Memorial Day 2010, A Day of Prayers and Remembrance

A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That courageous act alone is worthy of our respect & appreciation. Please take some time to remember those who've Served our Country & gone before us and thank a Vet for his or her Service if you know or see one this Memorial Day.

We Walked Among The Crosses

We walked among the crosses
Where our fallen soldiers lay.
And listened to the bugle
As taps began to play.

The Chaplin led a prayer
We stood with heads bowed low.
And I thought of fallen comrades
I had known so long ago.

They came from every city
Across this fertile land.
That we might live in freedom.
They lie here 'neath the sand.

I felt a little guilty
My sacrifice was small.
I only lost a little time
But these men lost their all.

Now the services are over
For this Memorial Day.
To the names upon these crosses
I just want to say,

Thanks for what you've given
No one could ask for more.
May you rest with God in heaven
From now through evermore.

(Author Unknown)

May, Annual Roller Coaster

As many of you know, a number of days are marked on the calender during month of May in my family; Birthdays (Mom's and mine), happy anniversaries (our weddings) and sad ones too (2 marking the loss of loved ones). Unfortunately, there's are additions to the sad days of May: We'll end this Memorial Day with my Uncle B's brother, (Uncle) R's wake. He passed away Thursday morning. A Blessing, really, he suffered so much the last 2 weeks. He was a good, nice man dearly loved by family and our community. Thursday was a Very sad day as Monday and Tuesday will surely be as well.

The Sea by John Banville


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
(My rating is actually 2.5 stars).

The Sea is a portrait of what happens to a person who lives in the past and becomes self-pitying. The present becomes full of bittersweet melancholy and unfairness which enables the person to slip backwards instead of forwards. They become dry, rambling, odd. People like this are hard to care for and about in real life, which is why it's hard to care about the main character Max or any of the characters in the novel as they're all seen through his eyes & emotions. I can see how some would take the writing as full of ego, even lofty, which it could be, though I wonder if writing this way was a deliberate act of setting the tone for Max and the novel...?

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Wordless Wednesday

Five Years Ago Today...

Truly one of the happiest days of my life.
(Taken some time after the ceremony and perhaps before dinner).

Vic and I married in a very simple yet beautiful ceremony with a small group of family and friends, the day after our being together 1 year. It poured like you wouldn't believe, but if you're Irish, you know that's good luck for a wedding & marriage. :-) I'm looking forward to many more lifetimes worth of anniversaries to celebrate and days of being with him. He's the most amazing man I've ever known and I love him in ways I never thought possible. I thank God for him every day.

Honoring Those Who've Served And Gone Before Us

(My Hubbs pictured above).

Today, along with other members of our American Legion, VFW, Women's & Ladies Auxiliary Post and a Boy Scouts Troop, we headed to a local cemetery to put new American Flags on Veterans graves. This particular cemetery has 1,600 Veterans buried in it, dating all the way back to the Revolutionary era. I saw one Spanish American War Veterans grave as well as a number of Civil War Veterans graves. In roughly 3 hours, the hand-full of us from the Post and the Boy Scouts placed 500 new flags on Vet graves. Next year I would like to begin where we left off this year as I want to help with this again in the future. (This was my first time helping with the flags).

Indeed a true and humbling reminder that Memorial Day isn't about the weekend bbq's or sales.

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Walk With Me

Wordless Wednesday

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If I Sit Still Long Enough...

Maybe she'll forget I'm out here and leave me to chase mice & bugs! Oh happy day... LOL!

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Mute Monday

Mosaic For Mute Monday

Click on Mosaic for a more clear picture.

Ten & Five Years Ago Today

Mourning
Ten year ago today I lost my Nana. I have missed her more and more with each passing year. So many things I'd still love to know about her, about her life in Ireland.

Joy
Five years ago today, Hubby and I were married in FL, in a symbolic ceremony before his Mom passed away from Cancer, which brought me much needed joy to ease the sadness of this date.

I love you Nana!

I love you Vic!

How I wish they could have met and known one another!

Belated Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day!

The joy I get from my blooms is more than 10,000 times the size of my 2 small gardens.

Wordless Wednesday

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Posted via My Palm Centro.

Mute Monday

A Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mother's of Angels on Earth and to all of the Mother's of Angels in Heaven.

In Loving Memory...

...Of Brianna Marie.
Gone from me 11 years ago this very day & date.
The day before Mother's Day.
Some years are better than others.
This isn't one of the better years.
The many shades of Pink in my garden are for her.
And sometimes the purples too.
Roses, Vinca, Petunia's, Begonia's.
Bleeding Heart.
Some pictured here.
Others in previous posts.
Sometimes we share of ourselves
when our reality overwhelms us.

*Update: Hubby bought me a beautiful hanging basket. ("Instead of flowers for today & tomorrow. I knew you'd like this.") Click here to see a close-up of it's flowers. I bought some Majestic Pink Petunia's for the wishing well in the back yard. (Click here for a close-up of those). She always helps me find the pink flowers! :~)

Wordless Wednesday

To the Universe At Large,

Today is Mom's 70th birthday. I'd love to be able to wish her a "Happy Birthday Mom!" but to do so over the phone or in person will likely get me scoffed at and treated to a barrage of negativity. Mom isn't, to say the very least, a happy woman. (But, dear Universe, you already know that). And so I offer my "Happy Birthday Mom!" wishes to you, dear Universe, in hopes that one day a greater power will help her out of the dark and into the light (a power neither of us seem to have).
Sincerely & earnestly,
~Jo

(We're heading over later with her gifts and a Boston Cream Pie, her favorite. She's passed on our breakfast/lunch/dinner invite at her restaurant of choice or here at our place).

*Update: Dear Universe, that was a great start! Thank you!
(We headed over to Mom's around 4pm. She was in a good mood and liked her gifts. At 5pm came home with us for dinner and her good mood continued. When I walked her home afterwards, she thanked me, told me dinner was very nice and she had a good time. WHEW!)

More Old Friends Return

Top photo: Wild Tulip growing behind the fence
Bottom Photo: Pink Knockout Rose, Rosa Radcon

Skies of Blue

Happy Saturday!

Sometimes getting out of the house is better than staying in when you're not feeling up to par, so I decided to tag along with Hubby to one of the fishing beaches within minutes of home. It was already hot & sticky when we left but down here the on-shore breeze feels glorious! There have to be well over 100 people here fishing! (Gorgeous view, isn't it? That's a ship docked at the Naval Weapons Station to the left on the horizon & Hubby fishing).

A boy about 12 years old stood fairly close to Hubby and began watching & trying to copy Hubby casting so he could cast better. (Looks like the boy is just starting out). Hubby noticed and started talking with the boy. When Hubby caught a Blue Fish, he taught the boy how to reel it in by letting the boy reel it in on Hubby's pole (which they threw back). When one of them got another Blue Fish (I didn't see which one snagged it) Hubby helped the boy reel it in & taught him how to take the hook out & tie a rope to it for easier carrying (it's a Large fish) so the boy could keep it (because the boy said he wanted to). The boy thanked him and went on down the beach towards home.

None of the other men the boy stood near as he worked his way up the beach did so much as even glance at the boy. Is there any wonder why I love my Husband?! Watching that warmed my heart.

Posted via My Palm Centro.