Happy Birthday Laura!

Today is my sister’s birthday.



My first memories
I was trying to change your diaper and you rolled all of the sudden and fell from the changing table. I heard you hit the floor. I yelled for Mom. She came and checked you over and you were alright. I was scared to death that I had hurt my baby sister.
I used to steal sugar packets from restaurants and hide them. I would dip your pacifier in the sugar packets and give you your pacifier back. You gave me the biggest smiles!

You are my gorgeous baby sister. Here you are in Avalon with the wind blowing your beautiful hair.



Here you are in Avalon feeding your new stuffed dog.



Mark was helping you with a present on Christmas.



I was visiting from college and you were in the 9th grade. An older boy asked you to the prom. You looked so beautiful in your prom dress!



This is a picture of you when I came for a visit while I was in the military.



Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.
~Charles M. Schulz

I am well aware that there are differences in how we remember the same events. I read once about sisters who got together and began chatting about the past. Even though they were together at the same time for the same event their experiences were totally different from one another.

I am concerned because your early memories of our childhood may be negative. When you remember our early childhood time together you remember feeling hurt and pain. I am sorry. I am sorry for teasing you. Please remember that I was not all grown up at the time myself. Mark and I were older but we were still children ourselves. We laughed and teased you and called you names. I made you stay up to play monopoly or horses with me. We did not do it to BE mean. You fought back the only way you knew how with yelling “I’m telling!”

I now understand how truly afraid you were when we hid the tape recorder in the attic to scare you. I now understand how afraid you were to step on the floor to get to the bathroom at night. If I was an adult I would have held and comforted you.

I have always loved you. I know that is very hard to understand from your childhood perspective.

I have always thought you were the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen.
I brag about you to my friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
I missed you when I went off to college.
I missed you when I left to join the military.
I worried about you during your teen years. I can’t tell you the panic and fear that ran though me when I heard about your car accidents. I was thousands of miles away when I got those terrible phone calls from Mom. She was crying the whole time she was trying to tell me what happened. You can’t possibly know how grateful and thankful I am that you were never seriously injured.

You grew up while I was away.

To the outside world we all grow old, but not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

I enjoyed the time we had together when I was living back at Moms. I remember how hard we laughed and how much fun we had. I enjoyed every visit that we came to see you. I enjoyed every visit that you made to Moms house. When I watch you dance I can’t take my eyes off of you! You can dance girl! Wow! I still have the video with you dancing with Joe.

Nichole at Dads house.



I could not find a pictures of Nichole with my oldest son Anthony.
I have them on video only.

Raggedy and Anthony.


These are pictures from your holiday visits at Moms.
The group photo with Mark is from Laura's house.








These pictures was taken when Dad took Nichole and Joe to the Baltimore Aquarium. The children loved the dolphin show!



Not only were you a beautiful little girl
you are now an exquisite woman.
You had an angelic baby girl who is now a lovely woman.

I am proud of you. I admire you.
I love you more than I can express in words.

I ask about you whenever I have a conversation
or visit with Mom or Dad.

Whenever I tried to call you in the past you were too busy to talk to me. I called and left messages and my calls were not returned. I ended up feeling like a stalker or intruder in your life. I stopped calling.

One of my hopes is that one day you will be able to find some time to spend with me even if it can only be on the phone. Even e-mail would be great. It is painful to be distant from you. I want to be closer. I wish we could spend more time talking and sharing our lives. I miss you. I love you. You are always in my heart.

I hope your birthday is fabulous!

Friday Feast #133

Appetizer

What does the color pink make you think of?

Pink makes me think of my daughter.

Soup

Name something you thought you had lost, but later found.

God

Salad

In 3 words, describe this past week.

Snowy and Fun!

Main Course
My dear friend Merle gave me a recipe.
I served it last night for dinner.
Thank you Merle!
It was fabulous!
(I took this picture for you!)

What are you obsessed with?

My Family

Dessert

What kind of perfume or cologne do you like to wear?

Shalimar

Happy Birthday Nichole!

I left a little brother and sister at home when I joined the military. Time passed and they grew up in the blink of an eye. Once I started a family of my own it became increasingly difficult to make the trips back home. Laura was living in Maryland in an apartment at my dad’s house and I was in the military when my niece, Nichole, was born. I could not get leave to come and see Nichole when she was born. My dad sent me a picture of this beautiful little baby girl.



(I used the scanner to get my photographs on my computer. I am disappointed with the quality of the pictures.)

I remember when I first laid eyes on this little cutie pie.

I brought Nichole some country clothes on one of my visits.

We shared a wonderful Christmas together. Both of these pictures were taken at Henry and Evelyn's home in Maryland. I remember the shine and happiness emanating from both of these grandpa’s! Love filled Henry’s house that year. It was a beautiful experience for me to share this very special christmas with them. My Dad is in the first picture with Nichole and Laura. In the second picture is my sister’s father in-law, Henry. I am not sure of the year that Henry passed. (RIP Henry)

Nichole loved her rocking horse!

She loved her blocks.

I still remember my trips to Maryland. This one was from an Easter. Nichole was so cute hunting for the eggs. She spotted an egg way up in a tree. When Jaycee saw and held these pictures today she said: “She has good eye sets!”



I moved back home for a period of time to live with my Mom. It was during those years I got to know Tim and Laura as adults. Although they didn’t live very far from my Mom they were very busy with lives of their own. We gathered on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and had a wonderful time. I had a blast playing with Nichole one Christmas baking with her new Easy-Bake oven!

This picture is my mom, Laura, Nichole and Joe.
I remember the Christmas Nichole got the doll of her dreams.

I took a trip to visit Laura and Nichole at their apartment in Maryland when I was living in Pennsylvania. It was not long after this picture that my sister bought her first house.



The last time I saw Laura and Nichole was when I stopped at her new house for a visit on my way to North Dakota with Joe in 1995. I miss them!

The difficulty involved in making trips out east was overwhelming. I had to schedule time off from work. We lived on a farm and all of the animals(horses,dogs,cats,rabbits,and fish) needed to be looked after. The money was the hardest thing to get together. It took me years to pay off the credit card debt that I needed to help me make the trips. Often times a trip meant that we had to eat some pretty skimpy meals for a month or two. I had to use the word “no” for the many little things Joe wanted that I normally could afford. It took every ounce of resourcefulness I had in me to accomplish my many visits over the years. Every trip was worth the hardship. I would not take back one single trip. I treasure my dad’s hugs, the love in his eyes, the warmth of his smile, the sound of his voice, his laugh, all of these and more are worth more to me than all the money in the world. I was able to make a trip home in 1998 and one more in 2001. Laura was very busy and could not bring Nichole to come and visit us at my dad’s place on either of our trips. My visits are never long and we fly there and back. I have not laid eyes on my precious niece since she was 10 years old!

I cherish the many phone calls we used to share. My sister and I could not afford to make many long distance calls. I think we both experienced the same panic when our phone bills hit the size of a car payment! We both had our long distance shut off.

I was able to see my Mom in 1998 but she was away when I visited in 2001. My Mom came to see us in 2002 when Jaycee was a few months old. I did not see her again until her visit here in November of 2006. I miss my family very much. When my mother came for her visit in November she brought this picture. My mom thinks Nichole was about 18 when the picture was taken. Isn't she beautiful?

I have not been home now since 2001 and I don’t see the possibility of getting there anytime in the near future. On that note I am sending my long distance love from one thousand seven hundred miles away from my heart to yours. I love you!

Nichole is 20 years old today.
Happy Birthday Nichole!
I love you more than words can express.

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.
~Irish Blessing

Dear Nichole,
There is a hardship and price for being in the military and for living great distances away. I am feeling that pain today more than I normally do.
I hope you understand.
I hope that you know I love you with all my heart.
Every March 1st since the day you were born I think of you on this day. I hold tight to memories that are fewer than I would have liked. They are cherished memories. They are fond memories. I feel blessed for every single moment I was able to spend with you. My thoughts are for you today. I am proud of you. Although you are many miles away you hold a very special place in my heart, today and always.
Every conversation and visit I have with your Grandma or Grandpa I ask about you. I have heard of your many struggles and triumphs and I hope that your triumphs will outnumber your struggles this year and in all the years to come.
All my Love,
Aunt Sara

Wordless Wednesday

We miss you Mom! Come visit us again soon. Jaycee says "Pwease!"

Support Our Troops (re-post request)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt





This link is for the same song but the video here has different pictures and a beautiful prayer at the end.
Please take the time to click on the link. It is really worth viewing.

CLICK HERE

The Corrs

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
~Plato

The Corrs
From Wikipedia



The Corrs are a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Celtic folk-rock and pop rock group from Dundalk, Republic of Ireland. The members of the band are four siblings - three sisters and one brother - from the Corr family: Sharon, Caroline, Andrea and Jim Corr. The band rose to prominence in the late 1990s, and have since sold over 65 million albums worldwide, and have had numerous number one singles and albums in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America.

This group is awesome!

Sunday February 25, 2007

“May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.”
~Irish Blessing