A Sad Couple of Weeks

-
Boy, it has been a rough couple of weeks.  Swede Stokes passed away on February 19th.  Swede was one of the "good ones."  He was an old family friend and a great friend of my dad's.  They spent many hours together solving the world's problems, playing cards, drinking Grain Belt... he was a man dear to my heart.  And his youngest son happens to be my son's godfather.

Click here to view a five minute slideshow celebrating Swede's life.  It is very well done and well worth your time if you knew the man we all knew as "Swede."

<<>>



<<>>


And more sad news.  Yesterday, my mom's sister, Glenice ("Tissy" as she will always be known to me), lost her long and fiercely fought battle with cancer.  She was the toughest woman I've ever known.  She was knocked down many times, and got up every time to fight some more.  She never complained.  She never felt sorry for herself.  

Eventually, though, the fucking cancer did what it was determined to do.  She lost the battle, but she won the war.  She will always be remembered as a fighter and an inspiration.  No cancer can kill that.

I can find peace in knowing she's with her husband and her parents again.  And especially with my mom, who also left this world far too soon.

I've been thinking of this song ever since I heard the news that Tissy passed away.  It was written by Dave Matthews and I've always thought it was the most beautiful song I've ever heard, and I think I've posted it here before, but it is even more meaningful and more poignant today.  

For my aunts Sandy, Bev and Jo... 

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragic Life of Jeanine Deckers

-
Image
It's back to work tomorrow.  I am getting the itch to make myself useful again.  I can only be off work for so long and I need to do something.  I could not stay at home all day every day.  It's not for me. So today, since I had the day completely to myself, the task at hand was to do laundry.  And do laundry I did.  As I write this, every article of clothing in the house is clean, folded (mostly) and put away (kind of). My job here is done. While completing the menial task of washing clothes, I had the television on as a distraction.  As usual, since it's not football season, I dialed up Turner Classic Movies. The Singing Nun , starring Debbie Reynolds and Ricardo Montalban, was on, so I casually watched it while waiting for clothes to dry.  Aside from being a nauseating mellow drama, I knew enough about my 1960s music history to know it was based on a true story.  Yes, there really was a singing nun. In fact, we used to have a record of the Singing Nun's bi
Read more

The Bad Guys

-
Parenting is a tough job.  But I am determined to teach the Tax Deductions good from bad, as evidenced by this video demonstration of the Boy.  He learns quickly.  In fact, he goes so fast, you might have to watch it twice. Still, he's a keeper.
Read more

"New" old pictures!

-
Image
I'm not stupid, but I can be a slow learner some times. Other times, I'm a little intimidated to try something new because I'm afraid I'll screw it up - hey, I've got a history. So after we got our new Mac I was really disappointed that it didn't recognize our digital camera.  In the Microsoft world, much of the technology is "plug and play."  Just plug the USB port into your PC and the new gizmo is up and running.  I have found that isn't necessarily the case with a Mac.  (it could also be very possible I'm doing something wrong - hey, I've got a history). I knew when I purchased a Mac that they weren't compatible with some things - it is Bill Gates' world and we just live in it.  Apple is Microsoft's competitor and Microsoft is the giant of the world.  But the payoff to owning a Mac is that you get a fine-oiled machine that just works .  And that's very much proven true so far. But one rainy evening I decided to ge
Read more