Brandon - 21 Guns

The view is incredible. The grass is so green and manicured to perfection. Off to the right you see soldiers dressed in blues standing at attention and in the backdrop are rows and rows of monuments. The band is playing while the family is being seated. The horse drawn carriage pulls up. Then you hear the command.
It will be difficult to put into words what I felt while watching Brandon perform his duties at Arlington Cemetery in this full honors ceremony. The discipline and precision with which his unit performs is extraordinary. I've heard the command, I know it's coming; but even so, my heart skips a beat, then another, and still another. A life has come to an end. Suddenly I am very aware of the incredible price of freedom. I feel the tears well up inside of me. I feel incredible sorrow for the family sitting on the picturesque hillside. All is silent. I bow my head and thank God that I am only an observer.
I'm very proud of the duties that Brandon performs 3 to 4 times a day. But now I'm very aware of how surreal his days must be. Day after day, time after time, Brandon watches families bury their loved ones. I know that he has spoken to fathers, shaken the hands of family, and tried as he may to give words of comfort. It must tug at his heart as it did mine. The familiarity of the loss of one you love so dearly must come rushing back to him as it did me. He is strong.

Brandon Performing 21 Guns (3rd from the left)

Boys, Boys, and More Boys

I always love being able to spend time with the little guys. I find it rather familiar. I have a gameroom full of rocky horses, train tracks, trucks, and dinosaurs; but, as you probably could guess, the boys would rather move rocks.




I had a pile of rocks in my backyard. They first put them into a cart and pushed them to one side of the yard, unloaded them, loaded them back in the cart, pushed them to the other side, and unloaded them again. They did this over and over and over. After awhile, they decided to build a mountain out of the rocks for their animal friends. They spent about an hour building the mountain. It had to be just right. It was so much fun watching them be creative with just a pile of rocks. I even offered them a snack and some juice, but they said, "No thank you." Can you believe it!? They passed up a snack for a pile of rocks! Jacob never passes up a snack. About an hour before their daddy came to pick them up, I had to bring them in. They were filthy. I put their shoes in a plastic bad with their socks. Washed their little faces and hands, and dusted off their clothes as best I could. I guess it would be good if they brought a change of clothes from now on. They had such a good time and I had a great time just sitting back and remembering when my own four boys would have spent the day doing the very same thing.

Just Thinking

Friends come and go as life fades on.
We’re all just puppets in this world, fates little pawns.
They say everything is a choice, but I didn’t choose.
This isn’t what I wanted, to be pushed and used.
People always say that life isn’t fair.
Just like the changes in the season
They tell me everything happens for a reason.

The sun rises, and falls, flowers bloom and wither.
The sound of life, the smell of death, the feeling of one’s love,
The sight of time passing by, the bitter taste of hate.
These are the five senses we love so much.

I just want to understand, I want to know why.
When the heavens rain, I hear the angels cry.
People tell me to be calm, then to let it out,
But not to yell, scream, or shout.

So many questions not enough answers.
Don’t worry about the lie it’s just one little fib.
This is the life we accept, the life we live.
To see, to want, to take, and never give.

- by Nathan Dean


Sometimes you wonder what is going on in the mind of your children.
Then you get a glimpse and you still wonder.

The Easter Bunny Got Ate!!!

I've been reluctant to write this story because it seems when I tell it that many are disturbed by its content and cant bear the ending. But I was raised in a country town and growing up we understood, excepted, and even found pleasure in the cycle of life. So here it goes...

I'm not in favor of Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny. Due to work schedules, we ended up celebrating Easter the Monday following Easter Sunday. This worked great for me because I could keep Easter completely separate from the egg hunt, which I do love. So, being the grandma that I am, I bought plastic eggs and filled a basket full of toys for my precious grandsons. I couldn't wait to watch them hunt eggs. If you read our egg hunt account from last year, you will recall that my sons did most of the hunting, while Jacob & Michael just opened them and ate the candy. I felt certain that this year would be different. I knew that if we could just get them to find the first egg, they would understand the idea behind it all: FIND MORE EGGS, GET MORE CANDY. It was such a delight to watch them. They did figure out that they were supposed to find the eggs, but it was a pleasure to see that they had not yet realized that it was a competition. Each time one would find an egg, he would run over to show the other one. They would stand and look at the egg together until they were reminded of the fact that there were still lots of eggs out there. BUT, the real excitement began when my old cat, Spooks, came running across the front yard with a tiny, baby bunny in his mouth. Michael, who notices everything, saw Spooks and yelled. I ran and clapped at Spooks and he immediately dropped the baby bunny. The bunny sat very still for awhile waiting to see if it was safe to move. Spooks finally wandered off when he realized that I was going to stand guard until he did. The boys were watching from afar waiting to see what the bunny would do. When the little bunny felt safe, he began to hop away. Then suddenly, out of no where, Shadow (the young and spry cat of mine) sprung on the bunny and darted away. There was no stopping him. He was young, quick, and hungry; after all, he'd been eating adult cat food for months and he wanted some meat. Before I realized what was coming out of my mouth, I said, "The cat just ate the Easter Bunny!" You should have seen the eyes on my grandsons. It was priceless. But you have to admit, we don't have to deal with that Easter Bunny dilemma next year!

Get a Job!

On Saturdays, while Joette is working, Stephen takes care of the boys. They usually run errands together. Naturally, every time they go into a store that has toys the boys find something they want. Stephen usually responds with "Get a job". One day while in Academy, Jacob found something that he wanted. After being told he had to get a job, he asked his daddy "Would you give me a job?" Stephen answered with, "Sure, I'll give you a job". The following Saturday, while in Academy again, Jacob asked for the item that he had so coveted the week before. Stephen responded with the usual, "Get a job" but this time he was caught by surprise when Jacob responded back with, "I have a job, you gave it to me." Stephen couldn't help but laugh. Jacob might not know what a job is, but he knew for sure that his daddy had already given him one and that he could now have the item he so wanted. It makes you wonder what else they think we are saying, when we think we are being so clear.

It's Greek to Me...

Joel and I are studying Greek. This is quite hilarious at times. Due to the fact that I've home schooled for over 20 years and have done grammar 100's of times, I am quite able to figure out the grammatical portions of the new language. Joel on the other hand, who can't even get the 24 letter alphabet in order 2 times in a row, wants to pull his hair out with the grammar. Does the preposition end with the nu or the omicron?? Maybe it's not a preposition at all...maybe it's an epsilon. No it can't be an epsilon, that's a letter in the alphabet, not a part of speech. And on and on it goes. Then when we get to the vocabulary portion, I'm the one who wants to pull her hair out. You can tell me that arneomai means to repudiate, but if you don't know what repudiate means, then it is of no value. We are quite the team. I tell him the part of speech and how the word functions in a sentence and he tells me what the word means. I love the way God fills in my weak areas with Joel's strengths and vice versa. It really has been fun, but an incredible challenge as well. These old dogs don't want to learn any new tricks. The best part of it is that we are doing it together. The older we get, the more precious this time becomes.