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Memorial Day

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” quote oft attributed to George Orwell with no proof he really said it. Today is one of mixed emotions for me. My Father was a decorated veteran and he is missed. My brother served in the National Guard. My Nephew, My Brother’s son is in the Air Force. I honor their service to our country today. We need to remember why we have a holiday today. For those who served and especially those who gave their all. Our Associate Pastor had a really nice Communion meditation that tied sacrifice for country to Christ’s sacrifice for all. Have a good Memorial Day and never forget why we celebrate it. For that matter, remember Christ’s Memorial every day.

Only in Florida…

Ok, I live in a place where the median age is 60 something. This morning on the way to work at a stoplight I saw an older driver in a BIG Buick with a green light and the right of way pull into an intersection to make a RIGHT turn and stop. He yielded to left turning cars, passing up turning right into the two right hand lanes only to turn right into the far left lane. Other traffic had to inch around him. Amazingly he was not hit. Only in Florida.

A scary thought

So this is how liberty dies.  With thunderous applause.

-From Star Wars III with apologies to George Lucas

Good riddance

Well Goodbye 2009.  You can’t be gone fast enough.

Nothing else left to say.

God is great!

I just met my Grand Daughter, Khloe.  What a wonderful beautiful little girl.  I am awestruck.  Such a sweetie, It has been awhile since mine were that small (My youngest is 24).  God sure knows what he is doing when it comes to babies.  It is neat to watch my Son and Daughter-in law grow into their roles as parents.

Generations

I witnessed a milestone today.  A new generation has stepped up to take its place in my family.  Welcome to Khloe Abigail Poorman, born September 22, 2009.  John and Kerry, y’all did good.  Now I have a new title, Grandpa.  I hope and pray that I am worthy of that title.

why?

Why do we have such a difficult time providing health care for our citizens?  Doctors, Dentists, Surgeons, etc. already do wonderful work for church missions providing healthcare to those in foreign and developing countries.  Why don’t we do that here?  Why don’t we donate time to free clinics in cities?  Recently I read of such an event in Los Angeles.  People who hadn’t been to a Doctor in years were lining up for free care.  Why? Is it the lawyers who are always on patrol for a nice fat paycheck?  What is wrong?

I also need to ask “Why?” concerning the recent cash for clunkers deal uncle Sam was pushing.  Cash for clunkers took working cars and trashed them so they could never be used again.  That makes for a shortage of used cars.  Duh.  For a government that is always screaming about how we need to help the down trodden and less fortunate, it seems rather hypocritical.  There are a lot of single moms and other people who desperately need transportation and can’t afford it or don’t have public transportation.  They need cars as well.  Why not use those clunkers (the better ones) for those people.  Sure they may not be as efficient as a new car but they won’t be driven that much and you have truly helped someone in a tangible way.  I think it is reasonable to assume that if you can’t afford a car to begin with, you won’t be driving it all over the place or on vacations.  Donate the old cars to charities who will fix them up and put them in the hands of those who need it.  Take the charitable tax deduction instead of cash.  Help someone for real, not just the auto companies who don’t deserve help.  If they had run their businesses as they should have, they wouldn’t be bankrupt.  Twice in the last 10 years we have chosen to donate old cars to organizations like I mentioned above, and I hope actually helped someone or a family take a step up in the world.  If I have the opportunity in the future to do so again, I will.

…been gone way too long

Well this is what you get when you are way to busy and involved to sit back and reflect.  The amazing ride continues.  This past February my Mother -in-law passed away unexpectedly.  My oldest Son and his Fiance, Stephanie co-officiated a very nice memorial service.   On June 13 my oldest son, Kevin and Stephanie were married.  It was a great ceremony in a beautiful little CHurch in the country.  It was the first time since John was married that all the kids had been together with us.  Stephanie is also a graduate of Duke Divinity. In a weird twist of fates Stephanie and I graduated from the same High School, just a whole lot of years apart.

If that’s not enough, I am about to become a Grandparent.  John’s wife is expecting a cute little girl any time.

Right after Kevin’s wedding Deb and I flew to Pittsburgh to surprise our daughter at a dance program put on by the studio where she works.  That was a blast.  We flew in and were picked up and hidden until the show.  After the show we were secreted up on stage and surprised her totally.

All in all a busy year so far.

Three months and a wedding later…

It has been awhile, 3 incredibly busy months.  I was able to travel back to my childhood home and help my mother sort through my father’s belongings.  That was amazing.  I learned some incredible things about my dad that I am not ready to write about because I haven’t confirmed them, but there may be more to him that I knew.  I also laid claim to some priceless (at least to me) heirlooms like his slide rule (anyone out there know what one is? or what it does?)  They haven’t used them since the 1970’s.  If you watched Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 you saw one used. I also have a complete set of books for the revolutionary Physics course curriculum called Harvard Project Physics, which he helped design.

That was followed by the announcement that my youngest son, John, was engaged.  Then he found a better job and in the span of a month will have been married and moved to Virginia.  Their wedding was beautiful and was officiated by his big brother.  Made me proud, also made me feel a little old.

I was asked to assume the role of Public Information Officer for my county ACS/ARES group (Emergency Communications)  I wrote my first press release today.

And to top it all off, I got an iPhone.  Man, is it cool!

Life Goes On

After two months of dealing with bad news, finally some good news.  My youngest son has proposed to his girl.  She said yes.  I am really happy for him.  Way to go J.  Life goes on.