My Brother's Keeper

Traveling in the 60's with Dad!  My younger brother James, always Jimmy to me.  We were an inseparable pair until I started school.

I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three. ~Author Unknown 

Hi Bro,

I just noticed that the trim on your socks don't match.  Ha Ha!  I think you got that from Dad.  I always wondered if he was color blind or if he wore some of those combinations just to annoy Mom.  I called Mom a few minutes ago because today is difficult for her.  We sure miss you.  I was talking to my grandson about you and realized you have been gone for seven years and he just turned six.  Maybe your spirits connected somewhere.  He is quite a character and some kind of cute!  The girls and I are going out for dinner tonight and we'll raise a toast to you and to everyone else we get to missing this time of year.  I am somewhat dismayed to mention that I have not made it to Mt. Ranier yet.  We plan a trip to the left coast, I mean West Coast next year.  (Carl's friend Rick lives in Cali and he always calls it the left coast)  I think some of your pals from the AT have already hiked the Pacific Coast area.  I realized that while I do love to hike...I am not the one who will go into the woods for months (or even days) at a time.  I will climb a portion of that mountain by proxy although I imagine you have a much better view of it than I do.  Say hi to Dad, Dot Dot and everyone else...I love you...til we meet again. 

Love, Your Big Sis

There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother. ~Astrid Alauda

Appalachian Trail - Springer Mountain, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine approximately 2179 miles.  How many can say they have hiked this great Eastern trail or done it more than once?

Trail name: PapaSquat

September 30, 1961 - November 17, 2003

A Special Veteran

Hi Dad,

Thinking of you today.  You always looked so handsome in your full dress uniform.  You were so proud to serve your country.  You sacrificed time with family and your health for many, many people that didn't even appreciate what you were sworn to do.  We appreciated you, always have, always will.  I miss you...I have my "conversations" with you and there are times I would give anything to sit across a table from you.  Sometimes (more often than not) a girl just needs her Dad!  Thanks for being an awesome human!  I know you have a great crowd to hang out with and I miss them as well.  Til we meet again...I love you!

(July 24, 1934 - December 24, 1982) 

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

This poem by Mary Oliver really speaks to me as it does to many, many other people!  I love what I love and have quit making apologies for who I am or who I am striving to be.  Impossible to believe that it is November, the year 2010 is winding down...it has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me.  I have been choosing a word of the year for several years now.  Boy, Howdy...did the word Release really stir up some interesting dirt.  I am tired albeit in a very good way...shifting through all the "stuff" that no longer works in my life is painful, exhausting yet exhilirating!  I am coming out the other end with a better knowlege of my loves, my purpose for me, my family and my world.  Currently pondering my word for 2011...a cautionary tale...be careful of your chosen word...it may put you to work in a BIG way! 

I am happy knowing I am a mass of contradictions, aren't we all.  What have you learned this year and are you totally grateful for having that experience?