Love...

Just wanted to share a couple of things (if you're my facebook friend you've already seen them).

My favorite wedding picture.

Our song.
We had been dating a while and had fallen in love (or did we love each other from the start?). We were on a double date, riding home in the back seat and talking quietly, just the two of us. We decided that we need a song. "What song should be ours?" And this started playing on the radio. We liked the lyrics and it became our song.

So ... Happy 27th Anniversary, Jim. I love you more than life itself.

The F-word

The dreaded F-word.

My daughter, Jamie, was an only child until she was 8 1/2 years old, thereby missing all of the sister-sister or brother-sister interaction that occurs only in closer age siblings.

She did get to experience some lovely sister-brother interaction later on, especially while babysitting. But that's another story for another time.

I'm not sure how old Jamie was, but we were still living at our last house (over 20 years ago) where Jamie was more apt to have playmates whose homes she could walk to safely down our dirt road. And so, on this particular day, she went down the road to play with two sisters, Melissa and Marcie. In age, I believe Jamie falls right between the two girls.

When Jamie returned home, she had something on her mind:
"Momma, Marcie called Melissa a Fartface. Is that the F-word?"

Well, I did everything I could not to laugh at what was quite a serious question. I must not have been ready to explain the f-word to my young daughter. And, besides, she was quite happy with my response:

"Yes, it is and I never want to hear you say it either!"

You know what? I can honestly say that I've never heard my daughter call anyone a Fartface!"

Enjoy your Friday!

Poetry on Wednesday

Okay. This isn't poetry. But it's on my mind.

My mom loved to sing. That's one of my fondest memories of her. The song that we all most associate with her is "You Are My Sunshine". She sang that to each and every grandchild. And most of the greats too.

But there's another song that I remember and I wonder if Jamie will remember too. Jamie and I lived for three years with my parents and sometimes, on a lazy day, she would sing this to Jamie...


Now it never occurred to me to look for it. Maybe I thought she made it up, I don't know. But today I was remembering and I googled and found it. It was recorded in 1933, the year my mom was born.

Memories...

My Boy Scout

I once vowed (to myself) to try really hard not to post twice on one day ... but here we are. I have things to do, a house half dusted and bookwork to finish, but I find myself thinking about my son and my country and I had to share a little bit more.

In September 2001, my son was 12 and was an active Boy Scout, had been on his first high adventure, had served a week as a Mackinac Island Honor Scout, and had been to the National Boy Scout Jamboree all during the summer months that year.

BOY SCOUT OATH:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Jon took the Boy Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan very seriously, which is why it was so important to fly that American flag during the weeks after September 11. And it's still why he notices our flag when he drives by our house on his way home from work.

And it was his group of scouts whose idea it was to make sure that there was a flag raised and lowered during campouts out in our woods by the lodge and camp where Boy and Cub Scouts still camp today.

Jon went on to continue to be active in scouts and became an Eagle Scout. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

In his senior year of high school, Jon very seriously considered joining the United States Army. The thought scared me beyond belief. As fate would have it, Jon's life took a different path, but he is no less loyal to what his country stands for. And for that, I am proud.

One last thing. Jon, who loves that hard, head-banging rock that I just can't listen to, for a short time loved country music (though he will barely admit it now!).

And this is what started it:

We Must Not Forget

This video was shared this morning and I started watching it. And I started crying. I thought about stopping the video because it was just too painful; the memories of that day just became too raw. But I kept watching because ... we can't forget. We must not forget. It shouldn't become just a dim memory to us. Watching this should bring back all of the pain we felt that day as we realized what was happening.

So skip watching the video if you must. If you're anything like me, it will make you cry.




My son texted me last night to remind me to put our flag at half-staff for today. You know, sometimes you don't realize just what's on a person's mind. We know that Jon is preoccupied with girlfriend, work, friends, house, socializing, but we forget that being a proud American and showing that respect has always been important to him. On September 11, 2001 when he came home from school and found out the full extent of what had happened, he insisted on one thing ... We already had our American flag flying proud. He thought everyone needed to be flying their flag. What he decided that we had to do was to go buy another American flag and he and his dad went to my mother's place and mounted it by her door. She didn't have a flag, he knew it, and he thought that she must fly one.

Is your American flag flying proudly?

Christmas Eve and My Babies

My babies are long grown and mostly moved out of the nest, but I hold these memories in my heart...

Christmas - 1980 - Baby Jamie (5 mos. old) with Santa

Christmas - 1989 - Baby Jon (9 mos. old) and Big Sister Jamie (9 yrs. old)
and I'm quite certain that Jon only agreed to sit on Santa's lap because his Dot was with him.
*When Jon started talking he called Jamie "Dot".

Monday's Musings...And The Story of Ginger

My son bought me this wreath for Christmas a couple of years ago...

There was a reason. Well, besides the fact that I do have a small collection of gingerbread people in my kitchen, it was that this familiar gingerbread boy and girl adorned this particular wreath that prompted Jon to buy it for me when he spotted it at our local mall. He was reminded of a very similar, but slightly more worn out, gingerbread friend from his childhood.

You see Ginger and Spice (the gingerbread boy and girl dolls on the wreath) were sold at Christmas time around about 1991 at Target. I thought they were so cute and bought them both to display at Christmastime. After Christmas that year, they were safely packed away with the other decorations. When I started decorating for the Christmas season in 1992, Jon was helping me (as only a three year old boy can) and spotted Ginger and Spice. He took Ginger who immediately became his best friend. It was funny to me because Jon just never became attached to any stuffed animal or toy in all of his 3 1/2 years. Why now? Maybe it would have only lasted for the holiday season had it been any other Christmas. It was not any other Christmas though.

Jon and Ginger getting geared up for some pressing work that needed doing.

A week before Christmas, my dad suffered a stroke. My parents were living in Florida and had actually been preparing to leave to come and spend the holidays with us in Michigan when it happened. My sister and I took the soonest flight we could get out on and flew down to be with him. We were hoping for...well what we were hoping for just wasn't to be.

I did know one thing within a very few days. We would not be home for Christmas and, added to everything that was happening, I just couln't bear the thought of being away from Jim, Jamie and Jon on Christmas day. I begged, cried and pleaded until Jim agreed to drive to Florida with the kids. He's a saint, really.

And my dad passed away the morning after they arrived, the 23rd of December 1992. And Christmas would never be the same for our family. We did have a very sad, but necessary Christmas that year. Our dad would not want us not to have Christmas, that I know for sure.

I think that is the main reason that Jon became more attached to Ginger. It was a lot for a little boy to handle at that time and maybe Ginger was his shoulder to cry on. I don't know. I only know that he and Ginger were pretty close friends until Jon started preschool. Even then, Ginger would wait patiently for Jon. He still does. I secretly packed Ginger in with Jon's things when he moved to California and again when he bought his own house. Ginger's still there. A little worse for wear, but still there.

Jon and Ginger played hard and sometimes just couldn't
quite make it into bed before they both fell asleep.

A Look Back to 1985

On this day, 26 years ago...

We became a family.

The three of us - we gave Jamie a ring too.

I cherish that our parents were there to celebrate the day with us.

It was truly a family affair. One of my sisters was my matron of honor and my other sister's girls were also part of our wedding. We were missing my brother, who couldn't be there.
Jim's nephew was our ring bearer and his dad (Jim's brother) took all of the photos.
Jim's very long time friend was his best man. ~ His son and our son grew up to become very good friends.
Jim's older sister did up all of our flowers.

Jim's younger sister was part of this decorating crew and I believe she was also our dj!

Our dinner was catered (and I am not filling two plates for myself here, one was for Jamie),
but...

My mother made our wedding cake. Wasn't it beautiful?

We became a family! And it has been a wonderful 26 years!
I can't wait to see what the next 26 (and more) years bring us!

Yep, the family has changed. Just a little!

Madly in love,

Beep Beep

Once upon a time, in 1984, it was just Jamie and I living in a tiny apartment in an old converted house. It was our first real place, just the two of us. I was 23 and Jamie was 4 when we moved there. We had lived with my parents for three years and they were getting ready to move to Florida. I had been dating Jim for two years and was madly in love. I made the very difficult decision not to make the move with my parents even though Jim and I were not talking marriage...yet. Jim would say that he knew long before this that we would be getting married. But that's another story for another time. 

Every day I had to be to work at 8am and drop Jamie off at the sitter's on the way. Jamie was not a morning person. We finally came up with a routine that worked for us and I would dress Jamie while she still slept, carry her down to the car and she would eat breakfast later.

I don't think Jamie and I will ever forget a certain song that played every single morning on our way to the sitter's house. It certainly did help to wake Jamie up. And we both sang along...

September 11, 2001 - my day

Jim and I talked about the details of the day on September 11, 2001 and he said, "You need to write this down. You remember so many more of the details that I've forgotten."
So I did.

Ten years ago...I was 40 and Jim was 43. Jamie was 21 and three hours away at college. Jon was 12 and in seventh grade.

September 11, 2001 was a perfect autumn day, or at least that must be what I thought as the sun came up. In those days, I woke up way before sunup. Jon's school bus came at 7am. My mind was focused on the busy day ahead. As soon as Jon left for school and Jim ate his breakfast, I started making my contribution for the Boy Scout Court of Honor/Cookout that night. We were having our first Court of Honor for the school  year and it was a accompanied by a cookout in the city park. Every family brings a dish and mine was tuna macaroni salad. A scout in the troop would also be receiving the highest rank in scouting that night. He was to become an Eagle Scout. Jim was Scoutmaster and I did a lot of the behind the scenes work. It was a very busy time in our lives.

Our business was also extremely busy ten years ago and it was unusual for Jim to still be in the house at that time, but we had a funeral to attend that morning. The father of a good friend of ours had passed away. Instead of being out on the job already, Jim was spending the early part of his morning in the office doing paperwork. He was listening to a radio in the office. I remember later thinking how out of the norm it was because he had brought his small radio into the office to catch the morning news. He usually didn't listen to the radio in his office. But then he was very rarely in his office on a weekday morning.

I had finished making my salad and it was safely in the fridge so I could cross one thing off my long to-do list for that day. I went into Jim's office to see what he was doing. Quite often when he was doing paperwork it was passed onto me to convert into an invoice or well log for a customer. Within a minute or two of being in the office, the mood of the news on the radio had changed and they began talking about a plane having crashed into the World Trade Center. I think that they first reported that it was a small plane. Jim and I decided to go into the kitchen and turn the tv on. This is one thing that is vivid still in Jim's memory - just after we turned the television on the second plane hit. I remember saying, "How can this happen? Two planes?" Jim answered, "It's a terrorist attack." I couldn't wrap my mind around that. We watched the tv, in shock, as we continued to get ready for the funeral. We saw the first and then the second tower came down. All during this time, we began hearing conflicting reports of other attacks. Of a plane hitting the Pentagon.

Somehow, we went to that funeral. I don't remember anything about it. I think every person there was in a daze. We didn't go to the luncheon afterwards. We drove around a little talking about what we should do. I wanted my family with me. I wanted Jamie to come home from college and I wanted to get Jon out of school. Jim, always the voice of reason, convinced me to leave them be. We talked about cancelling the Court of Honor that night. We drove home and decided that Jim would go talk to the parents of the scout who was to receive his Eagle rank that night. They lived nearby. He would let them make the decision. I remember him coming home a few minutes later saying that the mother had cried and said that they would wait. They did not want to "celebrate" on this day.

I put our American flag up. I remember that as I was placing the flag in the bracket (this was before we had a flagpole), a car pulled in the driveway. It was the realtor who was handling the purchase we were making of the fixer-upper house that adjoined our property. She wanted to let us know that we would finally be closing soon. She didn't say much about what had happened. I found that odd.

By then, we were beginning to hear more details and learned of the plane that had crashed into the field in Pennsylvania. I only wanted to watch tv. To know...

Jamie and I talked. I'm sure that Jamie and I talked a few times that afternoon and evening. We didn't know what would happen that day or in the next few days. Already the news was talking about gas prices being raised (they went as high as $5 a gallon that day in our area). I told Jamie to go fill her tank in case she needed to come home. I also wanted her to go buy a tv so that she and her roommates would know what was going on. They had moved into a house near the college that summer and did not have a tv there. I wanted her home, but knew that we must not panic. How could we not though?

that day.

The next days are a blur to me, but that day...the memories of that day are as clear as if it were yesterday. That's as it should be...

My girl...

Thirty-one *shhh* years ago, on this very day, I gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl I had ever laid eyes on. She was an angel with her blond fuzz and big blue eyes. She was named Jamie Lynn, born on 7-21 at 7:02pm weighing 7 lbs. 2oz. and 21 inches long.

Jamie was probably 2 days old in this picture. I am 19.

In honor of her 31 years of blessing us with her beauty, grace, humor, and always being there for us, I am sharing some of my favorite pictures...

The original Cabbage Patch doll. ~ six months old

With her best friend, Ruby, who used to escape by crawling under my mom's buffet. Jamie at about a year and a half soon learned to follow!

This picture was intended to be of only Jim and I, but my brother-in-law spotted Jamie just out of the shot and...one of my all time favorites. She is 5 1/2.

She's about six here, telling her dad an important (I'm sure ;-)) secret.

Love this one of her and her Popop. Jamie's about 7 here.

At 8 1/2, she wasn't thrilled at first that we gave her a baby brother, instead of the baby sister that she insisted would be named Bambi. I think she got over the disappointment.

You notice that Jamie, her dad, and her brother are all wearing pink toy earrings here?

Love this picture of my mom and my children in 2000.

A very proud moment. College graduation in 2004.

Happy Birthday, Jamie! I have a feeling that this will be a great year! I love you! ♥

 P.S. There were so many more pictures that I could have included. It was tough to pick and choose! :-)

Celebrating in heaven...

Today would have been my mom and dad's 60th wedding anniversary. My mother had to celebrate what would have been their 50th without my father. Now they are together for this one. So...

Happy 60th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I'm trying not to miss you (too much) because I know you are together.

Music and Memories

Did you ever hear a song that you hadn't heard in years, that you had forgotten even existed, and instantly, you are taken back to a different place, a different time, a different you? I believe that music can bring back so many memories that you didn't even remember. Quite often, something that would have remained buried except for hearing that song.

I love music, actually many different genres of music, except rap and hard, head-banging rock. Just can't tolerate that. If you're a fan fine for you, but I just can't tolerate it...for many reasons. I liked classical music when I was very young. And I still do, actually. In fact, I remember the very first record album (yes I said record album ☺) that I ever received. It was a recording of The Nutcracker Suite and I listened to it a lot.

This is the very cover that I remember...I wish I still had the album.

There was a time in my childhood that I kept getting sick and had to visit our pediatrician more than I really wanted to. I remember that he often sang "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", which was made famous by BJ Thomas. And that became a favorite of mine. I remember that my mom gave me one of those pull string music boxes that played "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". It hung by my bed and I loved to listen to it over and over. Even now, over 40 years later, when I hear that song I think of Dr. DiMaso in his white lab coat, walking in the hallway outside the examining rooms singing or whistling that song.



There are so many songs like this in my life. Songs that take me right back to that place. There are those songs that remind me of my mom and those that remind me of my dad. Songs that remind me of being pregnant or being a young mom with my baby girl. Songs that remind me of springtime when my son was born. Songs that put me right back on early dates with my husband. ☺ All good memories. But of course, music isn't there only to help us remember good times. There are many songs that make me sad. Or even mad, even though I've spent the last 25+ years trying to get over that.

My favorite music is what I would consider folk rock. James Taylor (my absolute favorite), Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, early Elton John and Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I could go on. This is what I loved in my early days of listening and this is what I still lean on. I've gone through so many music stages. There have been times when I've preferred to listen to rock or country, and sometimes still do, but I always go back to my original love of folk rock. The real troubadours!

Classical, folk, classic rock, country? It really just depends on my mood!

Happy Birthday, my boy!

Twenty-two years ago today, I gave birth to the sweetest little baby boy. He has been a joy to us from the first day he came into our lives. He is truly a gift from God (which is exactly what the meaning of his name is), as we weren't sure if we would be blessed with any more children. We are so proud of who he is, what he has accomplished, and looking forward to what is to come.

Happy Birthday, Jon! We love you!

I though I'd share pictures of Jon, through the years, with some of his favorite people......

Me and my boy. This is the first time I held him. Love......

My favorite......22 years of sibling pictures and this remains my favorite.
Jon - 5 days old, Jamie - 8 years old

Okay, Ginger isn't a person, but he was a really good friend to Jon for many years. They both grew tired and fell asleep climbing into bed.

Jon and his lifelong buddy, Branden. Yes, they were VERY often this dirty!

Three generations in the business. Jon with his daddy-o and his Pa.

I'd have to say that this is Jon's very favorite person! Brittany. We love her too! ☺

Simple Sunday

March 1989 - our yard (it's not our yard anymore, but was then!)
The week before I gave birth to my second baby, we had a really bad ice storm. Probably one of the worst I remember. Would have been a perfect time to go into labor! Didn't happen though. I was actually in labor when I went in to have my scheduled c-section......22 years ago tomorrow.