The End of a Chapter

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
² He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
³ He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
⁴ Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
⁶ Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.

ABNPOPPA and ABNMOMMA'S Great Adventure began on April 22, 1977. From a very strong discussion about woman's lib in college to the red color she wanted to paint the living room. Always, always a great adventure. At the young age of 21 she took up the challenge of raising a six year son which she was not the birth mother. She blessed me with a daughter and second son, Jacob, the warrior paratrooper.

We honeymooned in a two man pup tent because we couldn't afford a motel and it rained four of the 5 days. Soaked sleeping bags, soaked clothes but never a complaint. Always a smile and it will be better the next time.

She nursed not only the children she raised but in her 32 years as a Registered Nurse gave only the best care she could give to thousands of patients both in the hospital and later as a nurse who went to the patients homes because they couldn't travel to the doctor's office or pay to stay in a nursing home. I had the honor of driving her thru snow and ice to visit patients when the Sheriff''s department said any one on the roads would be arrested because they were so bad. Her patients needed her service and she was going to see they got it. During one winter blizzard the local police department sent out a four wheel drive vehicle to see she got to where she had to go.

She nursed her patients and nursed her family spending hours and hours with her mother when she developed pancreatic cancer. She nursed ABNPOPPA when he had emergency surgery on Christmas eve and she nursed more neighborhood kids than you could count.

She was a nurse's nurse.

She was a mom, grandma and wife to me for the best years of my life. On Tuesday morning she left the world we lived in together for nearly 32 years after a heroic battle against lung cancer. She was 53 years old.

This is not the end to our Great Adventure, only the ending of a chapter in the book. She has gone on to map out our next chapter as she always did finding places to stay, usually with a beach and usually with some historic sites. I will only have to say as I always did, where are we going and when do we leave.

Let not your heart be troubled, she has gone on to prepare the way, the same as our Savior.

ABNMOMMA, I love you Tiger! Thanks for giving me the best years of my life.

Pops

Things I don't need to know*

After a whirl wind tour through the sunny south, Thanks in part to AIRBORNE DAD who did some kind of special sun dance for us yankees, we arrived back at Fayville on Sunday evening. Specialist Jacob and his 1500 close friends had gotten back on Saturday from there camping trip.

This trip was very special to us as we got to visit with Jacob's battle buddy, Sgt. Anderson's mother who had also recently arrived. We missed each other when our boys came back from their tour in Iraq. This was our first time to just chat and visit. It was just fantastic. For those of you who don't know Sgt. Anderson lost his father while he was stationed in Iraq. See my post of February 12, 2008. It tells Sgt Anderson's story. The story is continued on my post of 3/30/08.

Sgt. Anderson, who will now be called by his Christian name Kody, fired up the grill, got out some of his "secret Lousianna sauce" and barbecue up some fine steaks, burgers and dogs. Several of "the guys" just happened to show up at dinner time and like all good soldiers and their families they shared with each other. Even the beverage. I believe it was soda pop. At least the cans were silver like Diet Coke! Kody's new bride whipped up a southern salad of green onions, carrots, sun flower seeds, sliced nuts, and her mother's recipe for the dressing. It was fantastic.

What struck me as the oldest person there was this. First, as I looked on and listened to these young men who had just spent 10 days in the muck, mud, rain and cold there were no complaints. Not one. They discussed, no they dissected the training session in a manner of a surgeon. What went right. What went wrong. What could be improved on. How can we do this better. Jacob is the oldest and is only 28 but as I listened I knew I was listening and observing professional soldiers. The finest soldiers any country can produce. Truly, The One Percenters.

The second thing about these young men was the respect. When Kody saw me get out of my car with ABNMOMMA he immediately stood up, removed his sacred LSU hat and came to the car. He shook my hand and then gave me a bear hug like none other. He immediately went to ABNMOMMA and hugged her, a little easier then escorted her to the garage and secured her a chair. It was raining slightly and we did the cook in the garage barbecue. As the other soldiers arrived, it was always the firm handshake then the bear hug. ABNMOMMA and Kody's mother were always addressed as mom or Mrs. or mame. Lady's first through the serving line and appropriate seating at the table. Not one swear word was uttered in the presence of the ladies. Can't say as much in the presence of the men (me).

Every time I am blessed to see these young warriors I feel a sense of pride that sometimes in nearly uncontrollable. Guess, I'm getting to be an old softie. Be that as it may. These guys and gals are the absolute best people on earth, IMHO!

God Bless them for what they do and keep on doing.

*Better discussed NOT in mixed company. That's all I am saying.

10 Days with 1500 Close Friends.

As you may have noticed things have been a little quiet on this blog. Mainly because Specialist Jacob has been spending the past week + with about 1500 or so of his close friends "in the field". I can tell you from a lifetime of living with him practice makes perfect but he hates practice. He would much rather play the game. Be it track or basketball in school or defending your country in real life. This kind of thinking scares the bejebers (are there 2 "e"s in bejebers?",out of me and ABNMOMMA but we have learned to live with it. That's the way he became a 92% foul shooter in high school, that's reason he went 8 for 8 at the foul line in the last minute and a half in a league champship game. Practice, practice, practice until it becomes automatic. That's the reason we have the best military forces in the world, period!

We have received no messages or phone calls from the young man much tothe displeasure of his mother but wifey has. Judgin from her verbage of he said he is "tired, dirty, and cranky" perhaps no message is a good message. He gets very cranky when he doesn't get his 2 to 3 hours of sleep. I am the same way. If I don't get my nap in the afternoon.....boy am I cranky.

Anyway just to let you know we are still on board with this blog and currentlly coming to you from Key West, Flordia I will be signing off now. Just another note. I am doing this from the laptop at the pool!. Really can barely read what I am typing so don't get on my case about the spelling. Half the time I can't find the little hand or icon or what ever you call that thing!

God Bless Amrica and our military who keep us free.

TROOP WITHDRAWAL

I should be happy but I am not. Here's why. The troop withdrawal announcement has just provided the enemy with some very important information. President Obama has used our fine fighting warriors for another photo op. Going to Camp Lejuene and making this televised announcement is just that. A photo op and here's why.



What he said:

Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.



What I read:

Hello Mr. Taliban, I just wanted to let you know you can begin to increase your influence and violence after August 31, 2010. Feel free to increase your attacks on American troops. You see I was suppose to have all troops home in 16 months, well at least that is what I promised. But you know, words, just words. This gives you plenty of time to harass our troops and gain plenty of media to show more carnage and suffering.



What he said:

I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.


What I read:

If August 31, 2010 didn't give you enough time to plan, let me give you this absolute date. December 31, 2011, got that? Start ramping up your terror campaign for January 1, 2012.



What he said:

The drawdown of our military should send a clear signal that Iraq’s future is now its own responsibility. The long-term success of the Iraqi nation will depend upon decisions made by Iraq’s leaders and the fortitude of the Iraqi people.



What I read:

We don't really need a strong presence in this area of the world. We can just turn it over to a nation with the very beginnings of a military and democracy. So what it took us nearly 200 years to develop into the world's best military power and strongest democracy. Iraq can do it without our continuing help in a couple of years. Israel, oh don't worry about them. I going to through them under the bus just like my grandma and Reverend Wright.





What he said:

The first significant shift could be with the 22,000 Marines in Anbar province, .....The Marines have already tested exit routes through Jordan with plans for a full-scale exodus during the "2010 calendar year," said Terry Moore, deputy assistant chief of staff for logistics for Marine Corps Central Command.

What I read was:

OK, guys, we know where they are going and most likely when they are going. Send out a couple of low key guys and keep an eye on the Marines. Let me know when they start to rampup. I'll start working on the ambush plans.

What he said:

This effort will be led by our new Ambassador to Iraq – Chris Hill. From his time in the Peace Corps, to his work in Kosovo and Korea, Ambassador Hill has been tested, and he has shown the pragmatism and skill that we need right now.

What I read:

Isn't the Peace Corps like a community organizer? Ah yes, the work in Kosovo, great job. Makes you well skilled to handle this minor problem. Another bureaucrat with impeccable record of what? Great job in Korea. Didn't they just launch or promise to launch missiles while our Secretary of State, Senator Clinton, was there? Change is coming to Washington D.C. you have my word on it. Where did I hear that?

I could go on and on, sentence by sentence and dissect what's wrong with the President's speech. I think my humble opinion has been made. Am I happy many of our troops are going to be out of harm's way, of course. What parent or loved one wouldn't. The bigger problem is this.



It was announced! Why in Hell do we have to announce everything! I liken that to the great basketball player Magic Johnson driving hard down the court and just before the famous no look pass going into stop action and saying, Hey, defender, I'm going to look left then pass to the right behind my back. Now what do you think the defender is going to do? I'll blog you, decide.





Why do we have announce everything? Can't we just quietly and with out a bunch of hoopla slowly withdrawal our brave young men and women warriors? Why do we have to make such a big media spectacle of this? Does President Obama not understand the dangerous position he has just put our troops in? Or.....does he not care? Is he THAT beholding to the "far left" code pink and move on .org and the morons that got him elected.

When does a 1st time elected president start to campaign for his second term? The day after he is elected for his first term. That's what this announcement and spectacle is about. Nothing more, nothing less. Re-election at all cost.


To do this to our fine and brave warriors is a CONSERVATIVE OUTRAGE.