Memorial Day

Memorial Day is just around the corner and I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on some of those we have lost over the years. This past July we lost my Grandma Fern. She was the sweetest thing next to strawberry short cake! I loved going to her house after school and playing cards and having root beer floats (even when I didn't want one). It was hard for me when she passed away, but I know that it is what she wanted in the end; see my Grandpa Frank passed away in Sept. of 97, that's along time to be without your sweetheart.
Jake also lost a grandma this past year in Dec., Grandma Welker. She was diagnosed with cancer in Dec. of 07 but she hung on for another year. Jake tells me all the time how much he misses her home made soups and bread! Grandpa Welker seems to be doing OK, keeping busy.
Losing loved ones is hard enough when you know that the end is coming, but losing one without any kind of notice is even harder. I would have to say the worst for me was when I lost my Grandpa Gary; my Mom's dad, in Dec. of 2002. To this day I still can hear his laugh and his amazing stories. He was one of the greatest men I've never known and I miss him dearly. We all know that there will come a time when we'll have to part with our grandparents and one day our parents, but to lose a brother or a sister is never something you think about.
Jake lost his little brother William Scott way before I know him. Jake was in the 3rd grade and Will was around 5 years old. I don't want to go into detail on how we lost Will, I just know that Jake thinks of him often and wonders "Who he'd be today?" Life can deal us a hard hand, full of disappointments and trials, but in the end we get to say that "We Lived!"

Life comes and life goes
somebody dies and someone is born
life is precious
life is love
life is everything we get from above

We're all going to say
life is good and sometimes bad
but the life is all we had

Without her
we'll never know love
kindness, mercy, passion
all this feelings that makes us burn

Oh Lord, I say
everyday thanks for giving me the life
to live, to cry, to smile
and to die

Cause all this is life......

I would like to close by thanking the men and women who serve our country, for all that they do to keep us save and free. We'll always be in debt to them and to those who lost their lives. At the end of the day, before I put my head on my pillow, I thank the Lord above that I am an American, God Bless The USA!