Do you feel lucky?

I do.
23 years, 4 months, and 22 days of service and I made it home.
A lot of good people didn't.
A lot more good people won't.
So please remember what this holiday is all about.
Sure have fun this weekend folks.
Grill, chill, and wave the flag; but remember how lucky we are.
Lucky to have so many give so much so that we may enjoy the freedom and security far to many of us take for granted.
Enjoy the video. and have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

This is for Dwayne, for Dave, and for John.
Although their luck ran out before mine, I was lucky to have known and flown with them all.
This is for the Uncle I never met: I hope I have brought honor to your name sir.
Peace and thank a veteran this weekend.

I Did Not Know.......

Some have noticed that my rants are leaning toward the reflective side. I am grateful for those still reading even though this is true. I also thank the small but growing group, that after exploring my outpourings, are discovering that not all bloggers are politico bashing wannabe's or religious zealots. Some of us actually have something to say that is not at the expense of those easy targets the mainstream media and so many blogs seem to feed on.
There are many, so many, that really put it out there. Who share so much, without tearing down others. The Saltonstall's enrich my day often, PJ makes me think, Womom does all that and she makes me laugh. There are many more, so please check out the links on the side over there.
So back to being reflective.

This for a friend who has beaten me to heaven.
I did not know.
When I listened to you playing your guitar at church,
It was the last time the missed chord, the little smirk,
would grace us with presence.
I did not know.
When I talked to you Friday at the store,
it was last time I would hear that laugh,
feel your energy.
I hope there was no harsh word said,
your last day among us.
That too, I do not know.
Yet I do know
I hope to be loved as you.
When I go.
Live every day as your last folks. Treat every person as if every word you speak to them is the last. Every action the one you will remember most.
My definition of ultimate hope:
My mother never says goodbye. Never. She always says "so long" or see you later".
That's optimism folks, it truly is.
Treat every day as your last chance to do the right thing and every conversation as your last one. Take nothing for granted, especially those you love most.
Maybe, just maybe, if we all do that, the world would be that much better when we walk into our last sunset.
Good night Steve Kreber. I am better for having known you.
Peace ya'll
you know the rest................

THANK YOU

Happy Easter everyone. It is a time for people all over the world to rejoice. It is the time when spring births add to many a shepherds flocks and family. It is also a time of spiritual rebirth for many.
For me it is all that and more. It is a time for gratitude. I try very hard to be grateful every day, but today is a day I try to remember all I have to be grateful for.
That is a long list, so this post I will keep it simple.
Millennium ago one men gave his life to save us all. His resurrection started a movement that changed the world and continues to do so even today. Jesus died so that we may live, he has risen so that we may live forever. This I truly believe, it guides me when I am troubled, it strengthens me when I am weak. It gives me purpose.
It keeps me humble, for no matter what sacrifice I feel I have made, none can top the one made that day in Jerusalem.
Thank you Jesus.
I am grateful for my family, they also give me purpose. They also teach me much.
I thank them for that.
Thank you to the mentors I have been blessed with knowing. There were many, but I would name a few here.
Thank you Sister Patricia, my first grade teacher, showed me love and that learning was an adventure.
Thank you Earl Jones, you taught me responsibility, wood craft, patience, and how to have fun.
Thank you Sister Dianne, for even though I had strayed for so long, you welcomed me back. You nurtured me and my family and never judged.
Thank you Sister Angela Goedkin.
I met you at a time in my life when I needed you most. I was transitioning from a life of service and purpose to a life unknown. When I started coaching your boys I had no idea the education I was about to receive. Your gentle guidance helped me out time after time. When my relationship with my son was strained and challenging, you showed me that love and patience would prevail. You guided me through my "rebirth" and I am better for it.
Sister Angela rests with the Lord she loves now, and I know that I will see her again. Perhaps she will come across the son I have in heaven. Perhaps she will tell him about me. Perhaps she will do the same for my fathers. I can only hope.
That's what it's all about folks. Hope and faith are what keep us going. By having hope we demonstrate our faith. Saints, sinners, believers or not, hope is the product of faith. It proves we believe in something. So many will argue that faith is not necessary for life. However; few will argue that a life without hope is worth living.
So admit it, hope and faith go hand in hand. Then be grateful. Be grateful for every good thing that happens today and every day after this one. Recognize the gifts you have been given. Use them to help all those around you. what better way to demonstrate your gratitude than to share your gifts?
On Grateful Living: Reflections by Catholic Sisters
“Gratitude is my constant consciousness of God's presence
in persons, nature, and circumstances,” says Sr. Angela
Goedken, OSF, a teacher in Kodiak, Alaska. “Sometimes
gratitude comes easily, and, often, in more challenging or negative times, it is hard. I am
growing in giving thanks in difficult circumstances. When my mother died so
unexpectedly, it took me years to be able to thank God for her gift of life to the family.”

This post is dedicated to Sister Angela Goedken. God keep you and hold you.
Peace and thanks ya'll.

Rumors and Reflections.

Yup it's me again.......
To quote one of my favorite writers Mr. Mark Twain,"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".
Has it been 2 months already? Oh well, I guess I got sidetracked. My beautiful bride has tolerated my innate ability to disappear for decades now. After many years of a simple trip to the store turning into an all day adventure, she has learned to be patient.
Actually, now that I think about it the cell phone may have saved my marriage. It allows me to meander about from one thing to the next while giving my lovely the security of finding me when she needs to. Epiphany! What I once considered to be a leash turns out to be a life ring. Like the whistle that brings in my Lab when she swims out to far, that phone steers me toward home time and time again.
So what I have been up to? Not much really, started school back up, traveled a little, and enjoyed some really great fund raising events in Kodiak. The folks over here really know how to rally around a cause and throw a party at the same time. The best cure for winter doldrums? Live music, good food, and throwing money into the pot to help out a neighbor, the school band, local kids football, or local recycling. You name it this island raises money for it and they do it party style. Man I love this place.
I have also been catching up with many old friends, and I have noticed some trends forming amongst many of them. Disillusionment.
They are tired of the government over governing, they are tired of the rich corporations getting the mulligan and a cash band-aid to help them over the hump. They are tired of political players worried more about an esoteric party game than the good of a country their families have sacrificed to defend and support. Worse yet they are getting tired of each other.
Several of my friends are choosing to end decade long commitments to their spouse.
Some have completed that painful journey, some are in in the midst of the quagmire, and others are on the edge staring into the abyss.
It saddens me to bear witness to their pain. There is no joy in divorce folks, no matter why it is happening. Divorce is filled with remorse, loss of self, and fear. Later things may be much better, but the process is painful; period.
What troubles me, is all the folks who have been together for decades and are calling it quits, without giving it one last try. Once the children are grown, and the day to day challenges of raising a family are over, they end up staring at each other saying, "NOW WHAT?".
Good question really. You have outgrown the passions of youth. The hot, steaming, I gotta have you feeling has mellowed a bit. The joys of raising the little ones, the war rallies that united you over the teen-aged ones, and the fight to keep it all together are over. SO NOW WHAT?
Hold hands, that's what.
Go to movies. Hang out with your friends (together). Go to events, volunteer together. Read to each otherand doing it holding hands.
Sure you want to develop personal time and activities, but stay together. Now there is time for both. Relish it folks, you earned it. The transition from children to empty-nesters is twice a difficult as the transition was to parenthood; believe me. Once you cross that bridge, overcome the barriers modern society places before us all, and ignore the "grass is greener" mentality that has brought our nation to the edge of morale and financial disaster. Your reward will be joy of sharing your new adventures with a person you understands you, accepts you, and loves you.
Why are so many couples willing to spend hours in therapy to stay together for the "good of the kids", but unable to try it again later? I mean really, we should be older and wiser right? Isn't 20+ years of struggle and triumph worth a few more hours trying to learn how to adjust to the new life you have earned?
It may be hard, it may be painful at times, it may be worth it too. So take baby steps.
Start by holding hands.
I must depart after this rather long rant from my heart.
Peace Ya'll & do the right thing. Even if it's difficult.

ARE YOU FULL OF IT?

I know I am; yup I am filled with it. Christmas spirit that is.
Filled with the love I have for God, family, and country. I am not ashamed to admit it is in that order also.
So what about you? Are you full of it?
Are you filled with the desire to do the right thing? Did you let the other folks have that parking spot at Wally world just in case they needed it more than you? Did you reach over and hand that stranger in line a coin or two to help make up the difference? Did you smile and thank that cashier for working so late, just in case someone needed a last minute something? Did you call that old buddy and check in?
Maybe you did something far more selfless, maybe even approaching sainthood. I don't know, but I'll bet you did something. Now the next question.
If you are full of it, what are you going to do with it tomorrow? Discard it once you've used it up? Put it away carefully for use next Christmas season?
Not me.
I'm gonna carry it around like the carefully guarded smoldering coal that traveled with my ancestors from camp to camp. Ready to bring it out and start a blaze of warmth and comfort, whenever it is needed just like they did. Now, sure they carried that smoldering jewel around to survive, but shouldn't we do the same? The Comfort and joy of Christmas spreads across all nations, governments,and languages. Why not carry it about all year long! We could propagate a world wide love of mankind. Is that not also key to our survival?
The birthday we celebrate on Christmas was not a single event, but the beginning of a journey that changed the world.
In other words, Christmas is 365 days a year!
This one is for you Mom, my thanks for teaching me all that you did.
You may never read this, but hopefully someone will.
Peace to you all, please remember who we are and why there are so many willing to give their lives to preserve it. I pray that every one of you is home next Christmas.
Do the right thing tomorrow folks, just do it for someone else.

JUST DON'T DO IT !

Another Thanksgiving is pretty much done. I hope ya'll had a heart warming day, I hope ya'll took a moment to be grateful.
Me; I am grateful everyday, and every night I take a moment to remember why. Sometimes it's cause I got home safe, sometimes it's cause one of my family did. Sometimes it's because I had a good day. Regardless of what happens I take a moment and thank God for the good that happened that day.
Now I sit here, happy for the time I got to spend at the table with friends and family. Yet, as I watch my wife, who worked so hard to make this day memorable, stumble off to bed I am reminded of my loathing for tomorrow.
Yup, it'd Black Friday folks and I have commented on this twisted international event since I started my little blog.
It rankles me. One year after my first comment, tragedy befell a retail worker in Long Island. There was an outcry, people were amazed, yet nothing changed.
Thanks to ISH I discovered that I was not alone. Ther are thousands of people who share my sentiment.
Buy Nothing Day is an international movement bent on taking back what is ours.
So what is ours? How about the right to relax? How about the right to be deprogrammed from the corporate wish that drives so many, to such extremes, in the hope of savings?
Send a message folks! Unemployment is up, personal debt is rising, yet the corporations that are being bailed out have increased their profits.
Stay home tomorrow, spend your much deserved time off with family and friends. Does that not seem more appealing than standing in line for some "today only" sales specials?
Don't worry, if the sales are down, there will be more. Capitalism will move on.
Oh sure, the economists will fret and worry. Dire market trends and doomsday predictions will prevail.
Maybe, just maybe, the government will get the message. The same government that talked so many into buying a new car, under the guise of economic recovery, will listen.
Yuh, the new car. Dealers sold the vehicles at maximum price and you got a rebate. What else did you get? Another day older and deeper in debt, that's what. You also get to pay tax on that rebate later on.
The big three posted record sales & profit, China got millions of pounds in recyclable steel at bargain prices, and our carbon footprint did not shrink one bit.
So please, stay home tomorrow, go for a walk, read a book, or a blog. Just don't do it! Don't buy anythimg.
It is time to make the government and corporate America know we are no longer duped by their hype.
It is time we started to drive this economy, instead of the other way around.
That's my spin.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, thanks for tuning in.
Do the right thing tomorrow folks, just do it for someone else.
Peace

No Title

Yuh, I've been off the blogosphere for a bit.
Not totally, I have been reading my faves and thank you, to you all for keeping my spirits up.
I took a little break to focus on B-ball and my family. The family has been going through some trying times and support was needed. What are Dad's, husbands, and sons for if not support to those who count on them?
Then the CG1705 was lost and on it a very dear friend. Another guy who grew up in the guard alongside me, a brother rider,a and great human being. No more of his crazy giggle, no more of his honest "suck it up", no more of my friend Eaglet. One of the last of our circle still flying is now lost at sea. My heart and prayers to all the ones left behind by the crew of the 1705 and the two marines lost. My heart and prayers to the family of the missing mariner never found. I believe that they are all together now. I believe that I will see John again. I must believe this, I must cling to this. Otherwise I fear that I would lose all purpose.
Purpose folks. it is what we all must have. That coupled with faith will help us all bear many burdens and many challenges. God gives us all talents, he gives us all challenges suited to these talents. It is our responsibility, nay, our duty, to apply these gifts to all that we do.
I am melancholy today, I have been for many days.
Basketball with the kids has kept me hopeful and given me strength. Coaching along side my son has put joy in my heart.
I do not know why I have jumped back into the blog, I have wrestled with this for weeks. Maybe is was the call-out first thing this morning. Maybe it was standing next to a neighbor as he looked down at his father. Maybe it was listening to the call saying the ambulance would not be needed any more. I don't know.
Soon my son will be of to boot camp and a life of adventure. Soon he will place himself in harms way for the good of us all. I pray I will not add him to my good night list, I pray the lord will not bring him home to heaven to soon. I am so proud, yet so fearful. He is the only son I have left, perhaps that is selfish of me, but it is honest.
Please watch this video it does nine heroes honor.

BTW Mr. President; your lack of comment at the memorial did not go unnoticed.I am not happy with you, but I will write on that later. As for the Media, shame on you for letting this tragedy be 3rd page news. More on that later also.
Good night Eaglet, you died as you lived. Tell the gang I will see them again.
Peace to you all.