Remember Me

This video clip was produced by 15 year-old Lizzie Palmer. Remember to keep our soldiers and their families in your prayers.

Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day. We decided to go out the Lakewood cemetery to visit Mark's Dads grave. It has been quite a while since we have been out there. We used to go when the kids were younger. I was surprised at the activity at the cemetery. They had trolley and horse rides as well as tours of the cemetery. It reminded me a bit of when I was a kid. I remember several times going out to the cemetery (I think for Memorial Day) to have a picnic. My grandparents would bring along hoes and watering cans. It was a time to tend to the graves, check out old headstones and just enjoy being together.

I didn't see any picnics at the cemetery yesterday. I did see people gathered together to honor their loved ones. I saw hundreds of American flags to mark those soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. I saw people who didn't want to forget.

Thanks for your sacrafice

Thanks to the thousands of soldiers and their families who sacrificed their lives for this country. May we never forget that we are one country, undevisable, under God.
America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)
Text: Samuel F. Smith, 1808-1895
Music: Thesaurus Musicus

1. My country,' tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!

2. My native country,
thee, land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

3. Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake; let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

4. Our fathers' God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

Blind as a Bat

I had to laugh when I read my brother Andy's post on his Lasic surgery.
For those who know me, you know that I was blind as a bat. Literally. You know that big "E" on the eye chart that you see at the eye doctor? Yeah, I couldn't even see it. I'm not sure exactly how bad I was, but my contacts were -7.0 and -5.5. The average near-sighted person is -2.0.

You see, my contacts are -14 and -12. Since the age of 3 I have worn glasses or contacts. I had eye surgery when I was 3 and again at 6. I don't remember much about the first surgery, although my Mom mentioned that they really had to watch me because although I had bandages over both eyes, I would run around like I could see ( guess it didn't make much of a difference for me). I do remember the surgery when I was 6 quite vividly. I was in a room with about5 5 other kids. One of the girls kept talking about "vomit". I had not idea what she was talking about ,but it sounded exotic. Mom had made new pajamas for me to wear during my hospital stay. They were a pretty light yellow, with small flowers. The day after my surgery, the nurse came in to feed me some oatmeal. I told her I didn't like it and felt sick. She forced me to eat "just one more spoonful" and I promptly threw up. Never ate oatmeal again.

According to my Dad, contacts (and hair) are the root of all evil. As with most things durng my childhood, my sister Cindy was the pioneer regarding contacts. The first day she had hers, she dove into a pool and promptly lost them (this was in the day before dispoable and soft contacts). Basketball games would come to a halt while all the players dropped to the floor to look for a lost contact. Losing a contact was especially difficult for me, because I ended up being a cyclops when I lost a contact.

I got my contacts between junior and senior year in high school. My braces also came off my teeth that summer, so needless to say there were a lot of people who didn't recognize me when returned for senior year.

When the kids where toddlers and they came into our room, they automatically would hand me my glasses and then identify themselves.

I have gotten used to my lack of sight. I am extremely grateful for contacts. As an avid reader, I don't know what I would do without the ability to read. I have thought about having Lasik surgery but have always hesitated . My doctor told me that I probably would have to wear reading glasses or even a very slight correction even if I had the surgery. To me, it is an all or nothing event.

As I told my eye doctor when he mentioned it, I am not sure I am ready to wake up every morning with clear eye sight. I enjoy the fuzzy entry to the day, where everything seems soft and unformed.