Monday, May 28, 2012
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces. It originated after the Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. By the 1870's, soldiers of the Union and Confederate armies were included.
It was originally called Decoration Day. A day to decorated the graves of the fallen soldiers. The first known observance of a Decoration Day or Memorial Day type commemoration was in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1, 1865. In the 20th century, it was extended to honor all Americans who died in all wars. By the 1950's the theme was "American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom of the world."
So, THANK YOU! to all who gave their lives for our freedom. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Update/Mother's Day
It's been some time since I blogged. I had been assisting my mom in caring for my dad and brother. My mom is a woman of strength, fortitude, nurturing, compassion, patience...all the things mentioned in the side photo. She cared for my brother until he lost his battle and went to live with God. So, I thought I would repost a Mother's Day post I wrote in 2010. Here it is:
Just a few thoughts on Mother's Day. For most of us, when we were young, Mom was the single most important person in our lives. Let's face it, she knows everything there is to know about us. She let us have space in her body for a little over nine months, feeding us, nurturing us, keeping us warm and didn't even charge rent!...Wow, who else would do that?
Mom was the first person to see us naked...think about it. The first person to witness us drooling, eating and drinking like a pig, throwing up, smelling like urine and lighting up a room when we "break wind", having bowel movements and also when we have temper tantrums. All the really embarrassing stuff. Here's the kicker...she still loves us for it.
She was there when we took our first steps and picked us up when we fell. She fought all of our battles until we could fight our own. She helped us celebrate our first victories. Our very own cheer squad and fan club rolled into one. She was the first person we told our secrets to...and she kept them!
With all of that, she was also the first to set us straight when we got out of line--our judge, jury and excecutor of punishments. Sometimes we got off light and sometimes we couldn't sit comfortably for a few days. Some of us would say, "Wait until I grow up. I won't treat my children this way!" But one day we wake up, put our hands to our mouths and say "I've become my mother!" Our punishments were executed with love and the knowledge that this would help us become well adjusted people, following in Mom's footsteps to be good parents.
So whether our moms have left this plain of existence for a better one or still here to give us love and advice, let's remember:
The time we ate all of the jelly, denied it and everyone got punished, or...
The time we came in after curfew and was grounded for a week, or...
The time we ran that touchdown and we could hear mom screaming the loudest from the sidelines, or...
We won an award and could hear mom clapping, screaming, "That's my child!" and...
Thank heaven we were given the best moms in the entire world.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Mom. I love you!
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