Sunday Song, God Is In the Roses

Sunny - Hi 104 Lo 82 for Baghdad, Iraq
Partly Cloudy - Hi 98 Lo 64 for Qandahar, Afghanistan
Mostly Sunny - Hi 78 Lo 62 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: God Is In the Roses, Rosanne Cash

God Is In The Roses (Live) by Rosanne Cash

or

You Tube, God is in the Roses

I really wanted to share this song with you and I could not find it anywhere... I hope you check out one of the links above. This song was on Rosanne's LP, Black Cadillac released in 2006. This album is lovely, thoughtful, haunting, poetic, melancholy-- this song, one of my favorites.

Since this is Memorial Day Weekend and it is a time to remember those we have lost in service to our nation I couldn't help but think about the mothers of some of our local fallen heroes. I can think of no better song-- a song about loss and yearning and remembering and searching and asking for comfort.

To the servicemen that made the ultimate sacrifice - Thank you and I will not forget you.

God is in the roses
The petals and the thorns
Storms out on the oceans
The souls who will be born
And every drop of rain that falls
Falls for those who mourn
God is in the roses and the thorns

The sun is on the cemetery
Leaves are on the stones
There never was a place on earth
That felt so much like home
We're falling like the velvet petals
We're bleeding and we're torn
But God is in the roses and the thorns

I love you like a brother
A father and a son
It may not last forever and ever
But it never will be done
My whole world fits inside the moment
I saw you be reborn
God is in the roses
And that day was filled with roses
God is in the roses and the thorns

Have a great week everyone!

Letters Home

Partly Cloudy - Hi 111 Lo 85 for Baghdad, Iraq
Isolated Thunderstorms - Hi 85 Lo 65 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban

Ramble:

In preparing for my Sunday post I read through various speeches- from our forefathers to President Bush. I kept finding my way back to President Reagan. His words are just as moving today as when he first spoke them. However, I wanted this Memorial Day post to be a little more personal so I went up to our loft and spent a good portion of the afternoon pouring over old letters that were saved by my Great Great Aunt Ethel.

My Aunt Ethel was the record keeper in the family. I received a birthday card and two dollars in the mail every single year up to her death. I was special as were all her nieces and nephews. It is my understanding that she had fallen in love once, but he broke her heart, so she never married. My grandmother has given me most of the photos from Aunt Ethel's collection and being the record keeper that she was, all the photos have first and last names, dates and the relationship of the person in the photo to the individual she gave the photo to.

This is a photo of my Great Great Great Grandfather. (click on images for a larger view)
I know this because---
Anyway, you get the point. She kept everything that was important- letters, photos, newspaper clippings, birth certificates and death notices- she was incredibly organized, fastidious, detail driven woman. She took an old roll of wall paper and mapped out our family tree... pretty ingenious if you ask me. I have her to thank for the letters below. The black marks are the last names of my family that I have blacked out on the photo copies I made to do this post- the originals are in tact with all her notes. Aunt Ethel even put last names on letters-- knowing (or at least hopeful) that someone in the family would want to know.

My Uncle Charlie passed away this past November and I posted about it him here. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam. He loved this country and never stopped fighting for her. Never. He loved the Corp. just as much as this country. He was a Marine his entire life- even when they made him retire. (click on images to enlarge and read)


My Uncle Steve (19 years old) and "Janis"





This letter cracks me up because Uncle Steve hates winter... he lives in Las Vegas now... Uncle Steve also retired from the Marines. As my memory serves me he left the Marines back in the early 80's and went to work for the railroad... found that he didn't like it and went back to the Corp. He retired as a Master Gunnery Sergeant.

A few thoughts...

I think we miss out on a lot because we don't write letters- email is great, but there is something to be said about receiving a handwritten letter- to recognize the handwriting of the envelope and anticipate what will be found inside. A letter takes more thought and are to be cherished. Most email ends up being deleted. Having spent the afternoon reading through family letters of those now no longer with us... it was as if they came back to life. I could hear their voices again.

A special thank you this Memorial Day to all the military bloggers I have gotten to know. You are so important. Keep writing. Keep telling your story. It is important and a way to document for your family and generations to come.

Friends of ours have a son that on May 19 graduated from high school. On the 24th he was headed to Fort Benning. Patrick's goal is to be an Airborne Ranger attached to the 101st. I can not tell you how proud I am. No... he isn't joining the Marines ;-), No... he isn't my son... No... I don't even know him that well... However, I do know that to volunteer to serve our country during a time of war is quite courageous and quite humbling for me. I thank God every single day for men like him. I pray that God keeps him safe.

We live in such an amazing country. I am so grateful to the men and women we will remember tomorrow. I am so grateful to those that serve presently. I am so thankful to the families of those that serve. I think a powerful way to remember those that served our nation is to thank those presently serving. Maybe you know a mom or dad of someone presently serving- write a letter and give it to mom or dad to be delivered in their next care package. Maybe you have to pick up a loved one at the airport... our servicemen are easy to pick out in a crowd... the high and tight haircut on a young man or the tightly coiffed ponytail on a young woman is an easy giveaway- a simple gesture of a handshake and two simple words- Thank you will make the difference...

Thank you.

Thank you.

You do raise me up.


You Raise Me Up, Music and Lyrics by Rolf Lovland & Brendan Graham

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

Have a great week everyone!

Memorial Day

Mostly Sunny - Hi 110 Lo 81 for Baghdad, Iraq
Sunny & Hazy - Hi 90 Lo 68 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Arlington, Trace Adkins This is an encore--- it is the only song that makes sense this week. As I wrote last time... if you hate country music... ok... fine... just listen to the words...

I received an email asking me why I list the temperature in Baghdad and here in my hometown each week... I'm glad you asked because I don't think I have ever explained it...Every week, I go to weather.com. I look up the forecast for Baghdad each week. It is my way of reminding myself that there are men in uniform and body armor in ungodly temperatures doing a job they volunteered to do on my behalf... So, while I am sipping my delightful cup of java... these guys are working their tails off and hoping to not get them shot off... that's why...

Ramble:

This is Memorial Day Weekend- my first thought is--- EXTRA DAY OFF FROM WORK!!! Wahoo!!! However, this is my reminder to myself there is a reason besides having cold beer at dysfunctional family picnics behind the meaning of this day.

As a kid, my grandparents would drag my brother and me to the cemetery to decorate the gravesite of my Aunt Cathy. She was five years old when she died from Leukemia. There are bunches and bunches of pictures of Decoration Day of years gone by. Pictures of my dad and uncle looking uncomfortable...and sad... Pretty much the way my brother and I look in the pictures I have... definitely uncomfortable and definitely sad. As kids, we were quiet and solemn... seeing my grandfather weep openly is what made me sad, so Terry and I always stayed quiet.

I remember learning about the meaning of Memorial Day from my grandmother. She is one of the smartest people I have known in my life. She was and still is a big history buff. I wish I had paid more attention as a kid- the things I would know today...

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Miss.; Macon, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; Boalsburg, Pa.; and Carbondale, Ill.

Courtesy of The History Channel

Brave men and women continue to go to battle and serve our country. These brave souls keep our country free...They are willing to go into harms way so that we may live our lives... I am humbled in the presence of so many of these fine men and women... I grieve that so many wives have lost their husbands, that so many children will not be kissed by their fathers, that so many mothers and fathers will never be able to see their sons again... and because I do not have the ability to find the words, I'd like to reference someone that could...

It is only appropriate that I end Sunday's post with the words of one of our greatest Americans, our 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The words are just as meaningful today as they were November 1863.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday and somewhere in the mix, raise a glass to toast our fallen. I ask that you bow your head and give thought and prayer to our men and women that served our great nation.

Now Michael and I are off to spend time with Rob and Jo... we'll see you in a bit.

Blogs and Links to Check Out This Week:

Honor the Fallen

Patriot Guard Riders - Many of the riders in this group are vets... some are just citizens that want to make sure that our fallen are honored... If you have not gone to their website yet, I urge you to do so... there are chapters all over the country.... all volunteer...

God Bless America posts A Father's Letter.

Go spend some time over at Andi's World, Hell on Heels. As a milblogger, she does a lot of great work- I don't visit her nearly enough.

Leaning Straight Up "I align as a social moderate and a fiscal conservative, and the closest party affiliation I have is Neo Libertarian." I just found Karl's blog... a strong patriot... no doubt about it... but I can see that we will disagree in some areas... but I am guaranteed thought provoking reading when I visit his part of the blogosphere...

Politics of a Patriot This young lady has just graduated high school and is off to to boot camp-- she will be one of the few... one of the proud... I have read her blog for quite some time and even though I don't know this young lady, I am so very proud of her. She is our future and I thank God for her. Stop by and wish her well.

I joined 2 groups yesterday... Blogging Chicks and the Hillbilly Ecosystem... both look like a fun group of folks...

Arlington Cemetary photograph courtesy of Colonel Tolomeo


Have a great week everyone!

Blue Angels Missing Man Formation