Corner View: One Song

This is a photo of my parents, Rev. Roy and Shirley.  They have both been gone a long time. When I married my second husband in 1997, I dedicated the following song to them. I had gone through a rough divorce and had started over again in every area of my life.  If I had not had their love and support, I do not believe I would have made it. (This picture sits on the shelf above my computer where  I sit every day.
The song is by Celene Dion and was the theme song for a movie starring Michelle Pfeffer and Robert Redford.  It's called "Because You Loved Me." When I was on my way to my dad after hearing that my mom had died, this song came on the radio.  Fortunately I was not driving because I lost it.  I hope you  enjoy the song.  For more corner views go on over to Francesca's.

Corner View: Rock

Let me start with the acknowledgement of God as my rock and foundation.  That being said, my rock on earth was my dad.   Here he and I are at the WWII Monument in Washington.  His generation is known as the greatest generation: tough, sometimes cantankerous, they helped in many different ways to win WWII and keep most of our world free.  He's been gone too many years, but he is never forgotten, nor are the lessons he taught me.

Corner View: Replace

These are sermons of my dad's.

Some are handwritten. 

Then there are those that came after he got the word processor.

That was the transitional 'tool' between the electric type write

and the computer.

Since we just celebrated the 4th of July,

I am showing the first pages of three written

about  Freedom, Faith, and America.

There is another big box like the one below and also a smaller one

full of Dad's sermons.

They are precious and

we cannot replace them.

We also found letters from my mom to my dad

and from him to her

when he was overseas.

These cannot be replaced either.

This one tells him that she now knows  he was in the Battle of the Bulge.

Berlin had reported that the Germans had virtually wiped out the 106th division,

which was what my dad was part of

except for 212 who were left wandering in the high snow.

He had told her to never assume he was dead if he went missing in action.

Instead, she was to believe he had been captured.

That is what she did,,

and he had been one of the 212,

who were captured and taken to POW camps.

Mother's letter was never sent.

These are letters from my dad to mom.

Below shows the dates of Dec. 5, 6, 10, 12, and 13.

That last letter was written about a week before he was captured.

These are two that were written after his camp was liberated.

Here are photos of my parents before he left for the war in Europe.

She quit nursing school to marry him.

The schools later eased up on the single status for nurses

because there was a shortage, 

probably due to many marrying their sweethearts

before they were shipped overseas

and also because of a greater demand.

However, Mom was packing to go back to Cleveland to school,

when she got the telegrams -- 2 of them in a row.

1st - Missing in Action

2nd - German POW

 She stayed home to be near her family

as she was devastated.

Here is my family shortly after I was born.

Dad was in seminary after graduating from Asbury College

near Lexington, KY.

He had promised the Lord he'd do whatever God wanted,

if God would just get him home alive.

God did.

In gratitude for his life 

and in response to God's 'call',

Dad left his machinist job at a steel mill

(which he returned to after the war)

and went to school to become a Methodist minister,

which he was for almost 50 years.

As I've already stated,

 I cannot replace these.

Instead I will put them in scrapbooks

specially designed to keep them from deteriorating.

Some of the letters will go in the POW scrapbook

I made for my dad's 80th birthday.

For more on replace, please go to Francesca's.

A visit and memorabilia

This is what my living room looked like

after my brother, sister-in-law, and I

went through boxes of Dad's and Mom's stuff ----

memorabilia.

They took a minuscule amount back to Colorado

with them,

including some of Dad's sermons.

I have empty boxes

that I am going to use to help me  organize this into:

Pictures of my kids and grandkids -

Pictures of  dad, mom, the brothers, and me - 

Sermons to give to the kids -

Pictures and written stuff of Dad's and Mom's

Stuff having to do with his WWII experience -

Throw out - 

I've started but need to get much further today.

I ended up really getting into the movie 

The Life of Pi

and I didn't want to look away from it.

(I thought I'd sort and watch a movie

at the same time. Ha! Ha!)

 Here is my sister-in-law Cindy and my brother David

We spent a huge chunk of the day this past Saturday the 28th

at the house going through stuff

and talking and catching up with each other.

I kept lunch simple:  ordered subs from Subway.

My husband went in and got them.

I added a fruit salad and chips.

There were cake and cookies for dessert

We went out to dinner at a place I had never been,

but Mike had.

It's called Food with Jane after her catering company.

It's a small, but dressed-up restaurant

with excellent food.

It was a wonderful day.

Five-Minute Friday: Lost

He was my rock.

Oh, God was, of course,

but in human terms,

it was my father.

I had a rock-solid husband

for whom I have been blessed

 and continue to be.

But Dad was my first

and always rock.

I knew I'd take it extremely hard 

when the time came for him to pass on

and be with Mom.

But even I underestimated

the excruciating pain

I experienced.

I was lost.

I wondered around blindly

for a long while.

Eventually I got my bearings somewhat,

but I still felt lost

and

rudderless.

I realized that he had also been my church

as he was a Methodist preacher

and the pastor 

I held above all others.

I didn't have a church (I gave up church

after a harsh betrayal by a close Christian friend

and my Christian husband)

and that bothered him tremendously.

I didn't understand why I needed one---

that is, until I lost my rock.

It's been seven years

and I am finally able to go through the photos

and sermons and misc.

I also joined a church;

it had been 'his' years ago

when I was growing up.

I'm back living in that small town now,

so once again that church is my church.

He designed the podium and chairs,

so it's easy to picture him  there.

My rock. . . I didn't lose him;

he's just watching over me from a distance.

The Cliffs of Moor in Ireland

where my husband and I celebrated

 turning 50 together.

I'm joining Five-Minute Friday.

Corner View: Good Memories

 My mother made the red outfit for my daughter Sara.

I saved it and now her daughter Abigail can wear it.

Also an outfit of Sara's.

My mother sewed almost all my maternity clothes

and 

a lot of Sara's clothes.

I kept quite a few of them.

Good memories of my mother 

and the time, effort, and love 

she gave to me and mine.

For more views on good memories,

go on over to Fuoriborgo

.

Corner View:Adult Blankie

The topic was chosen by me.  It was to be 'adult blankie' for that something that we have kept and find comfort in.  I gave an alternative topic in case it was thought that the blankie one might be difficult.  Well,

it 'got lost in translation' because the two were strung together somehow-at least in some cases.  But that's one of the cool aspects of corner view: we interpret the topic as we see fit and thus bring uniqueness 'to the table'.

My 'adult blankie' is a sweater - actually three sweaters. They all belonged to my father who was 6'3" and around 300 pounds.  I am 5'6" and nowhere close to 300 pounds, so the sweaters do not even remotely fit. But I wear them anyway.  I keep one in my locker at school (pictured to the above), one on the back of the bathroom door here at the farm house, and one on a hook in the hallway of our trailer at the lake(I don't have a pic of it).

The one at school I put on when I am cold and have not layered up for the day so am in need of a extra layer.  I also wrap up in  it when I put my feet up and take a quick nap before driving home.

I wear the blue one pictured below over whatever I am wearing around the house. I have it on over my pjs as I type this(I stayed home from school today).
I have just recently started going through the memorabilia of my parents ---particularly my dad's sermons.  I can now do it without being rendered useless by tears.  I have held onto things that I should have sent to a brother so he could organize them (dad's sermons).  I just couldn't 'deal' with the sorting and packing and letting go.

The sweaters never bothered me like the other things did.They have always simply brought comfort---thus the 'adult blankie' topic.

I am late in putting this out and Francesca has moved on to another post.

However, you can still access corner view and see how everyone
interpreted the topic.  Click on Fuoriborgo and visit.

[I usually have jeans and a t-shirt or pjs on when I wear the blue sweater.  But I wanted to get a picture and did not want it to be me in my pjs.  So I had my husband take one of me when I got home from school yesterday.]

Corner View: Sacred Place

At first I wasn't sure what to feature 

for the topic sacred place,

but as I pondered over it,

I kept coming back to the memorials in Washington D C.

My husband and I took my father about 9 years ago

to visit my brother and his family in Harrisburg, PA.

Together we took Dad to see the WWII monument.

It was a cold day and Dad was hurting,

so he didn't see everything that we saw,

but he saw what mattered the most to him.

I have featured Dad and the Washington trip before.

For those of you who are new to my blog,

my dad was a POW in Germany during WWII.

He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.

[Click on all photos to see them larger.

That will especially help with the quotes

and the space capsule monuments.]

Here is the pool of fountains that makes up part of the WWII monument.

The Washington monument is in the background.

Below are more photos of it.

 All around the monument are famous quotes from that time period.

Here is Dad.

Note the words beside him

and in the next photo.

These are glimpses of  the Korean War monument.

The one above and the next few are in memory of those who fought in 

the Vietnam War.

Below is the wall of names.

My husband's hand is underneath a casualty from our small town.

I still remember when we got word of Bill Young Jr.'s death.

His family lived down the street from us

and they were members of my dad's church.

Dad had the funeral.

This one particularly struck me.

The nurses of the Vietnam War were unsung heroes for many years.

Next are the memorials to members of two space capsules

that were casualties in our country's race to space.

In the middle of them is one dedicated to members of our armed forces

who died trying to free American hostages in Iran

April 25, 1980.

Then there is the cemetery.

There is a hush that came upon me

in reverence to those who died for our freedom.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

All of these are sacred places (to me)

where we pay homage to those who helped

keep our country and parts of the world free

throughout the years.

For more views around the world,

go to Francesca's Fuoriborgo

for Corner View.

Integrity and Monday's Prayer

"Beth Moore correctly observed, 'Those who walk in truth walk in liberty.'

As believers in Christ, we must seek to live each day with discipline, honesty, and faith.

When we do, at least two things happen: integrity becomes a habit,

and

God blesses us because of our obedience to Him.

Living a life of integrity isn't always the easiest way,

but it is always the right way . . .

and God clearly intends that it should be our way too."

From One Hundred Days of Grace for Women

Above is a photo of what is on the shelf of my computer armoire.

The armoire is in the dining room and is where I do all my computer work

and bill paying.

It has a photo of my parents, two precious wooden figures, Dad's books on WWII,

and

Mom's Bible with the "Angel on Duty" knick knack that reminds me

they are still looking out for me.

It also has photos of my dad resting on the POW album I made him for his 80th birthday

and a few other items.

There is at least one person in my family who might disagree with me

on this next statement and I have shied away from saying such things

so as not to upset him.

But they are my parents and for me, they lived integrity.

Every moment, every day? No!

They were not perfect.

But they made a commitment to live a life for God

\and share the love manifested in His son, Jesus Christ.

I watched and learned and hope that most days I make them proud.

Both figures were given to my dad.

One represents Dad as it is an old-time preacher.

The other one represents the man who became like a second father to me.

They were close friends.

'Porky' was salty in his talk and attitude,

but oh he lived integrity.

He was dry humor and blunt honesty.

When I needed that most in my senior year of high school,

living with him and his precious wife Marge (my second mom),

Porky came through.

 More later---

[I'm running out of time and must not be late for school.]

Here's Monday's Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Every day can be an exercise in character-building,

and that's what I intend to make this day.

I will be mindful that my thoughts and actions have great consequences,

consequences in my own life

and in the lives of my loved ones.

I will strive to make my thoughts and actions

pleasing to You,

so that I may be an instrument of Your peace,

today and every day.

Amen.

"As the water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person."

Proverbs 27:19