Seattle

We did enjoy our vacation in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny everyday we were there. We never needed any of the rain-gear we were advised to bring. Each day was wonderful and different from the day before. I'll begin our travel log with Seattle.

Seattle is a beautiful city. I could be happy living there. It did not feel like a big city, rather a small town sort of place. The sky was blue, sail boats decorated Puget Sound and Mount Rainier hovered over the city like a protective warrior. Dennis's baby brother Bob lives in Seattle. He spent the day giving us a personal guided tour of his adopted hometown.

The morning was spent browsing through the Public Market. We watched as fish flew through the air from seller to buyer and admired the colorful produce and flowers. I sampled curds at Beecher's cheese and enjoyed a cup of coffee from the original Starbucks.

We ate lunch at Lowells restaurant in the market, overlooking Puget Sound. Part of Sleepless in Seattle was filmed in this little cafe. It was such fun to visit with Bob and catch up on family stories.

We ended our afternoon with Bob on top of the Space Needle. Spectacular views!

In the evening we met Lorraine and her family for dinner. The food at Etta's was fabulous(prepared by Seattle's famed chef, Tom Douglas!) The conversation was delightful. It is so much fun to spend some face to face time with blog friends!


Tomorrow I'll continue my story and tell you about my brand new family in Fort Lewis.

Home

We are home.
Our trip was wonderful. We have lots of good pictures to share and good stories to tell.
Now I'm going to rest and enjoy being home again.

Leaving On a jet Plane

The world is full of disaster and grief. If I think about it too long I get upset about things I can do nothing about. So I am just going to hop on a jet plane and fly away to enjoy friends, family and God's beautiful creation while I am still able to go.

Tomorrow we fly to Seattle for a bit of sight seeing and a visit with Dennis's little brother. We plan to eat dinner one evening with the beautiful Lorraine. Then on to Fort Lewis where we will meet our newest daughter-in-law Pam. She is married to our recently found long-lost son. We are looking forward to getting to know her and her daughter and hear some stories about our boy in Baghdad. After a night at Fort Lewis we will drive to Portland where we will board a river boat for a trip along the Columbia and Snake rivers. It should be a beautiful trip. We will ride through Hell's Canyon in a speed boat. My kids say their parents are going to hell.

I don't know if I will be able to blog while we are gone. If not I will report on the journey when we return.

Stay safe my friends until I return.

Independence Day

I am so glad that I am an American. I love this country that is my home. In spite of the many problems that plague our nation, there is no other place I would rather live.

There are many reasons that I feel blessed to a citizen of this country, but the one I am thinking about today is the blessing of freedom of religion.

Our forefathers were very wise when they wrote the founding documents of our country. They remembered that many of the early settlers of our country fled here to avoid religious persecution. They understood that religion should not be dictated by by the state. Faith is an individual thing. The religious practice of an individual should not be controlled by government. Our founding fathers were very careful in the words they chose to preserve individual religious freedom. When writing the Declaration of Independence they avoided any name for the divine that could refer to a particular religion. Words like “Creator,” “Nature's God,” and “divine providence” are used. There is no mention of Christ nor any reference to the God of the Christian Bible. The Constitution is not a Christian document. It is a document that preserves religious freedom. This is what the first amendment says:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

I am a Christian who is happy to be able worship God. My faith and understanding has changed a bit as I have journeyed through life. I am grateful that I am free to adjust my religious practice as my understanding and faith have changed. I appreciate my freedom of religion.

Recently there was a large protest in one of our southern states that angered me. In a place where many large Christian churches are filled with people enjoying their religious freedom, large, angry mobs formed to try to deny other people the right to practice religious freedom. The protesters did not want to allow religious freedom to people who did not practice the same faith. There were screams and shouts about the Constitution saying this was a Christian nation. The mobs were not demonstrating the compassion and love of the Christ they claim to follow. They were demonstrating their ignorance of the Constitution.

I do not want this angry, narrow-minded group of people to impose their brand of religion on me or any one else. They frighten me. I do hope the constitution is upheld and the people of another faith will be allowed to build their worship center and peacefully enjoy their right to freedom of religion.

God bless America!

Beach House Crew

Here is the only picture we got of all 15 of us who spent a week together at the beach. It was a wonderful week.
Pictured left to right standing on the ground are DQ,Dennis,Sue,Paul,Diane, Mik, Matt, Ann & Mark.
Coming down the stairs from top to bottom are Lexie, Mary, Emily, Samantha, Sofie & Michelle.

Beach Memory

Long ago, when I was a young mother, I took my little girl to the beach. When she stood on the shore and saw the big waves rolling in she was afraid. I told her to hold onto my hand and we would go into the water together. She held on tight and we waded into the surf together. Soon her grip on my hand loosened and she was jumping up and down and squealing with delight as she jumped though the waves.

This week I went to the beach with my little girl. I am no longer a young mother. Now I am a grandmother with an overlarge body and legs that are a bit wobbly and unsteady. I stood on the shore and saw the big waves rolling in and I was afraid. My daughter said to hold her hand and we would go into the surf together. I held tightly to her hand. Soon my grip loosened and I was jumping up and down in the surf and squealing with delight as I jumped through the waves.

Beach

We're on our way to Rehoboth Beach for a week with some of the family. There will be seven adults and nine teenagers. I feel like I've forgotten something. What should I take to the beach?

I Plight Thee My Troth

On this date forty-nine years ago my beloved and I plighted our troth to one another. (I looked it up. That means to pledge truth, or to promise faithfulness in all parts of our life together.) Forty-nine years ago truth and love were about all we had to pledge to each other.

I was 20 years old with two more months of an unpaid internship before finishing my nursing degree. My beloved was 23 years old with a college degree, good prospects and a telegram offering him a temporary job. I had a car and he had an old pickup truck. I had managed to save $600 from my part time work as a nurse's aid. That $600 seemed like more than enough for us to start life together. We rented a small, furnished apartment behind the hospital where I was working and set up housekeeping. My husband began working shortly after our three day honeymoon. Before we had used up our $600 he was bringing home a paycheck. He was a research scientist and made a good salary - $600 a month. I never once worried about not having money, even though we had almost none. We worked hard, enjoyed long careers, raised a family and are now retired.

Our love and the promise of a wonderful life together seemed like more than enough forty-nine years ago. It was.

Did you have a job and money saved when you got married?

Brian McLaren

Brian McLaren is a thoughtful Christian author who often makes me think. I really liked his response to Obama's speech last night about the crisis the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has brought to our nation. You can read it here.

Mystery

A beautiful, delicious Edible Arrangement was delivered this afternoon. We love it. The card says "Happy Anniversary." We will celebrate our 49th later this week. The card was not signed. The only people we can think of who would send such a lovely gift would sign the card and take full credit for their thoughtfulness. Did you send us this lovely gift? If you did, thank you.

My Slimy Rant

Like the rest of the country I look at the pictures from the gulf coast and become angry. Lives lost, fragile wetlands lost, beautiful beaches lost, livelihoods lost, confidence in big oil companies and the inspectors who are supposed to regulate them all lost. The problem is that our anger seems to be a wasted emotion. Our collective anger must take this tragedy and use it as a lesson for our future. Although this is the biggest, this is not our first big oil spill. Big oil spills have polluted our waters and our land many times over the years. We look at the tragedy and become angry, then the news becomes old and we move on to the next big breaking news event. We continue to live lives that demand great amounts of energy. We need the oil to sustain our way of life, so we turn our backs on the tragedy and tell big oil to drill more wells, find more energy. “Drill baby drill,” just does not to be a very good solution. If we continue to drill as we have done, there will be another disastrous spill.

We are the problem. We can recycle and change to low watt light bulbs, but without new public policies we will suffer more oil spills over and over until the wells run dry. We must find better, cleaner, more efficient ways to produce energy. We must change the way we and the world use energy. We must find the money to develop new technology that produces energy without needing oil. As a nation we need to be willing to look for a better way.

I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of trying to figure out who's to blame. I'm tired of the tragic stories. It is time to spend real effort on finding a better way.

5K

Saturday we joined with more than 50,000 people for a major protest in Washington DC. It was one of the most inspiring and enjoyable protests I have ever seen. We went to cheer as over 40,00 runners and walkers participated in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. We were there to protest against breast cancer and to raise money for research and treatment in the race to cure this awful disease. Tee-shirt reading was funny and inspiring with their protests against breast cancer. Some of my favorites said “Yes they're fake. My real ones tried to kill me!”, “Operation Second Base,” “Stop the War in Myrak,” and the ever popular “Save the Ta Tas.”
Five from our family participated in the race.

Our older son and son-in-law ran the race.


Our granddaughters jogged the race.


Our younger son had an inspiring story of his own. About six months ago he decided it was time to get healthy. His obesity had put in in very bad health. He had little strength and energy and was not very happy with himself. He began to diet and exercise and started to lose weight. So far he has lost just over fifty pounds. His cholesterol and sugar levels have returned to normal. Three months ago he set a goal of walking a 5K race as sign of his commitment to a better lifestyle. If you had asked me a year ago if Paul could walk a 5K I would have laughed at the improbability of the idea.

Saturday Paul was laughing as we all cheered him across the finish line. It was a great accomplishment! He made me cry. I was so very proud of him.

Smithsonian

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of one of the many wonderful free things to do in Washington DC. We joined throngs of school children and tourists and spent the day exploring the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. It was a wonderful day. Dennis was interested in the exhibit on Charles Darwin and the Origins of Man. The school children hurried through the exhibit in search of the dinosaur bones while we lingered and pondered what we were seeing. It was a fascinating, well-done exhibit. We ate lunch in the museum's cafe and discussed Darwin's theory of evolution. The evidence is compelling that all life is related. The image below is Darwin's Tree of Life, showing his explanation of the descent of man from a common ancestor.

After lunch we headed off to the Imax theater and saw a 3-D movie about dinosaurs. Exploring the dinosaur bones after the movie made the bones more interesting. This world of ours is very, very old, about 4,600,000,000 years.

We did not have time to go upstairs to see the Hope Diamond, the moon rocks or the Egyptian room. We'll save that for another day.

At the end of the day our grown up granddaughter, who works in one of DC's big office buildings met us for dinner at Union Station. I was amazed listening to this young lady tell about her day as an accountant. When did our grand-baby grow up into this beautiful, articulate young woman?

Yesterday was a ten.

Memorial Day Weekend

We enjoyed a nearly perfect Memorial Day weekend.

Friday evening we went to a dinner and a movie. The movie was “Prince of Persia” which was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated, full of sword fighting and high adventure. The previews for upcoming movies seemed a bit strange. I think Hollywood has run out of new ideas. All of the previews were remakes of movies I've seen in years long gone. Previews were for “The Karate Kid,” “The A -Team,” “Tron,” and “The Sorcerer's Apprentice.” They were good movies then. I guess Hollywood figures they'll make money again.


Saturday was the big Memorial Day parade in our town. It was full marching boy scouts, baton twirling girls, and flag carrying veterans. It would have been better without the hour's worth of politicians running for office in September's primary election who marched ahead of all the civic groups. The politicians should have been humble enough to follow all the kids who came early and waited far too long for their turn. I guess humble politician is an oxymoron.

I always enjoy Sunday because I love going to church and worshiping the Almighty God I love with people that I love.

Monday we enjoyed the first pool party of the season in our daughter's backyard. Hamburgers, hot dogs and splashing in the pool on a 90 degree day welcomed summer in a wonderful way.

There was time for working in the yard, reading and a nap between all the other activities.

This year for the first time we celebrated this day with a son and a grandson in the military. When people gave thanks for all those who have served in our military it felt much closer to my heart.

I love this country that is my home.
God bless America.

Space

My friend Rosemary had a request from her school teacher son to blog about her memories of the moon landing. She was distracted by babies and work at the time and it was not a very big deal for her. Being married to a NASA rocket scientist, my experience was far more intense.

In 1967 my husband flew to Houston to work with the crew of Apollo I. They were to perform a scientific experiment while in space that he needed to demonstrate to them. It was a big thrill for him to able to work with the astronauts. When those three men were killed in a fire while preparing for the launch it was a painful loss to him and to all of NASA.

In 1969 we stayed up late to watch as the moon lander left Apollo 11 and landed on the moon. I had four small babies at the time and staying awake was a challenge. I kept drifting off and then waking up again. My husband prodded me awake to make sure I saw Neil Armstrong step onto the lunar surface. We held our breath. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It all seemed so unbelievable. People were walking on the the surface of the same moon that was shining over my head. The TV camera showed Armstrong frolicking and playing, jumping around on the moon. He and Buzz Aldrin set up a flag on the moon. It was a moment full of wonder in our house.

The Apollo13 mission was very scary. That phrase, “Houston, we have a problem,” seemed to reverberate around the globe. Special prayer services were held in churches everywhere. The TV was constantly on as we watched and waited and prayed. Time seemed suspended as the world held it's collective breath. I remember standing in my living room laughing and crying and shouting for joy as my four children stared at me like I was a crazy woman. It was a great moment of a world's prayers answered.

I remember the great pain I felt when the Challenger exploded and again when the Columbia exploded. Space travel is not a safe thing.

The technology developed by NASA for the space program has had far reaching effects in our daily life. Everything from laser surgery to Teflon cookware to Olympic swimsuits is a byproduct of the space program. In spite of budget cuts and the loss of some programs, NASA is alive and well and discovering new wonders everyday.

What are your memories of America's space program?
What has NASA's technology developed that amazes you?

Family

Since Mother's Day when we heard from our long lost boy and his wife I have been learning to adjust to a new way of thinking. I am thrilled beyond measure to know this boy is alive and well, but I have to learn how to think about some new realities. My son is a sergeant in the infantry fighting in a war zone. I now look for his face on the evening news. The war in Iraq seems much closer and more personal than before. He is expected to return home in early fall. (The picture was taken the day he shipped out last fall.)

I have a daughter-in-law and teenage step granddaughter that I did not know existed. My new daughter-in-law and I have had several long phone conversations. She and her daughter live on the other side of the country. The more we talk the more I like her. There is so much we both want to know. We are going to meet them this summer. I am excited and nervous about that. She is excited and nervous too.

Our boy has contacted his ex-wife, the mother of the daughter he has not seen in eight years. He wants to try to re build a relationship with his daughter, but isn't quite sure how to start. It will not be an easy thing to do after so many years. His little girl does not yet know that he has contacted us. Everyone is trying to figure out how best to do it. How does a long lost dad re-enter his daughter's life?

We feel blessed to have all these new realities as part of our life. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

1969

I don't remember growing older.

I Don't Know

Like most of the world I have been watching the news about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Like most of the world I would like some answers to my many questions. They are important questions that need answers.

1.What was the cause of the accident? Answer, “I don't know.”
2.How can the oil leak be stopped? Answer, “I don't know.”
3.How can the oil be contained? Answer, “I don't know.”
4.What will be the environmental impact? Answer, “I don't know.”
5.Whose fault was it? Answer, “I don't know, but it wasn't my fault.”
6.How can another oil spill be prevented in the future? Answer, “I don't know until the questions above are answered.”

It seems to me that folks with the technology and money to build a oil well in the middle of the ocean would have figured out a better answer to some of these questions than, “I don't know.”

BP has a phone number to call if anyone has an idea about how to answer any of these questions. Feel free to call BP if you can help.

Do you have ideas to help us?:
+1 281 366 5511

69

Today is my sixty-ninth birthday. In honor of the day I will share some of the things I have learned along the way.

1.Forgiving people is hard, but it is harder not to forgive.
2.It is impossible to not be happy while eating an ice cream cone.
3.Exercise really does make you feel better.
4.The Blue- Footed Booby is the funniest looking bird in the world.

5.Laughter is one of God's best gifts.
6.The morning's first cup of coffee in the second best thing in the world.
7.Digging in the dirt is good for the soul.
8.Dandelions picked by small children make the prettiest bouquets.
9.There is a light at the end of long, dark tunnels.
10.Grandchildren are a great blessing.

Roller Coaster

Do you ever feel like your life is just one enormous, never ending roller coaster ride?

Lately my life is full of the highest highs, the lowest lows, and all sorts of scary loops and curves. I have to admit that there have been long, peaceful parts of the ride, but not lately. I am still glowing from the high of hearing from my long missing boy. Knowing he is alive and well and that he has taken that first big step toward home just makes me feel warm all over.

Yesterday was a huge, scary drop that sucked the air right out of me. I accompanied my daughter to the doctor for a surgical consultation for my teenage grandson. He has ulcerative colitis and has been in a serious flare for many months. Medical intervention has not been very successful. We went to the doctor ready to act and hopeful that surgery would be a cure for his problem. We left feeling overwhelmed and demoralized. The surgery described was actually a series of major surgeries that would have horrific, life changing results. We do not want that surgery. So he will begin a new medicine that will be administered by IV drip, frequently at first and then tapering off to every eight weeks. This should buy him time, many years we hope. In the mean time we will pray that research comes up with a better way to treat this disease and it's serious symptoms.

I have seen God work a miracle in the life of one boy. Now I am waiting for a miracle for another boy.

Mother's Day

Today was the best mother's day ever!

Long time readers have heard the story of my long lost foster son. I have not seen him in eight years. The last time I talked with him was six years ago. He was not doing well then. In the intervening years I feared the worst for this son of my heart. I have prayed that one day he would call and tell me that he was well, but I had long ago quit expecting that call. Yesterday a young woman called and introduced herself. She is Todd's wife. He is alive and well. He is in the army, stationed in Iraq. He loves being a soldier. We talked for nearly an hour. She said it was just time for me to know that he is well. I felt a heavy weight slide from my heart. My boy is man who is loved and happy.

Today I received an email from Iraq.

“HI MOM! happy mothers day i miss you and the family i would like to talk to you soon”

I believe in miracles.

BSO

Saturday evening we double dated with our daughter and her sweetheart at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. We heard the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra play Rachmaninoff's Symphony Number 2. It was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I heard a real symphony orchestra perform. Most of the music I have heard in recent years has been presented in school cafeterias by elementary and middle school orchestras. Although I appreciated the effort these kids made to learn their music, it was never really very good. Saturday night was something entirely different.

The Meyerhoff is a stunning concert hall with perfect acoustics. The conductor. Marin Alsop , introduced the concert by telling us about the music we were about to hear. Her explanation reminded me some of “Peter and the Wolf” with the different instruments demonstrating their part, making the music much more understandable. Then the symphony began. I closed my eyes and music wrapped around me and filled me up. There were moments of soaring triumph where I could visualize the sun rising to greet a glorious new day. There were episodes of dark sadness and fear followed by joyous, lilting romance and playfulness. For just over an hour the music carried us into a wonderful place filled with music that spoke to my soul.

When was the last time you enjoyed a beautiful symphony?

Lorraine

I always enjoy church. I love worship and I love worshiping with my friends and family. Today church was extra special because I got to meet one of my favorite friends in the flesh and worship with her. Lorraine and I agreed that church was an excellent place to meet.

May Day

When I was a little girl May Day was a day celebrated with flowers. We would make little paper baskets and fill them with flowers from our yards. Then, armed with our flower baskets, we would sneak up to the neighbors' porches, hang the floral baskets on the door knobs, run and hide behind the bushes and watch as the neighbors opened their doors. Our neighbors always feigned great delight and surprise at the baskets we delivered. I'm sure none of them had noticed us spending the morning picking all the flowers from their yards.

Did any of you ever deliver May Day flower baskets?

In honor of May Day I am sending you all a virtual basket filled with flowers from my yard.
Azalias

Camelias

Lilacs

Violets

Chinese Andromeda

A Memory

Long ago, when our first-born was just a toddler, we went sight-seeing in Washington DC. We went to the top of the Washington monument, stood in awe at feet of Lincoln and walked through the capitol building. None of it seemed to impress our little girl. Then we went to the Jefferson memorial. She got more excited than she had been all day. She seemed overwhelmed with the giant statue of Thomas Jefferson. As she stood transfixed in wonder she said, “Wow Mommy. Look, it's Batman.”

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day I am going to discuss toilet paper.

Did you know that the majority of toilet tissue is made from big, beautiful virgin trees? The virgin wood pulp provides longer strands and makes the paper softer and thicker. When it comes to toilet paper we like soft and thick. I don't know about you, but it bothers me to think of all those lovely trees being used for nothing more noble than wiping our behinds.

Several companies make toilet paper and other paper products from 100% recycled paper. For the past year we have been using these recycled paper brands. It works just fine. It is soft enough to be comfortable and strong enough to do job it was intended to do. It is an easy way to honor Earth Day. It is good for the environment.

If every household in the U.S. Replaced one 4-pack virgin fiber toilet tissue with 100% recycled paper product we could save:
1,267,000 trees
458 million gallons of water, a year's supply for 3,500 families of four
3.2 million cubic feet of landfill spaces, equal to over 4,600 full garbage trucks

 Trees
 
I THINK that I shall never see
 A poem lovely as a tree.
  
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
 Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
   
A tree that looks at God all day,
 And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
   
A tree that may in summer wear
 A nest of robins in her hair;
   
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
 Who intimately lives with rain.
  
Poems are made by fools like me,
 But only God can make a tree.

Just Like Your Mom

“You look just like your mom.” “You have your mother's laugh.”The words wrapped around me like a warm embrace that welcomed me home.

We moved across the country from my childhood home when I was a young woman. We raised a family and built a happy life far from my mother and father. I am known by my role as wife, mother, grandmother, co-worker, and friend. I often hear people say that my daughter and granddaughters look just like me. Very few people think of me as the daughter of Byrtle, the most wonderful woman God ever created.

One of those few people who see me as my mother's daughter is my ninety-year-old Aunt Wilma, the last of my mother's generation of relatives. She lives in San Antonio and we were able to visit with her after our grandson's graduation from basic training. Our visit was a delightful trip down memory lane with many stories about my mom and dad. She had pulled out old pictures and told stories about times long gone. She said that I was just like my mom. Sweet memories surrounded me.

It felt good to have someone know that I am Byrtle's girl.


My family, Mom & Dad, my brothers and me
San Antonio, Texas, 1951

Tax Day

Today is the day everyone's taxes are due. Along with 95% of Americans I received a tax cut from President Obama this year and I am grateful for that savings. Even if the tax cut had not been given I would not complain too much. I think I am getting a pretty good deal for the money I pay. I am grateful for a stable government and all that it provides.

This year I am happy to pay the salary of the president. It is a terrible job, but I approve of the way our current president is doing his job and I think I am getting my money's worth. I like the senators and the congressman who represent me. They are doing a good job for me and my state and my country. I don't agree with all of the members of congress, but it is important to hear different sides of important issues and I am not complaining about paying them either. (I might make a small complaint about the guy is afraid that Guam is about to tip over.)

Most of his working life my husband has worked for NASA, so he has been a federal employee. I am grateful for all the years he earned a salary and for the retirement income he now receives.

I am grateful for a strong military that helps to keep our world safer. I am thankful for the interstate highway system. I am thankful for schools, trash collectors, public health agencies, police protection, food inspectors, public libraries, fire departments, and services for young children and old people. The list of the benefits we receive from our tax dollars goes on and on.

What is something that our taxes pay for that makes you feel thankful?

Our New Airman

It is hard to find words to describe all the emotions involved in watching our grandson become one of the nation's newest airmen. Of course we are very proud of him. Getting through basic training was a major accomplishment. We were all amazed at the transformation he has gone through in the past eight weeks. When he left he was a boy. This week-end we met a motivated, disciplined, physically-fit young airman.







Nine of us flew from Maryland to join the festivities of graduation weekend. Thursday we were all up before dark to get our first glimpse of John in the Airman's Run. It was very cold in the Texas morning. We strained our eyes trying to pick him out as the trainees ran by us. It was a bit like trying to find Waldo because they all looked very much alike. Then we saw him. He looked great!

The coin ceremony came a few hours later. This was a big deal. The graduates in their blues paraded onto the drill pad. After a few speeches they received their first Air Force coin, an important symbol of becoming a member of the US Air Force. At the conclusion of the ceremony we were finally able to really see him and hug him and talk to him. To say his family was happy and excited for him would be a great understatement.

During the afternoon he entertained us with funny stories about the past eight weeks. I don't believe I have ever heard my quiet grandson talk so much. It seemed like he just had a never ending list of things he wanted to share. We were a proud and happy audience.

Friday morning was the graduation parade. Flags, marching, airplanes. Now his uniform was decorated with a stripe and ribbons. He was promoted from trainee to airman and took his official oath. There were many tears of pride from all of us.

Saturday we enjoyed a day in the beautiful city of San Antonio while he continued to tell us more stories. He was excited to be off base for the first time since arriving eight weeks earlier.

He is now off to tech school at Sheppard Air Force base for a few months. He is excited about this next next step in his career.

Our little boy has become a man.

Easter

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. Church was good. Communion in the memorial garden at sunrise was a powerful worship experience.

The family gathered at our firstborn's home for dinner. The food was yummy. The weather was beautiful. We sat in the backyard and enjoyed each others company for several hours. This was the first year we did not have an Easter egg hunt. The grandchildren have all outgrown hunting eggs. I do miss having little children in the family. They are all either grown or they think they are grown. I do love my family. They bless me every day.

Tomorrow we are flying to San Antonio to watch our grandson graduate from basic training in the Air Force. He has done well and we are all so very proud of him. He is excited about finishing this segment of Air Force life. I don't know yet where he will be going after this week.

Happy spring everyone.

Cherry Blossoms

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm spring day. We, along with hundreds of thousands of other people, decided it was the perfect day to take a look at Washington DC's famous cherry blossoms. There are beautiful cherry trees in full bloom scattered all around our area, but there is just something very special about these trees. In spite of the throngs of people, the traffic and the noise, these trees were breath-taking. The sunshine, the monuments and the cherry blossoms combined to make a perfect day. It was wonderful to be part of an enormous Washington crowd who were there just to bask in the beauty of the moment.

Looking up through the trees

White House

Washington monument

Jefferson Memorial

The Kennedy Center

Census

I just mailed in our census form. This is the seventh time I have been officially counted. I was born in 1941, so I was first counted in 1950 at the age of almost nine. I was the youngest of three children in our household of five people. In 1960 I was living away from home at nursing school. According to the rules I should have been counted as part of the school's count. I wonder if my parents included me in their household count that year? I'll never know. I was busy during the sixties and by the census of 1970 I was the mother of four children and lived in a household of six people. In 1980 everyone was still at home and again we were a household of six. There were a lot of changes during the eighties. Children grew up, went to college, got married and began to have children of their own. My nest felt empty and we became the foster parents of a teen-aged boy. For the census of 1990 we were a household of three. In 2000 we were a household of two very busy working adults. The form I mailed today says two old white people live here.

I wonder what my granddaughter fills in as her race. Her father, my son, is white. Her mother's racial heritage is black, white, American Indian and a little Chinese.

How many times have you been counted in an official U.S. Census?
How many people dwell in your house?

The Help

I stayed up way too late this week reading. I just finished “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett. It is the story of three women living in Mississippi during the sixties. Two of the women are black maids in white households in a very racist world. These women tend to all the domestic chores and raise the babies for the white families that employ them. The book talks of the affection, love, abuse, shame and fear that are part of the complicated relationships in an unequal world. The third woman is a young white college graduate who is also trapped in this racist, sexist world. Their lives become intertwined as they work together on a project to share the stories of these black women. I cried, I laughed, I cheered and felt hot anger in this poignant story. If you enjoy feeling part of the story of humanities small triumphs over evil, read this book. It will leave you thinking about it's message for many days.

Spring Yellow

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Today is one of my weepy days when everything just feels sad and a bit overwhelming. My life is full of more blessings than I deserve. I have a wonderful husband, children and grandchildren who love me, and an unwavering faith in a loving God. I should feel happy, but today I am just so aware of past hurts and their unwanted consequences. I thought I had forgiven and moved on, but I guess not quite completely. Forgiveness seems to be something you have to do over and over again. There were lies and accusations and hurtful words that have left painful scars. My children and grandchildren were wounded badly. We moved on. We found new paths and new ways and new places. We tried to forgive. Today I am angry all over again and trying again to forgive again and to move on again.

I will be better, but today life is painful.

Good- Bye Rush

Listening to the majority of the people, congress tonight passed the health care reform bill.
Has Rush started packing yet? I hope he leaves quickly.

Two Saint Patrick's Day Birthdays

I always thought it was very cool that my big brother celebrated his birthday on Saint Patrick's Day. It just seemed like a fun day in my world. Today Bill is 75 years old. Life has been very hard for the past two years. His beloved wife suffered a terrible head injury in a fall. She has been in the hospital since that fall. Bill is a good man and a faithful husband. Not a day passes that he not at his beloved's bedside. There is no where else that he would rather be. Some days are better than others, but it is a difficult time. He does not laugh very often. I love this picture of my big brother taken a few month's ago at a niece's wedding. It makes me smile to see him laughing and having fun.



On Bill's thirty-fourth birthday I presented him with a new nephew. My youngest child arrived in the world on Saint Patrick's Day and joined his uncle in celebrating an Irish birthday. Last year when Paul turned forty the family took him to an Irish pub in Baltimore. It was a fun celebration. After that celebration Paul decided it was time to start taking better care of his health. He has been dieting and exercising a lot this year. He has lost fifty pounds and plans to lose another fifty. This summer he is planning to enter a 5K race. Next year I plan to post a picture of a much thinner, healthier birthday boy.

Happy birthday Bill.
Happy birthday Paul.

Murray Hill

I'm reading a murder mystery by Margaret Truman. It is a good who-done-it about the murder of a senator's wife. I don't know yet who the murderer is. I am bothered by one of the main themes in the story. It tells a tale of corporate money buying the legislation the corporation wants. With enough money any senator or congressman or judge can be bought. It demonstrates how easy it is to corrupt congress. It is scary because it is so true. The supreme court has ruled that corporations have the same rights as individuals and can give unlimited money to buy an election. A corporation here in Maryland has taken this decision to the next logical step and has filed to run for congress. This way the corporation can be sure to vote for it's own best interest.

Vote for Murray Hill!

Hospitality

Next Sunday I am participating in a discussion about the importance of hospitality. I am looking for a definition and some examples. I'd appreciate some answers to these two questions.

1.What is hospitality?

2.When did someone show you meaningful hospitality?

Retreat

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

I spent the weekend in the Pennsylvania mountains with forty of my girlfriends. We were all attending a women's retreat called “The Art Of Prayer.” It was a beautiful weekend filled with sunshine, laughter, prayers, a few tears and an inspirational speaker. The speaker was my older daughter. She shared her journey of faith with words and music that inspired a room full of women. I sat there just amazed. My little girl has not always had an easy life. There have been some very dark and scary moments. She told about some of those moments and the fear and pain she experienced. Then she told about God's faithfulness and love that brought her to where she is now.

I was overwhelmed with pride and love. It was a weekend full of moments that just took my breath away.

When have you experienced a moment that just took your breath away?

Hate

I was horrified this morning when I learned that a hate group picked our local high school for one of their demonstrations. When my daughter dropped her kids off at school this morning there was a group of people exercising their freedom of speech by carrying hateful signs. My grandchildren and all the other kids were greeted with signs that were horrid. They said things like;

"God hates you" "God hates Obama" "God hates fags" "America is doomed" "God loves dead soldiers" and “God hates football, the devil's sport.”

These signs were carried by some crazies from Kansas who were inspired to pick our school after a young football player collapsed and died while running during an off-season workout. This was apparently a punishment from God because football is evil.

I felt contaminated just knowing these hate mongers were present in my town. I know hate groups exist, but this is the closest they have been to me. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center there were 926 active hate groups in the US in 2009, 13 of them are in my own state of Maryland. Most of them are some sort of white supremest group, a few are black supremest and a few are Islamic supremest group. The group that demonstrated at our high school was listed as a general hatred group.

The police kept the demonstrators and all others apart. There were no major incidents and the hatemongers left shortly after school started.

How do people get so filled with hate? Is there any way to teach love and tolerance to these folks? I just don't understand. Is there anything we can or should do that would lessen the hatred?

“God is Love.”

A Good Weekend

It's March! In my part of the world March is coming in like a lamb, with sunshine and melting snow. I guess it will roar out like a lion in a few weeks.

Our snowy February ended with a most pleasant weekend.

Friday I made a big pot of chili and entered it into a chili cook-off. I was competing against such dishes as Road-Kill Chili, John's Triple Hot Chili and ten other varieties. My “Just Chili” won first place! I am so proud.

We got up Saturday morning and went to our new exercise class. About forty mostly older adults sweated and laughed our way through two hours of working out in a class called Get Off Your A**. After working so hard we obviously needed to go out for lunch. Any excuse for eating out is good enough for me.

The highlight of the weekend came in the mail on Saturday. The letter from our grandson the new airman was the first we had heard since he arrived for basic training in Texas. He sounded good and we felt relieved. It seems the Air Force is very particular about how a bed is made and our boy made his bed fifteen times one day. All in all, even though it is the hardest thing he has ever done, he sounded upbeat and positive. It was good to know he really is doing OK.

Sunday morning I played in the bell choir at church. The bells, when done right, fill the church with such a glorious noise. Even when not done right they make me happy. I think God smiles when we praise Him with music.

We watched the hockey game Sunday afternoon. Even though Team USA lost the game, it was a well-played, exciting game. I couldn't help but rejoice with the happy Canadians. I will miss the Olympics. It has been fun to watch those amazing athletes.

A friend of ours is an amazingly talented pianist. Sunday evening she invited us to attend a dress rehearsal for concert she is is doing next weekend at Carnegie Hall. She is accompanying a Mongolian opera singer. The vocalist had a beautiful voice. She sang the most beautiful Mongolian arias I have ever heard. At the end of the concert I felt like I had just been to Carnegie Hall, except it was free and five minutes from home.

What did you do this weekend?