Honor

Have you ever felt so proud of someone it brought tears to your eyes? Just thinking about this story fills me with pride, appreciation, and gratitude.

It's been later in my life that I've come to realize what a foundation my grandpa has been in our family. His example has always resonated through his quiet strength and commitment to our family and our grandma. But for most of my life I just always thought of him as grandpa.

I remember going to grandma and grandpa's house, always excited to raid the freezer for a Klondike bar...and grandpa's hidden, but not so hidden, stash of cashews. I remember him pulling 10 Susan B. Anthony coins out of the ears of each of his 10 grandchildren every year for their birthday (and somehow we fell for the trick for a long time!). I remember going to each and every county fair with him. I remember going to EVERY SINGLE Fremont Ross football game where you could, and still can, find him in his very own seat secured by his season ticket. I remember him falling asleep in church and nudging him so he could pick up his nodded head. I remember him never missing an event I was participating in throughout my childhood, and early adulthood. I remember seeing him beaming in his white tux at our wedding.

I remember him for all of the things we all hope to remember our grandparents for....just being our grandparents.

While I've always respected him, I recently came to realize that he deserves more than just respect. He deserves Honor. And recently he was given some that was long overdue.

You see, my grandpa, along with countless other men his age, served in World War II.

Yes, World War II is remembered in history classes, and told as a historical event. But my grandpa, MY GRANDPA put his life on the line for me, and you, and our entire country. He was selfless and full of love for this country, and served during a very pivotal time of our country's history. Yet somehow, it's not been until NOW that I've come to understand that this was not just a historical event. It had a tremendous impact on him and the others who served during WWII.

In history class I was never taught that these men were so impacted by this event in their lives that even today, some 65+ years later, it still brings tears to their eyes to remember it. I was never taught that these soldiers have vivid memories and a huge sense of pride for their time in the service. In fact, I was just taught about the war as an "event" in our country's history, and never thought once about those who were there...on the front lines.

To me, THIS is one of the greatest tragedy's of our history...remembering the event, but not honoring those who served!

You see, I was there the day my grandpa found out he had been accepted to take the "Honor Flight" trip to Washington DC to visit the WWII Memorial.

It was the first football game of the season, it had rained just before the start of the game. And as usual, my grandpa came prepared for every possible weather situation. In this case, he was wearing his red poncho over his purple Fremont Ross shirt. The band had just completed their pregame performance when my grandpa (who doesn't get around as well as he used to) stood up in his seat to get the attention of my mom and me, who were standing at the front of the stadium. Our hearts raced as we thought, "Is he ok? Does he need something?". My mom went over to where he was standing alone in the crowd of those sitting around him.

Turns out he was fine...... He had just found out that he would be making the trip to DC and was so proud/happy that he just had to let us know! I saw the joy on his face. And it was then that I realized, this was a big deal. A bigger deal than I had ever known.

So, early in September, my grandpa, accompanied by my uncle, took his journey to the WWII memorial in DC.

I was so happy to be part of his experience by writing him a letter that he'd receive during the "mail call" the coordinators had arranged as part of these soldier's experience.

It was then that I got to thank him for his service to our country. It was then I got to thank him for fighting for my freedom. It was then that I got to thank him for all he's done for our country....and it was then that I got to tell him what it has meant and means to me for me to be able to call him MY grandpa, and OUR soldier.

And...it was then that I realized there are others who served at the same time my grandpa served. And it is now that I realize we must never forget them.

While many of them are no longer with us, their selflessness will ALWAYS be with us. I honor these brave soldiers. I want to thank those who are still with us, and remember those who are not. I thank them for defending what our country was founded on and can never thank them enough for the freedoms we have today.

So please, remember with me. Thank with me. And help honor them by appreciating the liberties we have today and by preserving the country they fought for...Our humble heroes..

*********Check out these links. One is my Grandpa's story in the local paper. The other is a documentary of this "Honor Flight" trip. ************

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20090924/NEWS01/909240312
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3272737n
(there are a few lapses in audio, but it comes back..just keep watching!)

Kindness

After my post this morning I received this in my email and had to post it as a followup:

Breakfast at McDonald's
This is a good story and it's true:

I am a mother of three (ages 14,12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree

The last class I had to take was Sociology.

The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile'.
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then EVEN MY HUSBAND DID.

I did not move an inch....An overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of light.

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss', because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate try.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as their resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "thank you".

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope".

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, "That's why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope".

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given we were able to give.

We are not church-goers, but we are believers.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.

Then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?"

I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way, I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE -
LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS,
NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

This brought to mind another story I watched in a video that really touched me. I always remember that I might be crossing someone's path, because God wanted to send them an angel. It could be a small simple thing to you, but to them it might mean EVERYTHING!:
http://community.imawitness.com/_God-sent-me-an-angel/video/527806/54126.html

Inquiring minds want to know

So today I find myself thinking about "life".

Sometimes I drive down the street and look at someone in their car, or walking down the street or standing in line inside of a store and wonder what their life might be like. The only life I really truly know is my own. I have some pretty good ideas about the lives of people I know on a personal level, but I really only know my OWN life.

The other day I was sitting in the drive-thru at Starbucks (it was an ETERNITY..they didn't seem motivated..). At one point I was sitting in a position that I could see inside of the store. So, the picture goes something like this >me inside of my car>glass window of my car> glass window of starbucks> woman sitting in a booth on her computer. I was looking at her and thinking about what her life might be like. I was wondering how she sees herself everyday when she looks in the mirror, I was wondering what she does and doesn't like about herself, I was wondering what her family life was like, I was wondering what made her decide she liked THOSE glasses that she had bought out of all the ones she must have tried on, I wondered what sorts of clothes she had in her closet, I wondered who she was going to be seeing that day ... that I would never ever know or meet, I was wondering what holidays she celebrated, and how she celebrated them (she looked to be of another culture), I was wondering who her best friend is (I told you it was a REALLY slow moving line at Starbucks..LOL). It's true, in the brief amount of time I was sitting there I really did think about all of those things.

Then, the next day I went to my massage appointment (since I've become a runner I have to get regular massages to keep my muscles in an injury free state). I started talking about this with my massage girl. She told me that she often thinks about the same things. Then she told me that in her line of work, she often has people open up to her about their lives....and it made her realize this: "you never know what someone else is going through in their life".

She told me of a story where this lady came to get a massage and when she first got there she was VERY rude. My massage therapist blew it off (that's not easy to do!). She just treated her as if she had not been rude to her. Once she got in the room and she started the massage on this lady, it didn't take long for her to learn that this lady's husband had been diagnosed with cancer. They had come here to Houston for cancer treatment, and the lady was obviously all alone here. Not only was she dealing with the poor health of her husband, she was here all alone. No friend to hug her, no family to understand....and no one to help bear the load of her situation.

It reminded me of when I moved here to Houston and didn't know a soul. I moved here after getting married, to be with my husband. I left every friend I'd ever had or known, I left my family, and I was here in a place where no one knew me, or even knew I existed. Had you seen me at Wal-mart, or in my car, you never would have known that I was lonely and had just left my "whole life" as I knew it behind. And what was worse, there was no reason that anyone SHOULD know. Sure I could have stood in the middle of Target and yelled at the top of my lungs for people to know that I was now here in Houston and needed/wanted friends...but somehow I don't think that would have been productive. I was just one more person in huge sea of people.

I've recently learned of several people who have lost their battles with cancer. These are not just any people...these are people who are GOOD people. People who have families that needed them, young children, dearly loved by SO many others, people who had a tremendous faith in God even during their darkest days, and people who by all logic should have never died. But they did....and I think about their lives. I think about how each day during their battle they went through things I'd hope to never have to go through. I think about how their families prayed for miracles. I think about how people now have empty places in their hearts where those people used to be.

Sometimes life just doesn't make sense. Sometimes we will never know the answer to "Why" about a lot of things about life. So, all we can do is continue to live EVERY day to the fullest. Live every day like its our last. I know it sounds cliche, but really think about it! Live like you're dying, as the song says. So easy to say, yet sometimes so hard to do.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, regardless of which life mottos you subscribe to, regardless of the experiences you've been through, think, just think of how precious life really is. Think about the hole someone would leave in your life if they were no longer there. I have to believe you'd start to look at them, and life, differently. I bet there are a lot of things that you'd miss about them, and you'd realize how much you really love about them, even when they hurt you or make you mad. Some how I have to believe that you'd start to be more thankful for the things you like about them, and not focus so much on the things that you don't. Someone may have a lot of growing to do in their life. They just need someone like you to love them through their growing pains. Besides, aren't there things about you that people overlook long enough to LOVE you?

When I attended the memorial service of my grandfather who passed away in July, I was reminded that regardless of all the mistakes someone has made in their life, no matter how many times they got it wrong, no matter how many things they could have or should have done better in their life...in the end it didn't really matter. His obituary was not listing of all the things he could have done better, or all of the things he should have known better. All that mattered was that we had lost someone who we loved despite all of his short comings. We were all hurting that he was no longer there to be part of our family. And all we were thinking about in that moment were all of the things that we LOVED and MISSED about him....just think about it.....

**Here are some of the links to the stories of the people I talked about earlier who have recently lost their lives**

http://community.imawitness.com/_God-show-me-youre-trustworthy/video/711090/54126.html

http://bandssullivan.blogspot.com/

My Grandpa:
(click to see larger image)

I forgot ...

I forgot that I had even started this blog. Actually it's not so much that I forgot that I ever made it, more than that I forgot how to get to it. I was thinking today about how I should start a blog, so I went to blogger.com, and poof..there it was...my blog! Now I don't even have to recreate the wheel, and on top of that, all the stuff that I put here before is still here.

Wow, what memories. The last time I worked on this was when I was stuck at home with no job and nothing to do. I wanted to keep up to date with everyone on the wedding and everything that was going on. A lot has changed since then. Not only that, we are now coming up to our 3 year anniversary. I just can't even believe it. October 7th will be our 3 year anniversary. I've finally started to adapt to and even miss Houston when I'm away for too long. I never knew if that would happen or not....thankfully I'm getting adjusted.

Well, a lot has changed since I first created this blog, so I will update little by little. One thing that I need to do right away is get this updated on Facebook (that didn't exist in my life when I made this blog).

Look forward to getting this ramped up and updated! Thanks for reading!!

P.S....for starters, here is a more up to date photo of us!