My wife and I always get an early jump on Valentines Day because we where married on February 10 over 35 years ago and it has been the best 35 years in my life. at least I can say I have been married more years than not. Marriage is a time for change for both the man and woman, not just one or the other. The most important thing you learn is the word no. There are so many ways it can be said to what "no" really means.

But for now I will just be happy that there is still someone to tell me "NO"

Dee

I will be out of touch for a little while I have had quite a lot of things going on. For those who don't know me I started a project about a year ago ( Used Medical Aids Foundation ) I just got several truck loads of wheelchairs walkers scooters from a county hospital and have 2 truck loads from another hospital to get. I go threw the items and fix them up as close to new as I can then I post them in other groups that I belong to. There is no money involved no donation required only the need. I have several letters from people in my area that need something so I am trying to get as many ready as i can. I am getting help from the Boy Scouts in my area because I'm still not up to par yet but I can turn a wrench. so if I don't respond to the wonderful stories, poems, jokes, or pictures its because this santa is really busy right now.

Dennis

The Present

By Dee 

Christmas is a wonderful time of year walking along the store fronts lingering at the bakery shop with the fresh smell of goodies. Watching people go in and out of shops, with arm loads of packages. Hearing a bell ring at in front of a toy shop is reminding us, that there are others that need help.

 As you drive home you stop at a park where the kids are going as fast as they can down the hill on their sleds. There are no barriers between kids, no black, white, red, or yellow they just want to have fun. A little girl falls down and a woman picks her up and brushes the snow off and then gives her a hug.

Then Rose wakes up and realized it was a dream, remembers this last summer her husband and three kids, 2 girls and 1 boy won’t be sharing Christmas together anymore. Coming down out of the canyon her husband lost control of the car and went over the side. All Rose has now are pictures of times past that they shared together.

Rose goes out to get her mail the wind is bitterly cold and it looks like snow will soon come. As she gets to her front door a neighbor waves to her and says Marry Christmas. She waves back but says nothing. Looking at the mail that came that day reminds her of her lost family once again. She looks up into the mirror of the bathroom and sees a tear running down her cheek.

Why am I doing this still, it’s been 5 months and I need to get on with my life she says to herself. But a small voice says to her, “Mommy I love you”.

Her heart is aching and she can here herself saying I love you to. Then the tears start to flow and the tissue box is empty, so she uses the paper on the roll to dry her eyes.

Just then the phone rings and the man on the phone say’s “I am trying to raise money for those children that won’t have a Christmas”. Rose cuts him off by hanging up the phone.

As she goes to the bedroom and lies down on the bed to cry her eyes out like she has done so many in the last 5 months. She is saying to herself I’m not strong, I can’t take it anymore I don’t want to live. Again she hears another voice say “watch what I can do mommy”.

By the December 23^rd Rose is loosing her will to live and is trying to think of the best way to end the pain and suffering. But nighttime has come and she takes a pill to help her sleep.

In the morning she goes to the drugstore to pick up her medicine for depression and for sleeping. As she drives home she sees some girls in front of a store selling cookies. Again she hears a voice that says “Mmmmmm mommy they taste so good can I have another one”.

At home she says to her self NO! NO MORE! And then she sees the medicine that she just bought and says that’s how I will do it. When I go to bed tonight I will take all my meds and never wake up.

That night was the 24^th of December the worse night of the year to her remembering how the kids would try and sneak in to the living room to see what Santa had brought. Her eyes are red and her mind is filled with the missing images of Christmas in her home. She sits down to watch some TV but is started feeling sleepy so she lay down on the couch and closed her eyes.

The headline in the morning announces, “ANOTHER TRAGATY HAS HIT A HOME IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS”.

Rose could hear something then she heard it again but she had a hard time understanding what it was she heard. It came again but this time she heard mommy?

Rose opened her eyes and there in front of her was a little girl and beside her was another little girl with a little boy beside her. And standing behind them was a man holding out his hand. As she touches it, all of her thoughts comes to her. It’s her family she hugs them and kisses them. And starts to cry and says, how can this be. It’s another dream you are not real I have to wake up.

Her one little girl says, no mommy it’s not a dream we are here with you.

Headlines on the local news, “ANOTHER TRAGATY HAS HIT A HOME IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS”. A local woman dies in her sleep it seems that she had a faulty water heater and the pilot light went out but the gas didn’t stop.

Rose looked at her husband and said you mean I didn’t take all those pills like I was planning?

Her husband said no I was watching over you this whole time and it hurt me so to see you in such pain. I went to plead to help you and was told that I didn’t need to you where coming tonight to be with us forever.

Just then she heard singing it was the most beautiful song she had ever heard. And then there was a bright light, brighter than any she had ever seen before.

CHRISTMAS

Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday are over with and you have plenty of leftovers what else could you need.

Christmas is just a few weeks away and if you where smart you would have all your Christmas shopping all done.

My self I have a hard time sleeping because so many people have fallen on hard times. There is a family down the street that is just at the end of their rope and its 300 feet to the bottom.

Every year my wife and I look for just a family. To no fault of their own he has lost his job the first of the month and his wife is expecting their 4^th child. He is working part time just to put food on the table. His wife does a lot of craft things and has helped in cub scouts and as a room mother for her oldest child who is in 2^nd grade. But this year she has not been able to do much because the doctor told her that she should have waited another year to have another child. She has to be on bed rest till the middle of Feb.

My wife and I choose to do sub for Santa to a family just like this and we have gotten a few things for the family. I received a e-mail from someone that I helped this summer with a wheelchair. In the e-mail it said we know that you will not take money for your foundation. And we also know that your wife has been working to pay bills and help taking care of her mother. Tomorrow a truck will come to with presents for a family that you feel needs some help with Christmas. Along with an envelope with a check for $1,000.00 the payee will be blank. Plus there will be a special card that will have $200.00 on it for gas.

I couldn’t believe it I know this family could use it and more but the biggest thing was that there was a job for either the father or mother working as a janitor at a place that is really good to the employs.

They had also heard that I had been in an accident and wasn’t able to do my part this year.

I have to tell you that I have put on a Santa suit almost 30 years and I have helped deliver sub for Santa to families from other people. But this year I feel that for one night I really am Santa and its like magic far stronger than even superman. They have three little girls and they are the cutest always with a smile. And I know that when the time comes there will be the wonderment in their eyes anticipating what’s in the boxes. I just wish I could be there when they open their presents but I’m afraid that I may have some plumbing problems that I couldn’t control.

I remember one Christmas when my girls where little and they had cut backs at my job several had been laid off and the rest that still had a job our hours went from 40 to 32. I had told my wife that it was going to take everything I got on my check just to pay the bills. But then someone told me about a place where I could do some piece work making rubber valves for pipe lines. I worked real hard for 5 weeks in my spare time and was able to get enough to have a little Christmas. But the week before Christmas one of our girls got real sick and was put in the hospital for a couple of days.

Back then we had to pay a co-pay which took everything we had for Christmas. It was the 23 of Dec. and all of a sudden we heard some noise outside and there where friends and neighbors with boxes of things.

I have always thought of myself as someone who doesn’t need help. I didn’t want to feel like a charity case but I always knew how I felt when I was able to help someone in trouble. My wife told me its time you let someone else feel good by helping you.

So if you think you see something in the night sky on the 24^th don’t be surprised if you see me in a sleigh.

Ho, HO, HOO Marry Christmas

Dee

The Fishing Pond

It never ceases to amazes me what kids do in their spare time. I was watching my grand kids one day this summer and saw them stuck to the TV tube. It didn’t matter what anyone did, the kids wouldn’t leave.

In the other room they where at the computer it was like a magnet so strong that it would pull others to it.

I decided to try something it wasn’t big and I told my wife what I was going to do. The dish where done the living room was clean. No one thought to bring an I pod with them to grandma’s and grandpa’s house.

Just then we lost power the TV was off, the computer was off. The kids where looking, and checking the plugs but everything was in order.

It was 11:00 in the morning so it was warm out side but there weren’t any kids outside.

Well the first thing the kids did was to tell me to fix the problem so they could go back to what they where doing. I know they wanted me to do my magic and fix it.

I just told them that my magic wouldn’t work this time I needed to get something at the store to help me.

The kids looked like they where lost couldn’t think for themselves. I went into my garage to look around and asked the kids to come and help. Up in the rafters I had made some storage places for like camping gear and things like that. I told the kids that what I needed was way in back of all the stuff. So I went up the ladder and started handing things down to the kids. First a tire came down and then a couple of sleeping bags and a tackle box and then some fishes polls.

Then one of the grand kids said “I’ve been fishing before” as though it was a big thing. So I asked would you like to go again. Of course he said yes but he said we went far, far away and it took them all day to get there.

I smiled at him and said well I know one that is closer and will only take about an hour to get to. Then the rest popped up and said can we come. Sure I said I have to check with grandma first.

My wife had made sandwiches and put them in a box along with some other things. But she said I’m coming along as well or you can make your own sandwiches.

So off we went. I had turned the radio off and they didn’t even notice. Grandma asked do any of you know a song we all can sing. So we sang songs the whole way. When se got there some wanted to fish others wanted to go for a hike.

We caught several fish and I showed the kids how to clean them.

We spent about 5 hours there and not one of them complained and on the way back I taught them some songs from when I was a kid.

When we got back home and their parents came that’s all they could talk about. The showed the parents the fish and other things they had found and the songs they learned.

As they where about to leave I asked would you like to do it again some time.

Their answer was yes “tomorrow”

After the accident the kids thought that was the end of the trips. But grandma told them she had plans for going on a trip before Christmas.

We shall see how it turns out.

Dee

Sun Rise Sun Sets

I use to thing when the sun came up in the morning that some day it will be gone and there will be no light. When I would see it go down in the evening I would think could we live in the dark.

Science has gone so fast in the last 2 decades that most people haven’t had time to catch up to it. More and more babies are being born and we are trying to mold them into something better than what we did.

It’s sad to see young people start out in school with the fear that another child will snap. Who knows what will happen? I see more and more people home schooling their kids because of that fear.

Drugs play a big part! It is so easy to get and is sold at the market, school grounds, and yes even in the churches.

Someone says something wrong and all of a sudden a war breaks out. With the new weapons that are coming out so you can kill more people. They range from grandfather to a newborn girl. It can’t be stopped because man has not found a way to live together. What’s even worse its all done in the name of god or a god.

Now I don’t worry if the sun will burn out because I believe that we will blow it up along with ourselves.

I just pray that I am not going to be around when it happens!

Dee

                                 Journal of the Orphan Train Trilogy

     Children believed not one person in the whole world loved them or wanted them

From 1854 to 1929 over 200,000 homeless children traveled from New York City to the West and Southwest to find new homes. Towns were notified in advance when an orphan train was coming so those who wanted to adopt or be Foster Parents could see if there was a child that suited them. Some wanted a child to love while others wanted laborers. Where the children ended up was a matter of luck … or misfortune.

The history of the orphan trains isn’t complex, but each child has their own story. The Orphan Train Trilogy is an emotional story revealing what happened to some of these children, for better or worse. It also reveals how the lives of the adults were changed by the adoptions.

In the Journal you will find book reviews, book descriptions and excerpts.

To read the Orphan Train Journal click on the link below.

http://orphantraintrilogyauthor.blogspot.com/

 Author: Robert Noonan

When children are little they step on your toes, when they grow up they step on your heart..

It now seems so strange how fast they grow up. For years you are the center of their world, they come to you for everything. You nurse them thru all the various childhood ills, they cling to you, knowing if any one can fix it Mommy can. The bumps, the bruises, the owies that the magic bandaid cures. You wipe awaythe tears, they smile  , hug your legs and out the door they go.

I was a single Mom with 4 girls and 1 boy, I had no one to give me any help or encouragement and without my kids I would have been so lost. I constantly felt guilty because I had to work to survive. On my days off I would make them special days and we would plan together what we would do.

I worked nites so I could be there in the morning to get them up and ready for thier day, pre-school for 2, 1st

grade for 1 and the other 2 were home with me til I went to work. In the summer we had all day together. 

Sometimes I would be so tired I felt like crying, I`d think to myself "Oh please God, if they could just all dress themselves and tie their shoes I`d be so grateful,then I`d feel guilty !  The warm hugs , the baby smell of thier skin and the " I love you this much " made it all better again, and I knew I was doing the best I could with what I had to work with.

Then you turn around and their grown, school friends now take up our together time, no time to sit and read a story to them, "Mom, can we go to the play ground with our friends"?   O.K  see you in a couple hours.

Then all the sudden ,Mom ,"can I go to the movies with Kevin"?

Now they are gone, my twins, and my oldest daughter, my laughing, loving, girls. They were 20, 40, and 41 when

they died.  I`d give anything to dress them or tie their shoes, I just want to hold them one more time, to feel their 

warm, soft skin against my cheek and smell the shampoo smell of thier hair. Would`nt it be great if we could have do overs?  My heart hurts, there`s a huge empty feeling in there. Please let them see me, loving them.

I hear from my son[my baby, he just turned 40!] He calls every day just to say hi and I love you he fills me in on his day, I ramble on about what ever.  We never say Good-Bye, it makes it sound to final, we say "Later".

My oldest daughter is busy with her life, business and family, and I think she is still angry because I allowed her father to raise her and her two younger sisters,and I accept that,

but what I did was out of love for them and wanted them to have a good, stable life with all the "Bells and Whistles" included, something I knew I would never be able to give them.  Sharon and I have remained very close, and so have Cindy and I.  We keep in touch and visit as often as we can, but the guilt of having to ask thier father to take them will be

with me forever. I know in my heart what I did was best, but that does`nt stop the pain or the memory of being shut out of thier lives for  6 years.

I have`nt seen my youngest daughter since her sisters funeral in 2004. She was drinking, and disrespectful and

got mad because we would`nt let her go pick thru her sisters belongings. I call her, I`ll always love her but she

chose the bottle over all of us, I pray for her, and her darling 16 year old daughter, She knows where I am if

she needs me. I guess you can`t stop loving them, but you sure don`t have to always like them !

Oh well I guess what does`nt kill you makes you stronger !!

Later........Lonnie

MEMORIES 

NOW THAT SUMMER IS FAST APPROACHING, IT BRINGS BACK HAPPY TIMES WITH MY CHILDREN AND THE THINGS WE DID.

I WAS A WORKING MOTHER, KIND OF A JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF SOME, BUT ANY THING TO KEEP MY LITTLE ONES TAKEN CARE OF. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLES IDEA OF WASHING DISHES, WAITING TALBLES,WORKING AT DAIRY QUEEN FILE CLEARKING OR BARTENDING ARE VERY   UN -GLAMOROUS JOBS, I`M FINE WITH THAT. ALL I CAN SAY IS "STAY IN SCHOOL" I DID THE BEST I COULD WITH WHAT I HAD TO WORK WITH AND I`M NOT SORRY FOR ONE DAY OF IT. THERE`S SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT STREET SMARTS,YOU LEARN TO SURVIVE AND YOU DON`T ASK FOR HANDOUTS.

ON MY DAYS OFF, WHICH USUALLY FEEL DURING THE WEEK IN SUMMER, I WOULD SAVE EVERY CENT I COULD

AND WE WOULD GET TOGETHER AND PLAN WHAT WE WOULD DO OR GO ON "OUR DAY".

EACH CHILD WOULD MAKE A SUGESTION, WE WOULD TALK ABOUT IT AND FINALLY DECIDE. ON THIS DAY.

THEY DECIDED THEY WANTED TO GO TO THE LAKE AND CAMP OUT. SO WE HAD OUR PLACE, EVERYONE WAS SO EXITED, THE OLDEST WAS 13 THE YOUNGEST WAS THREE. EVERYONE PLANNED THE FOOD ,PACKED THIER OWN CLOTHES,  AND STARTED COUNTING THE DAYS.  EVERY DAY THE  LITTLE ONES WOULD SAY IS THIS THE DAY?

FINALLY THE "DAY" CAME, WE LOADED THE CAR WITH FOOD, CLOTHES BLANKETS ,SLEEPING BAGS AND A

FEW SPECIAL SNACKS.

AS IT WAS A WEEK DAY THERE WERE`NT MANY PEOPLE AT THE LAKE SO WE GOT A GOOD PLACE TO SET UP CAMP. WHAT FUN WE HAD. EVERYONE RUNNING ALL OVER LAUGHING AND WRESTLING AND TICKLING.

I STOOD WATCHING THEM THINKING I MUST BE THE LUCKEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!  ABOUT THAT TIME

THEY DECIDED I`D BEEN ON THE SIDELINES LONG ENOUGH, AND HERE THEY CAME, ALL 6, ARMS AND LEGS FLYING ,WE ALL HIT THE GROUND. THEY HUGGED ME, TICKLED ME AND SAT ON ME, THE NEXT THING I KNEW ONE OF THEM HAD A SAND PAIL OF WATER !!! WHAT A SHOCK ! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEM RUN !!

WE STARTED OUR BON-FIRE ,GOT A TOWELL FOR A TABLE CLOTH AND STARTED GETTING THE CHIPS AND

HOT DOG, BUN, SALAD, PICKLES AND WHAT EVER THEY WANTED ON THERE BUNS. THEN WE COOKED OVER THE FIRE, SOME CRISPY HOT DOGS ! BUT THE BEST I EVER HAD !  ATER WE ATE AND EVERY THING WAS PUT IN COOLERS, THE GRAND TREAT !! S`MORES, WHAT A TREAT, MY KIDS DID`NT GET MANY SWEETS, BUT TONITE

THE SKY`S THE LIMIT ! WE ALSO HAD A LOT OF CRISPY MARSHMALLOWS , ON TOP OF OUR GRAHAM CRACKERS AND HERSHEY BARS. AFTER ALL THAT WE LAID ON THE COOL GRASS AND WATCHED THE  CLOUD FORMATIONS SURE THAT THAT ONE LOOKS LIKE A UNICRN, AND THAT ONE HAS A PIG FACE AND HEY MOM

I SEE A DRAGON.!!!

SOON IT WAS GETTING LATE EVENING, WE WALKED DOWN TO THE DOCK WHERE AN ELDERLY MAN AND HIS WIFE WERE SUN FISHING [SPINNEY]   LITTLE FISH ,BUT FUN TO CATCH. WE SAT AND WATCHED FOR A WHILE THEN MY THREE YEAR OLD SON WENT OVER AND TOLD THE MAN HE WISHED HE COULD FISH, BLESS THESE

STRANGERS FOR CAREING ABOUT A BUNCH OF LITTLE KIDS. HE TOOK FISHING LINE, PUT A HOOK ON EACH ONE, THEN TOLD THEM HE HAD NO BAIT BUT KNEW THIS TRICK.   HE TOOK THE FOIL OUT OF HIS CIGARETTE

PACK AND FOLDED UP SOME SQUARES, PUT THEM ON THE HOOKS AND TOLD THE KIDS TO GO CATCH A FISH.

THEY ALL STOOD THERE,WAITING, AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE SHINNING PAPER MADE SOME LITTLE KIDS VERY HAPPY ! THEY CAUGHT 9 UGLY LITTLE FISH ! THEY WERE THRILLED AND SO WAS I. I HOPE THOSE SWEET PEOPLE KNEW THE JOY THEY PUT IN THE LIFE OF MY KIDS.

WE WENT TO OUR BLANKETS AND SLEEPING BAGS, GAVE HUGS AND KISSES AND BABY PRAYERS. AS I WALKED TO MY SLEEPING BAG I HEARD ,"WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK" MOMMY.

I LAYED DOWN, SO VERY THANKFUL FOR THIS DAY, FOR MY KIDS ,AND FOR ALL THE MEMORIES GOD ALLOWED ME WITH MY CHILDREN, I LOST THREE OF MY GIRLS, BUT LOOK AT WHAT THEY LEFT BEHIND.

IN REFLECTION,THE SHADOWS LIFT, AND THE MEANING OF THIS TIME SHINES CLEAR.

In April we lost out beautiful longhaired Siamese, Rudy.  She was two weeks short of her 21st birthday. Her kidneys failed.   Our other cat a Siberian Woods cat with long thick hair that seems to blend in to any wood she desides to perch on.  When Rudy died I thought {that was my first mistake} that she was depressed. She slept a lot and stayed in, which was a big change. I was in no hurry to replace my old friend so we waited til Sept and then my friend Joyce talked me into going to the Shelter to look at kittens.

I don`t like going to those places because I want to take them all home.  We went in told the receptionist what we were looking for.  And there they were...... all those sweet kittens !  I walked along looking in the cages to see what colors they had and which ones were real active.  As I walked back by a cage with a black kitten and a Siamese mix, the Siamese ran to the wire and reached out and grabbed my shirt ! I said Joyce did you see that ?

She laughed and we went back to look at a black one and again she started crying and climbed up the cage so we were eye to eye !  Well, I guess she picked me ! I rubbed her nose and the loudest kitty song you ever heard from such a small kitten.  There was nothing beautiful about her except she had the cream color fur, black tail and black ears and pretty blue eyes.  She has a long tail, long legs.long body and a mask across her eyes that looks like a Ferrot !  They said her mother was Siamese and her father was a traveling salesman !  I have deciced she looks like a cross between a Ferrot and a Howler Monkey ! She talks a lot but has a very tiny voice.

When my huband saw her he said was that the best they had, she instantly climbed on his lap and turned on the charm. It was love at  first touch.  She acted like she`d always lived here. But.....My intuition about oaty being depressed was wayyyyyy off! I think she was relaxed and happy to be the only cat !!!   As soon as she came in I , in my stupidity said ,"look at what I brought you".  Oaty took one look ,blew up to about three times her size and started hissing until she started choaking !   The kitten never even flinched, she just stood up on her back legs and started boxing that huge cat !  We laughed til we cried !  It`s been a month now and Oaty still hates her and she just does`nt care. She follows Oaty just to agitate her. It`s quite a circus ! She is on the go from the time she wake up, and knows when meal time is and lets us know.

We always wait to name our animals, so they fit their name,She is so sweet and loving and shows us every day how much she loves us. She has brought us so much joy and laughter watching her play is a hoot, she is not graceful and has no fear of anything.  In honor of the shelter where we got her, it was called "Saving Grace"  we decided to name her Gracie, then because she`s so "out there" she reminded me of the girl in the movie "Miss Congeniality" so now our little love is named Gracie Mae Freebush.

We know she came into our lives for a reason. I know she will never know cruelty, hunger, pain or fear.  The only touch she will feel is the touch of a loving hand while she lays, feet up ,singing her happy kitten song.