John is a man in motion. His mind positively buzzes with projects, opportunities and the things he wants to learn next. He is very proud of all of his children, the things they are accomplishing and the directions they are going in their lives. When Kathy, Liz and his son, John were young some of John’s fondest memories are of the time he spent with them during the day as a ‘house dad.’

I read The Hobbit to my kids, a chapter every night. We did a lot of reading. I love the fact that Kathy will recommend books she has read to me now.

John had a fantastic Camp story for me, in his own words:

“I went to camp Michigania and I got in trouble there. Apparently fireworks weren’t legal and I brought fireworks and thought my son and I would shoot some off. They were supposed to go one way but they went another and they almost caught a bunch of stuff on fire. The people in charge were going to send me away and I was just going to drive home. They were actually small fireworks, just a little bigger than bottle rockets. They were just going to shoot up in the air, no big deal… They made it sound like I almost started the 3rd world war.”

These days John enjoys playing World of Warcraft with his son and reading as well as making and sharing good food with friends and his wife Eileen. He plays eclectic musical selections for his guests and also enjoys dancing, even alone; “I never met a song I didn’t like.”

I haven’t met a Spoonhowopian I didn’t like and John Copic is no exception.

“It is a science fiction love story and it was the most beautiful story I have ever read.”

Speaking of love stories, Sue was introduced to Kathy by Spoons in Ithaca but she didn’t immediately identify her as “the girlfriend.” That came later. She has always felt that Kathy was an easy fit with the family. According to Sue, Kathy is open and easy to talk to, even about her research: “accelerating protons.” Dan on the other hand works on more esoteric subjects and is simply said by his family to “work on secret code.” Sue was extremely proud of the puzzle game that Dan and his CMU cohort invented for a conference this last year. When she read the description in a local paper it reminded her of Dan’s Dungeons and Dragons days, about which she said,

“In the 9th grade he was really into it. He was the only one who understood all the rules so he was the ‘dungeon master.’ I thought this puzzle game must be similar but he says Dungeons and Dragons had nothing to do with it.”

Sue has fond memories of arriving at campsites all over New York and taking a leisurely walk with her younger children Rachel and Ben while Tom and Dan erected the “city of tents” that was to there home away from home. This summer she is really looking forward to meeting Kathy’s family and the Spoonhowopic friends.