Thoughts about and for my kids

My trip to Washington to greet Matthew as he returned from Afghanistan was amazing. It was a great weight from my shoulders to see him back on US soil, safe and sound. It was not until I had arrived at the relative isolation and anonymity of my Barbie-doll seat on the return flight however, that the tears came. They were both an uninvited guest and a somewhat welcome release. I did my best not to cast that blubbery cloud on the limited time I had to visit. I wanted it to be a happy visit and it was. The overwhelming sadness I felt was almost too much to bear. I told myself that I was sad because it felt like my family was breaking apart. From there, I traveled to the land of empty nests where one is allowed to mourn for the fleeting years of their childhoods now long gone. The evolution of my progeny from infancy to their current state of independent adulthood is acceptable as it is the expected and desired outcome-the payoff for all those turbulent years of rearing. There is a large measure of satisfaction in seeing them achieve adulthood. So why the sadness? Well, the very independence that I so determinedly passed on to them has now taken over and they are all forging their paths through the world. And this is a problem because . . . ? Aha, the bitter truth emerges: their independence forces me to face my own mortality. So, dear children, are you listening? Pay attention now and hear me well. I implore you - each of you - do NOT allow that Vera Jo gene to invade. It is the very devil - SATAN himself!! No matter what, you can never, ever, turn your back and walk away from your family! In the end, what do any of us have anyway? Family is all that we have. We come into this world with a family and we go out the same way. Nothing else is as important as your family. They are the ones who love you even when you don't want them to. They love you even when they, themselves, don't want to. Don't believe it if anyone says any differently. Do your best to stay within one day's road trip from each other. Your life may depend on it! Really!! You will be so glad you did. Kids need their cousins. Think about it - James, Katherine, Michelle, Kelly, Jennifer, Jason; and don't forget Tammy and Tiffany; Rhiannon, Stephanie, and Jeremy' Stephen and Ramona. Don't you all wish you'd had more opportunities to be together? I know you do. Remember all those times when Jennifer and Tiffany would come and stay with us and the times we went on road trips together? Great fun, good times, wonderful memories, right? Don't deprive your children of memories like those!! They are priceless treasures and worth more than you could ever imagine! You all have the foundation that you need to do well in life. How you all arrived there is a mystery to me-I take no credit whatsoever. Nature vs. nurture is the age old debate, but the debate notwithstanding, I have always believed that people become what they become either because of their environment or in spite of it, and usually some combination thereof. As each of you continues on your individual journey, know that I am extremely proud of you all and I feel particularly blessed that God placed each of you in my life. Take a moment to reflect and you will discover that, individually as well as collectively, you are making your own unique and worthy contributions to society. Never sell yourselves short!

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Parting is such sweet sorrow . . .

Again today I will bid farewell to my son, Matthew and daughter-in-law, Brittany as their leave comes to a close. This one is especially hard for me since, unlike all the other times, this one is open-ended. I do not know when I will see them again. Every other time, there was an end date; a goal to be achieved; something I could hang my hat on; an event to take place that marked the time: boot camp to Family Day, then to graduation, then to pre-deployment leave, then to the triumphant return and post deployment leave. . . . . But now, there is no finite time frame, nothing to hang my hat on, no date certain to which I may look forward. I know that sounds melodramatic, since I know that I will see them again, and they are but a phone call away now, instead of across an ocean. Yet still, I'm sad to see them go. Heck, I feel the same way when Amy leaves, even though she's just a few hours up the road. Funny how now that my kids are grown and able to meet their own needs, I find myself needing to keep them close. Bittersweet for me, but also a great comfort to know that each of them will be just fine in this old world. They have all achieved a measure of success in life for which I prayed fervently. I am so proud of all my kids (and that includes Chris, Nick, Mali, Jonathan, and Brittany) that my heart could burst. I love them so very much and I thank God for blessing me with such bounty!!!

I haven't posted on here in awhile and God knows it isn't due to any lack of issues about which I have deep feelings of passion. There is plenty to feel passionate about these days so where do I begin? I haven't forgotten about the travesty in Benghazi. Travesty is such an inadequate descriptor of the callous and abject abandonment of American citizenry and heroes who were piteously exterminated while our Commander-in-Chief and his chosen minions allegedly watched/listened to the events as they unfolded in real time. As if the actions of our leaders were not adequately shameful, orders were repeatedly given to, "Stand down," to those who eventually paid the ultimate price. I am deeply saddened by the whole affair. I am further saddened by the cavalier attitude of the elected officials testifying before Congress regarding this debacle. God is watching, Barrack! God is also watching you, Joe, and you too, Hilliary!! Karma really IS a bitch!

I must preface this commentary by saying that there are those whom I love dearly that I am about to describe and despite the tirade, I will continue to love them. I am going to talk about facebook. Ok, don't groan. One of my biggest pet peeves about facebook is that there are entirely too many people who use facebook for nothing more than a platform to promote pictures, sayings, quotes, etc. that someone else has written. It is not the occasional sharing of a true pearl of which I speak, but rather the ones to whom I refer that NEVER have anything of any substance to say on their own. I have shared stories sometimes and I have shared sayings, and I have shared pictures that I felt were significant. I have also posted my own thoughts and my own opinions about any number of subjects; thoughts that I compiled into grammatically acceptable blurbs authored strictly by myself. Do these folks lead such boring and meaningless lives that all they can find to post is what someone else has written or composed? Facebook would be infinitely more interesting and fun to read if folks would write about what is on their minds or what is happening around them, no matter how piteous the grammar or spelling. At least it would be original. But then, I am a crabby old bitch sometimes.

All I can say is, "Wow!" This lady has the kind of relationship with a horse that I have always dreamed about. Un-freakin-believable!!!

This, hopefully, will never get old.