. I will not lie and tell you that I had no love for my father. I loved him very much. He was not perfect, but he was my father. Even in his insane and drug addled mind, he knew he was poison to us. In his sober moments, he knew that he would never stop and I think he knew that our lives, the way they were, could not go on much longer.

On March 17th 1988, Tadd was forced to be the one to end it. I won't go into details because this is not the time nor place and besides, the details have been gone over, a lot. I woke up that morning and found out on the news that my father was dead. For many years, I struggled with my first reaction which was relief. It was 4 days before my 8th birthday and I felt like Tadd had given be the best present ever. I know that it's not popular to feel anything but sad when a person dies, but it's impossible to be in the situation we were in and NOT feel that way. Of course I was sad for the loss, but I knew even then, that it was best for everyone.
I had a lot of counseling, and years of emotional confusion but I never felt anger or animosity towards Tadd.
As I got older, I got concerned. The older I got, the more I considered the situation from Tadd's perspective. The more I thought about it, the more I needed him to know that he did nothing bad or wrong. He saved us, he did what he was supposed to do; Protect and Serve.

I am 28 years old now. I have a great family, a great life and I don't live in fear. More importantly, thanks to Tadd, we broke the cycle. I've never been in an abuseive relationship, neither has my mother since, and I have a son. My son Jordin is the spitting image of my father. He even stands and walks like him. That is where the similarities stop. My son is everything that my father could and should have been. He's an advanced student, he's well adjusted and most important he does not live in fear. Every single time I look at my son, I see limitless possibilites. I am so thankful to Tadd, every time I see my son. Every time my Son does something exceptional, I say a small internal thank you to Tadd.
My son, to me, is a representation that not only does life go on, but that we as human beings continue to evolve into better versions of our former selves.
Tadd made his exsistence possible, made sure that I grew up to be the best person I could be.
In a career that spans 28 years, I know that Tadd has MUCH to be proud of and look back on fondly. I know that inevitably there will also be sad things to look back on. I hope though, that when Tadd looks back on what happened that brought us together, he sees the incredible life, love, beauty and hope that he gave us.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Forget about things you want to do and things you don't wan to do. They are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness but it is greatness."
Tadd did what needed to be done and it was set us free.
Tadd, Congratulations on an incredible career. You deserve the retirement you've always wanted. You are my Hero, my Savior and a credit to all Officers everywhere.
Remember that "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."

What a plagiarized piece of crap:D

Damn, that's a hell of a story. On the plus side, you did get a TF sponsorship out of it, so things kind of evened out. Seriously, best wishes to you and your family and I'm anxious to read the rest of the story.

Best of luck.

It's a trap. They're going to finish the job. Don't go!

i hope you're being well compensated for having your personal business exploited for profit.

I tried to work out some kind of LilyConnor joke but just couldn't get there.
Thanks for sharing this with us and I'll look forward to reading the rest.

springchiken: The typo was mine...Sorry Wanebo...Want your 5 bucks back? :)

Nah. Your cool. Very cool. I'll just call it $5 well spent.

Glad it went green.

Pyrolaw-

I know. I thought about that too. I guess I just thought that the potential message it could send would be worth it.

Wow, I just read the article in the Oregonian not half an hour ago. springchiken, what a moving and complex story--your strength and resilience are impressive.

Somebody give that lady her TF cat, stat!

springchiken: Want a sneak peek at the speech I wrote for the retirement?

Very nice.

A TFette with daddy issues??

Color me surprised.

Wanebo: springchiken: The typo was mine...Sorry Wanebo...Want your 5 bucks back? :)

Nah. Your cool. Very cool. I'll just call it $5 well spent.

Glad it went green.

Yer a stand-up guy.

I am gonna need cliff notes.

That's a hell of a speech, springchiken.

With your writing skills, I bet you get greenlighted all the time.

/never been greenlighted
//can't write a speech
///hate speaking in public
////probably because I'm a mute

Honestly, I didn't think I could write a speech either. I'm still not sure I can. He he he
That was my first greenlight ever! But I'm still so excited about it! It's like winning the lottery! Well, not the MAIN lottery but it's like winning 100 bucks on a scratch it or something!
If it wasn't for the internet and especially Google, I'm not sure it would have ever gotten done.
:)

Farker springchiken...

Should be "Farkette.."

/just saying

springchiken: Honestly, I didn't think I could write a speech either.

Good on ya! You never know until you try. Sorry for your bad times, but hooray for what you've done with the cards you were dealt!

Best wishes...

springchiken

ur hawt
/just sayin

You don't bring three knives to a gun fight.

springchiken: Honestly, I didn't think I could write a speech either. I'm still not sure I can. He he he
That was my first greenlight ever! But I'm still so excited about it! It's like winning the lottery! Well, not the MAIN lottery but it's like winning 100 bucks on a scratch it or something!
If it wasn't for the internet and especially Google, I'm not sure it would have ever gotten done.
:)
some may say you're brave to put up your life story on fark, but you're even braver to appropriate it as you have. not to mention wise.

holiday_inn_in_cambodia: springchiken

ur hawt
/just sayin

Thanks! I was horrified by the pic. Ah well... I tried to get them to use this one but I guess they employ photographers for a reason:



/The only pic of me I've ever liked.
//Ever.

why doesn't the link work?

I want to read what's going on over here. Someone, C, C and Paste, perhaps? Thanks.

I was just reading the news on OregonLive when this got green-lighted, and oddly I had just noticed springchikun as a recent commenter on the right side.

Just checked out the article, very cool. Congrats on, well, all of it!

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback!

Here's a better linky:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/finding_forgiveness_a_f ivepart. html

It's on the front page of the paper and was on the front page of the website but that's the permalink...

ekdikeo4

Obligatory:

I'd hit it.

Obligatory, I have.

I had no idea you were a Farker young lady.

Springchiken: Thank you, dear!

What's powering their servers, a hamster wheel?

srhp29: ekdikeo4

Obligatory:

I'd hit it.

Obligatory, I have.

I had no idea you were a Farker young lady.

I've been a farker since at least 2000! I'm not at all surprised to see you on here...Brilliant man that you are.

/He totally has.

Wow, Springchiken, you're a brave and admirablelady. Here's a hug from rainy NJ!

That's one small step for chickens; one giant leap for chickenkind.

srhp29: Obligatory, I have.

I thought you were dead.

spacechicken170am: That's one small step for chickens; one giant leap for chickenkind.

There are quite a few chickens on Fark, now that I think about it :)

SchlingFocker: srhp29: Obligatory, I have.

I thought you were dead.
Ha! Thought or hoped. Nope. Lupus hasn't won yet.

springchiken: Ha! Thought or hoped. Nope. Lupus hasn't won yet.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Her knees sound sharp.

Wow.

wow, what a story.

all I can say is if it'll help you to go, do so (sounds like you've already made up your mind, if the retirement hasn't happened already) - and good jorb becoming a functional human being after what sounds like a, um, challenging childhood. seriously.

SchlingFocker

I see what happened there...My fault...:) Sorry.