A New Year For Me!

These are my coming home pictures as a newborn. I was premature, and came home 22 days after I was born. Here my mother and father cradle me. All 6 pounds of me, in their arms. I wish my mother and father were alive so I could hug them, say " I love you" and let them know I understand how hardship and tragedy can change a person. I would love to let them know , as a daughter, how much I appreciate the sacrifices they made for me and my sisters, and how we now understand decisions that were made for us with the best and most loving intentions. I wish we had even an inkling of the future to have been able to hold firm our parents and stay the coming chaos with the love and certainty that "this too will pass". I love my Mother and Father and thank God for having chosen them to be my parents. I wish I could go back into the past to when they were alive, and at the same time been aware of the future , so I could have at least said the most important things to them....but I cannot.

My Father and myself ( at 2 years of age)

I do remember good times, happy times! My father( a soldier , and veteran of 2 tours in Korea AND 2 tours in Vietnam ) loved to play his guitar and have us little girls sing along. He took us fishing and camping. He taught us pinochle, rummy, and also how to be honorable. To respect our elders, our country...and our parents and grandparents , BECAUSE they were our parents and grandparents. My sisters ( Joni , above ) and Karen ( below) treated me to lunch at the local Ram restaurant on the Pt. Defiance waterfront. We had a delicious lunch , made even better by the fun time we had being together. Thank-you Karen and Joni. Our baby sister Tricia lives far away on the East Coast...and she sent me a lovely gift and her well-wishes. Thank-you sisters, very much. I love you. (my sisters are holding up little rocks that say "sisters' ) So on my birthday I reflect on how blessed I am. I have a husband who loves me very much, 3 grown children , 2 with spouses who are like my own children....8 grandchildren, sisters I love very much and am still able to connect with , and enjoy. Friends who bless my life beyond measure. Abundant food, a wonderful home, and Jesus. Everything else is just frosting on the birthday cake! Happy birthday to my Mother and Father, and I love the rest of you, dearly.