The "Walking Art Gallery" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just brought child #3 home from the hospital. This one weighed 10 pounds! Keeps getting bigger!! We named him after my father. Paul Thadeus Woods was born on April 9, 1976. Since he was a Bi-Centennial baby we gave him the "Thadeus" name for Thadeus Stevens who was a well known member of our community. Stevens was a member of the House of Representatives and had a law office in Lancaster in the early 1980s. I had a student in class whose name was Tad and I always liked it, so when we named our third child, I started to call him by his middle name and shortened it to Tad. Still call him Tad. And .... I still think it's a really neat name. Tad stayed in the baby's room for a few years then moved to the third floor bedroom of the house with his big brother Derek. They had the entire re-modeled third floor to themselves. I can still see the front wall of his room. He painted every NHL hockey team's logo on the wall when he was in high school. That was one of the many reasons it was hard to move from the old house on Janet Ave. Since Tad was the youngest, he was picked on by his brother and sister. Not much, but just enough to make him cry. I often wondered if he cried for our attention or because they actually hurt him. His older brother and sister still tease him about his crying when he was younger. Tad LOVED our family vacations at the Chesapeake Bay. He was a fantastic water skier. He also had another board that was a mini surfboard that he was proficient with. Many hours were spent towing him up and down the Elk and Sassafras Rivers when he was younger. At one time he wanted to become a professional water-skier. When he entered middle school he asked if he could play ice hockey. I was amazed at the athlete he was on a pair of skates. Especially, since I couldn't ice skate at all. His stick handling and speed on skates made him a perfect member of the front line on the hockey team. He played for the Lancaster Firebirds for many years. He traveled around the Eastern US on weekends for his games and even got to travel to Canada for a few days for a hockey exchange. In high school he had to travel about 30 miles each way twice a week, plus weekends for games, since there were not enough boys his age for a team. He played on the north side of Reading, PA. Many, many miles on the car during the years in middle and high school. He developed his hockey skills over the years and eventually was captain of the teams he played on. Tad also developed an interest in photography as he was growing up. Watching the prints develop in the chemicals in our basement darkroom got him hooked. He won numerous awards in the Scholastic Art and Photography Contest during his school years. He eventually decided upon Antonelli's School of Photography in Norristown, PA so he could major in photography and attempt to land a job in the photo business. After graduation he started to work with Jerry Driendl, a former student of mine, who traveled around the world taking panoramic photos of cities. Tad got to see numerous major cities in the US as well as a few Caribbean stops during his time with Jerry. He eventually ended up working for Intel Printing Company and advanced to pressman in a few years. A much more stable job. Has worked the night shift since he began there. He owns a home a few doors from his brother as well as a '72Chevelle. While at Antonellis' he began a quest to cover every part of his body with artwork. Yep, tattoos. Some of the neatest and most colorful artwork you can find. Mostly things that he has designed, but carried out by a fantastic artist and friend of his. His most recent one is a large scene on his stomach of an NHL goalie making a stop in goal. Still loves ice hockey. Plays ice, street, and roller hockey year round with quite a few of his friends from high school. He covered his right arm from the elbow to his hand with a memorial to his grandfather after whom he was named. A large photo of his grandfather, Paul H., in his military uniform with planes firing missiles, boats dropping depth charges and explosions in the sky illuminate his arm in a large array of colors. Has his granddad's name and date of birth and death right under the photo. A true piece of art. And now he wants me to go visit the tattoo studio with him so I can start my collection! We'll see!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the top are: Young Paul T. celebrating with birthday with his grandfather Paul H., one of his favorite summer activities on the Chesapeake, family photo with his sister Brynn and older brother Derek, high school graduation photo, college graduation photo, photo taken in some city as Tad prepares to take a night photo of the city skyline, and Tad proclaiming the "Mom Likes Me Best"