The Veteran at Our House-U.S. Navy 1955-1959

That would be my husband, Dad to our four children and Pop to our eight Grands.

We are blessed that he is still with us. Our children & Grandchildren all have an example to be proud of and to learn from if they choose.

Our oldest son had enlisted in the U.S. Navy and would have been proud to serve were it not for a health issue. He wanted to follow in his Dad's steps. Our second son served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and retired with the rank of Chief. I love those military photos of him and also of his Dad. One of my favorites of our youngest son was taken when he served in the Army National Guard.

The U.S.Veteran at our house is a man who doesn't have to be told to stand when the American flag goes by or is raised. He doesn't have to be reminded to stand at attention when the National Anthem is played. He cannot hold back the emotion watching a homecoming of our service people. He is disturbed when he sees our flag flying 24-7 without attention and left to become frayed, ragged and deteriorate in the weather. He always notices when his country's flag is not handled properly.

The Veteran at our house served first in the U.S. National Guard while in high school then during what we call in between years-after WWII and before Vietnam but not actually in the Korean Conflict- 1955-1959 active duty in the U.S. Navy, aboard the Bennington and the Forrestal then two additional years in inactive reserve. He is no less the proud American Veteran than those who served in WWII.

The Veteran at our house is old fashioned.
He would never wear the flag as clothing on his body.
He doesn't really talk about being patriotic. He is.
The Veteran at our house is a proud, patriotic U.S. Veteran - Proud to be an American!
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Love Letters in the Sand?

My vocabulary is not adequate to relate what an experience we just had at the beach.

The sights: As far as the eye could see-white sands only sprinkled with tourists not crowds.

The Sounds: of all the little and not so little feathered creatures who belong there-each doing what they are programmed to do-making the sounds unique to each species but not invading our space with the cheep,cheep, churp, churp etc. Their noise was more like background music-not invasive, simply making the environment even more beautiful.

The white sands-like a massage to the feet. I declared our walks on the beach in the mornings to be Adult Fun! We both absolutely delighted in squishing our toes in the incredible white sands.

Let's not forget the nearly constant breezes..at times easy breezy and sometimes a stronger presence.

A beach has to have children playing, digging and squealing-some delighted by the rush of the water and others tentative and not yet comfortable with this beach thing. Its so neet to be able to be a bit like those children, as we watch for unbroken shells to gather and save?

All this reminds us of the three grands who have just spent their third winter season in the land of forever cold and snow. We both agree we want to make sure they get to share this kind of beach experience when they make their way south again.

Justa thought: God's incredible creation reminds us of Him and yes of loved ones! The time and miles never diminish or change that love.

God made us in His image, right? So it would seem He made us a very complex people..we sit and soak up his creation on the amazing white sands and revel in the joy of the moment, the relationships and in the same instant feel such sadness looking back at all the times we have not shared with those dear, dear loved ones.

mmm He is still God, He is Sovereign, and we continue to submit to that/and ask Him to bless that submission.

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That Was Fun!

What evokes a sincere, exclamation of: "That was so much fun" from you?

I was thinking about an 89yr old friend of ours in Texas who thought it was so much fun when I called and invited her to go with me to the local Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. Soft serve :(

We had a friend, our age who's name was Linda. She loved everyone and everything God created I think. She could find any outing "so much fun." Linda found joy [fun] in such ordinary things. We could stop and enjoy an ice cold glass of iced tea on the porch while visiting and she would exclaim "That was so much fun." She showed the same expression of joyfulness after picking a basket full of fresh fruit from a tree in the back yard. "That was so much fun!"

I felt that way today when I cut the prettiest roses in our yard, trimmed and arranged them in a container in the kitchen. That was fun!

Since in recent months we rarely eat out in restaurants it was actually "fun" to drive to Troy, 8 miles away and have an Arby's sandwich with one order of fries to share. The Dr. Pepper was Oh so good, because we don't keep soft drinks at home. For that reason it is a genuine treat to have one as we did this afternoon. It didn't break the budget and we didn't look around the restaurant closely enough to discover sloppy housekeeping...so it was good. That was fun!

After that fast food treat we drove around some neighborhoods where we'd never been, observing the landscaping or in some cases lack thereof and awarding our stamp of approval to the residences that were well kept. We decided we did not want to live there but, "that was fun."

There was no way to justify an ice cream at the The Cone Zone after that Arby's meal so we headed back to Fleming Street. The front porch looked lonely so we just unlocked the front door and dropped in the big rockers for a while. That was so much fun!

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What Does a Gramma Wear for the Wedding?

It all depends. Is the Gramma a hippo?

Well that's what I feel like trying on those gosh awful "wedding fashions". Anyone who knows me knows I am a red, white, black, navy/federal blue person. You put me in that beautiful, soft, seafoam green and I look [no kidding] like a stuffed green frog in a tuxedo. I am serious!

Then there's the wonderful jacket that brings a "Wow, Jonell that's your color, rich red, short enough in petite size-that's You!"
And how do I look in "my color".. like a carpet sales person..wrapped in a beautiful red rug.

I wonder what they pay models to show those Rugs?

This scavenging for a wedding dress has been going on since Christmas. That's enough time for anyone to find something to cover a body. Not for me. It's that vanity thing again. I actually know this wedding is not about what Gramma wears. I am aware that Grandparents are way down the list in relevance for an event such as this. But Grammas like to look nice too.

Truthfully I haven't been looking for something in which to look nice. I have been searching for the magical solution to visually melt away the extra 40 pounds that like me so much they stay..and stay; have been hoping to find some charity I could make a nice donation to..a gift of unwanted pounds.

I don't want to look nice. I admit it, I want to look fabulous! God created me. He knows that so don't bother talking to him about my vanity problem when you pray for me, ok?

I actually became so discouraged I emailed my wonderful daughter in law [mother of the groom] who has found her beautiful dress weeks ago, and asked her if I could "call in sick" for this wedding. Well she said absolutely not!

If you, like me, are a woman over 50 <> and a wedding or other similar event looming large don't offer to call in sick. It won't work.

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Comments and Reactions

I'm not a person known to have a significant sense of humor. I may delude myself about some things but not that-I am not a funny person.

I do <> kinda cherish the memory of someone once telling me I was funny. Our Home Demonstration Agent [ 1950's ] Mrs. Georgia Jordan was my chaperon for the state Miss Farm Bureau competition in Albany, Georgia. As we were talking about the personal interview part of the competition she commented: "Jonell, you should be a comedienne." I can just hear each of my children saying, "Really?"

Hold this thought: I know I am not a funny person. My children all do have a distinct sense of humor. Additionally our favorite son in law [<> only SIL ]
has an amazing [weird] sense of humor.

I do now and then have a "funny idea or thought." My daughter might say 'No, you have weird thoughts, Mom.'

Why do we give the option on this blog for comment and keeping track of whether people think our post is funny, interesting or cool?

Will I stop writing if no one thinks my posts are interesting, etc.? Absolutely not! Will I close down this little project if I receive negative discouraging 'comments'? Absolutely not!

I am a performer. I appreciate an audience. I respond to applause. But I am still that person without an audience. If no one reads it and no one appreciates it..that's okay. Then I would just fine tune the whole thing, bind it in little book and leave it for my Children and Grands.

That's what people like me do.

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