Wordless Wednesday

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Family

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.
~Erma Bombeck

North Dakota

Our state tree is the telephone pole



Our state bird is the mosquito




There are two seasons
Shovel and Swat


I talked to my brother Mark and my sister Laura on the phone Sunday evening. It was wonderful to hear from them.

Mark and Laura have never been to North Dakota so I am sharing some pictures I took around the neighborhood.

At the corner



Up the street



Down the street



The city hard at work



We have some fabulous trees in our yard. This is a picture of one of them. Trees are pretty rare in the open country around here but in town we have some.



I tried to call my niece on Thursday and Friday but nobody answered. I have a strange feeling that the number I have for her isn’t right. I will get her number from my sister.
My mom mentioned on the phone Sunday that Mark had been trying to call me. The number she gave me for Mark just rang and rang and nobody ever answered. I left messages after the beep for my sister Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning.
I went through some old email my dad had sent and found the number for Mark. I checked it with the one I thought was his number and the last two digits were reversed on the number I had been using. I left a message for him. He called me back just a few hours after I left the message when he got home. He said he had tried to call a few times but he either got a computer machine or no answer. It was not until I left my number on his message machine that he realized he never had my phone number either. The last digits in the number he had for me were reversed. He does not know who he left messages for either but he has their number…lol
He gave me Laura’s number and sure enough two digits were turned around on the number I had for her as well. I don’t know who has been getting the messages I have left for my sister over the years. I won’t be leaving them messages anymore. Do you think they will miss hearing my messages?

Laura may come for a visit this summer! I am thrilled!
Mark is going to help pay my way to El Paso after he buys a house and is ready to buy his first horse. (The last time I saw Mark was 11 or 12 years ago!)
I was so worried about when if ever I would be able to see them again. I can’t tell you how happy I am after those phone calls. I will try and call my little brother, Tim, next week. I have alwasy been in contact with Mark and Tim via email but I know we should call and chat every now and then. I now have Laura's email! Yay!

We talked and it was like no time had passed at all.
Life is Grand!

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers

Barbershop, Adriano Celentano, Eyal Golan, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, and The Corrs

In music the passions enjoy themselves.
~Nietzsche

Review of Raggedy’s favorite music from "Music Monday" posts.

Barbershop



Adriano Celentano



Eyal Golan



Paul Simon

Simon and Garfunkel




The Corrs



If you click the name above the video it will take you to the "Music Monday" post for that artist.

The videos for Adriano and Eyal did not appear in the original posts. I found a few more I liked.

I would like to know the music that you liked the most in the group. You can pick more than one. Please let me know in your comment. If you don't like the ones in this group who do you like to listen to?

Have a fabulous Monday!

Sunday March 4, 2007

God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your honor and glory. ~Augustine

Happy Birthday Laura!

Today is my sister’s birthday.



My first memories
I was trying to change your diaper and you rolled all of the sudden and fell from the changing table. I heard you hit the floor. I yelled for Mom. She came and checked you over and you were alright. I was scared to death that I had hurt my baby sister.
I used to steal sugar packets from restaurants and hide them. I would dip your pacifier in the sugar packets and give you your pacifier back. You gave me the biggest smiles!

You are my gorgeous baby sister. Here you are in Avalon with the wind blowing your beautiful hair.



Here you are in Avalon feeding your new stuffed dog.



Mark was helping you with a present on Christmas.



I was visiting from college and you were in the 9th grade. An older boy asked you to the prom. You looked so beautiful in your prom dress!



This is a picture of you when I came for a visit while I was in the military.



Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.
~Charles M. Schulz

I am well aware that there are differences in how we remember the same events. I read once about sisters who got together and began chatting about the past. Even though they were together at the same time for the same event their experiences were totally different from one another.

I am concerned because your early memories of our childhood may be negative. When you remember our early childhood time together you remember feeling hurt and pain. I am sorry. I am sorry for teasing you. Please remember that I was not all grown up at the time myself. Mark and I were older but we were still children ourselves. We laughed and teased you and called you names. I made you stay up to play monopoly or horses with me. We did not do it to BE mean. You fought back the only way you knew how with yelling “I’m telling!”

I now understand how truly afraid you were when we hid the tape recorder in the attic to scare you. I now understand how afraid you were to step on the floor to get to the bathroom at night. If I was an adult I would have held and comforted you.

I have always loved you. I know that is very hard to understand from your childhood perspective.

I have always thought you were the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen.
I brag about you to my friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
I missed you when I went off to college.
I missed you when I left to join the military.
I worried about you during your teen years. I can’t tell you the panic and fear that ran though me when I heard about your car accidents. I was thousands of miles away when I got those terrible phone calls from Mom. She was crying the whole time she was trying to tell me what happened. You can’t possibly know how grateful and thankful I am that you were never seriously injured.

You grew up while I was away.

To the outside world we all grow old, but not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

I enjoyed the time we had together when I was living back at Moms. I remember how hard we laughed and how much fun we had. I enjoyed every visit that we came to see you. I enjoyed every visit that you made to Moms house. When I watch you dance I can’t take my eyes off of you! You can dance girl! Wow! I still have the video with you dancing with Joe.

Nichole at Dads house.



I could not find a pictures of Nichole with my oldest son Anthony.
I have them on video only.

Raggedy and Anthony.


These are pictures from your holiday visits at Moms.
The group photo with Mark is from Laura's house.








These pictures was taken when Dad took Nichole and Joe to the Baltimore Aquarium. The children loved the dolphin show!



Not only were you a beautiful little girl
you are now an exquisite woman.
You had an angelic baby girl who is now a lovely woman.

I am proud of you. I admire you.
I love you more than I can express in words.

I ask about you whenever I have a conversation
or visit with Mom or Dad.

Whenever I tried to call you in the past you were too busy to talk to me. I called and left messages and my calls were not returned. I ended up feeling like a stalker or intruder in your life. I stopped calling.

One of my hopes is that one day you will be able to find some time to spend with me even if it can only be on the phone. Even e-mail would be great. It is painful to be distant from you. I want to be closer. I wish we could spend more time talking and sharing our lives. I miss you. I love you. You are always in my heart.

I hope your birthday is fabulous!

Friday Feast #133

Appetizer

What does the color pink make you think of?

Pink makes me think of my daughter.

Soup

Name something you thought you had lost, but later found.

God

Salad

In 3 words, describe this past week.

Snowy and Fun!

Main Course
My dear friend Merle gave me a recipe.
I served it last night for dinner.
Thank you Merle!
It was fabulous!
(I took this picture for you!)

What are you obsessed with?

My Family

Dessert

What kind of perfume or cologne do you like to wear?

Shalimar

Happy Birthday Nichole!

I left a little brother and sister at home when I joined the military. Time passed and they grew up in the blink of an eye. Once I started a family of my own it became increasingly difficult to make the trips back home. Laura was living in Maryland in an apartment at my dad’s house and I was in the military when my niece, Nichole, was born. I could not get leave to come and see Nichole when she was born. My dad sent me a picture of this beautiful little baby girl.



(I used the scanner to get my photographs on my computer. I am disappointed with the quality of the pictures.)

I remember when I first laid eyes on this little cutie pie.

I brought Nichole some country clothes on one of my visits.

We shared a wonderful Christmas together. Both of these pictures were taken at Henry and Evelyn's home in Maryland. I remember the shine and happiness emanating from both of these grandpa’s! Love filled Henry’s house that year. It was a beautiful experience for me to share this very special christmas with them. My Dad is in the first picture with Nichole and Laura. In the second picture is my sister’s father in-law, Henry. I am not sure of the year that Henry passed. (RIP Henry)

Nichole loved her rocking horse!

She loved her blocks.

I still remember my trips to Maryland. This one was from an Easter. Nichole was so cute hunting for the eggs. She spotted an egg way up in a tree. When Jaycee saw and held these pictures today she said: “She has good eye sets!”



I moved back home for a period of time to live with my Mom. It was during those years I got to know Tim and Laura as adults. Although they didn’t live very far from my Mom they were very busy with lives of their own. We gathered on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and had a wonderful time. I had a blast playing with Nichole one Christmas baking with her new Easy-Bake oven!

This picture is my mom, Laura, Nichole and Joe.
I remember the Christmas Nichole got the doll of her dreams.

I took a trip to visit Laura and Nichole at their apartment in Maryland when I was living in Pennsylvania. It was not long after this picture that my sister bought her first house.



The last time I saw Laura and Nichole was when I stopped at her new house for a visit on my way to North Dakota with Joe in 1995. I miss them!

The difficulty involved in making trips out east was overwhelming. I had to schedule time off from work. We lived on a farm and all of the animals(horses,dogs,cats,rabbits,and fish) needed to be looked after. The money was the hardest thing to get together. It took me years to pay off the credit card debt that I needed to help me make the trips. Often times a trip meant that we had to eat some pretty skimpy meals for a month or two. I had to use the word “no” for the many little things Joe wanted that I normally could afford. It took every ounce of resourcefulness I had in me to accomplish my many visits over the years. Every trip was worth the hardship. I would not take back one single trip. I treasure my dad’s hugs, the love in his eyes, the warmth of his smile, the sound of his voice, his laugh, all of these and more are worth more to me than all the money in the world. I was able to make a trip home in 1998 and one more in 2001. Laura was very busy and could not bring Nichole to come and visit us at my dad’s place on either of our trips. My visits are never long and we fly there and back. I have not laid eyes on my precious niece since she was 10 years old!

I cherish the many phone calls we used to share. My sister and I could not afford to make many long distance calls. I think we both experienced the same panic when our phone bills hit the size of a car payment! We both had our long distance shut off.

I was able to see my Mom in 1998 but she was away when I visited in 2001. My Mom came to see us in 2002 when Jaycee was a few months old. I did not see her again until her visit here in November of 2006. I miss my family very much. When my mother came for her visit in November she brought this picture. My mom thinks Nichole was about 18 when the picture was taken. Isn't she beautiful?

I have not been home now since 2001 and I don’t see the possibility of getting there anytime in the near future. On that note I am sending my long distance love from one thousand seven hundred miles away from my heart to yours. I love you!

Nichole is 20 years old today.
Happy Birthday Nichole!
I love you more than words can express.

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.
~Irish Blessing

Dear Nichole,
There is a hardship and price for being in the military and for living great distances away. I am feeling that pain today more than I normally do.
I hope you understand.
I hope that you know I love you with all my heart.
Every March 1st since the day you were born I think of you on this day. I hold tight to memories that are fewer than I would have liked. They are cherished memories. They are fond memories. I feel blessed for every single moment I was able to spend with you. My thoughts are for you today. I am proud of you. Although you are many miles away you hold a very special place in my heart, today and always.
Every conversation and visit I have with your Grandma or Grandpa I ask about you. I have heard of your many struggles and triumphs and I hope that your triumphs will outnumber your struggles this year and in all the years to come.
All my Love,
Aunt Sara