Since I’m only able to see my son twice a month for two hours at a time, it took me about a month to compile these pics and create this video.

I found this flash mob on You Tube recently.  I STILL tear up every time I watch it.

http://youtu.be/SXh7JR9oKVE

Exactly five years ago yesterday, at about this exact same time, I took my then pregnant and then wife, Sara to Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina.  She had been complaining of contractions for a few hours and knew it was time to go.  After several grueling hours (well, only about 6 or 7), we were the proud parents of a beautiful new baby boy, Austin William.   For the very first time, he had witnessed the odd sensation of dryness, the sound of his own screams, and the wondrous glow of flourescent lighting.

It’s sad to say, but this would be the first and (so far) the last time that Austin and his beloved and devoted daddy would be together on his birthday.  Neither of us suspected that 10 months later, his mother would unilaterally decide to tear us apart. 

July 22, 2006

Austin - 12-17-2010

It is come to my attention that the company one keeps and the surroundings you put yourself in can have a profound influence over a weaker individual.  That happens to be my current situation.  Because I had once previously been in a position of greater strength and respectability, it is difficult for me to grasp the reality that I may no longer be in that position anymore.

TRUE respect is COMMANDED; it cannot be DEMANDED.

“Dear Lord, thank you for this great opportunity with this new job.  I just pray that you put me in the right position that I need to be in in order to flourish and in which to honor You.”

I actually woke up pretty early this morning around 730. I watched a few episodes of Parks and Recreation on Netflix before actually getting up though. It started out as a pretty nice day outside. The temp sure most of gotten to about 70° and it was somewhat sunny. I spent a good part of the day though inside working with Lewis on this new database studies trying to create for work in access. He still is little the bossy and I have to learn somehow deal with that I can just do we hope that with time things will improve between us.

How funny, just now came downstairs and a medieval I and another little reprimand about leaving a light on.

I really felt like going to church tonight but didn’t want to bother anyone for a ride so I decided to walk. As it turns out holes in the Lutheran Church is only about 2 miles from here

Some of you may have been found things that I post on my blogs confusing, disconcerting, strange, or even disturbing.  Since I founded this blog, I’ve been treating it as my personal journal/diary which means, I just sometimes let the words and feelings I’m thinking or feeling at the time just come rolling out.  I haven’t figured out, yet, how to change the default setting in WordPress to be “Private,” so, I sometimes publish publicly by accident.

Thanks and God bless!

– Steven

Erik and Stacy have surprisingly become fast and great friends!  They quickly became part of the, “I-Have-No-Idea-What-I-Would-Have-Done-Without-You” club!  (Membership in this club seems to have grown immensely and very, very quickly!)

I honestly don’t know what I would have done without their generous offers of help and even gifts.

The Carney’s themselves were in great need of help last year when their brand new, adorable, little baby boy, Tyler, suddenly started having seizures!  Check out Tyler’s CaringBridge site:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tylercarney/

Thanks and God Bless you guys!!!

The following is a response I wrote on an ongoing discussion my good friend and former roommate who prematurely had his life snuffed out last week.

Please read what I wrote and feel free to go to the site to offer your own thoughts.

Thanks and God bless!

– Steven Berg

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/farmington-mn/T050L2P8MM2TK7Q30

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Jimmy

I knew Jim (“Jimmy”), on a personal level.  He moved into my house last year and stayed there several months.  We became really good friends very easily and quickly.

There was absolutely NOTHING gay about Jim AT ALL!  If EVER that topic came up, he was totally disgusted by the thought of it.  (But not bigoted, either, by the way!) Plus, he LOVED kids and was always great with them!  They loved him too, and over SEVERAL years, too!  He had several nieces and nephews, whom I met several times. I can’t tell you how much their eyes lit up when they saw their “uncle Jimmy!”

Child molesters have a HISTORY of abuse.  I can’t state this categorically enough:

THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE ANYWHERE THAT JAMES KOENIG EVER HAD ANY WEIRD OR UNNATURAL PROCLIVITIES WHATSOEVER!  (It’s astounding to me that I even have to defend him on this)

People are asking, ” WHY did he have to have his shirt off?”    The answer to that question is because Jim was simply very much into body building. It was his HOBBY!  People are NATURALLY proud of their personal successes, and love to show them off! Jimmy always ran around without his shirt on. No one ever thought anything weird about it at all!
I totally believe everything his mom said in the article. Mary was extremely proud of her son, who, except for this one fateful night, was definitely doing a great job of getting his life back in order.  James, like ALL of us, had his own demons, but there is not a single chance in hell that he WAS one himself!

People are asking why the girlfriend told Jim to leave, too.  If the press were actually being honest about this whole situation they would reveal the FACT that the killer:

1) had a STOCKPILE of guns in one of the rooms of his townhouse.  (And WHY does he have his 13-yr-old son there?????)

2) was previously forced to move out of his now ex-wife’s house who caught him trying to choke HER son (not his own).

3) had threatened another guy in the same way before (but, who DID have the sense enough to run away, unlike Jim.)

In my opinion, Jim’s girlfriend, whom I know as well, and who is Thomas’ [i.e. Jim’s murderer] neighbor, knew DAMN WELL that this drunken maniac (who cares whether he was crippled or not? He could still obviously ambulate around the house without a scooter), was DEADLY serious about killing poor, niave Jimmy who just simply should not have tried to call this idiot’s bluff.

I feel like I can read Jim’s mind as if I were there right now. I knew there was no chance he was going to leave that place and let this guy think that Jim was trying to molest his son!  Knowing Jim, it’s the most outrageous thing imaginable!  Jim wasn’t ANY kind of a pervert IN THE LEAST!

Again, everyone there was drunk and making some of the WORST decisions of their lives.
Jim Koenig was one of the best friends I ever had. He may have been a LOT of things, and suffered a lot from the consequences of his own poor, and stupid choices, but, I can GUARANTEE, as drunk as he was (and I had seen it many times myself), Jimmy would NEVER have hurt this guy!!  His only intent was to disarm the guy who, had a violent past, unlike Jimmy, who, I never saw lay a violent hand on anyone.
Jim’s life was not for naught. It was truly a privilege to have known him. He made us all laugh. He loved life to the fullest. He truly had a pure heart and, I think that must have been part of the reason he and his girlfriend (whom I know fairly well, too), reached out to this guy, Thomas by befriending him and providing some company. Jim truly left this earth a better place than when he came into it. For that, he deserves our love and respect. And, his family, our condolences and total support.
For photos of Jim see my Facebook photo album, which is open to everyone:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=288608&id=503791384

To express your condolences, please feel free to do so here on this online guestbook:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/startribune/guestbook.aspx?n=james-koenig&pid=148082639
PLEASE continue to pray for Jim’s family and friends who are NOW having to deal with defending Jim’s honor and these stupid negative and biased press reports.
Farewell, Jimmy!! It’s been over a week and it’s still so hard to believe you’re gone. I guess, now, it’s God’s turn to experience your side-splitting humor!
Cheers my brother!
Steven