I had been intermittently attending services at the Richland Lutheran Church. I finally decided to make the commitment to join the congregation on a permanent basis. I attended two Sunday morning sessions about the church and how they differ from other Lutheran churches. That didn't make a lot of difference to me since I had been attending Sunday services there for over 5 years now, just not very regular and I was quite happy with myself being there. Then on the 23rd of February at the 11 Am service, the Pastor called the new members to come forward and be welcomed us into his flock. Then at the end of the morning service we went to the large meeting room and were served Luncheon by some of the older members. It was quite nice to get acquainted with the couple who will be my "Shepherds" in the upcoming weeks and years.
We sat around the table with another new couple who were missing their shepherds but they just joined in with us. I had worn my military pin on it's red/white/blue ribbon which caught the attention of the gentleman across from me and he asked if I had a son in the Navy. I replied, "No sons but I served 20 years myself". It was a bit of a surprise to him but he handled it quite well. My "Shepherd" said I would be added to his listing of former and current military members. Then he asked if I knew of any who were currently deployed and I gave him a better resource than I am.
This conversation gave me the opportunity to tell all about my favorite organization. "TOR" Time of Remembrance is an organization who holds/sponsors a retreat the last weekend in September for the families of the "fallen heroes". We book a hotel and pay for them to stay from Friday evening to Sunday morning. There are counseling sessions for them, in both dealing with the financial aspects of their loss and also dealing with the tremendous loss of their family member. On Saturday night we have a candle light vigil at the Veteran's Memorial with a speaker and a singer. It's a time to involve the public to come out and show their support. On Sunday morning is a Memorial Service at one of the local parks with a guest speaker, (past speakers have included the Governor of our state, a few Generals of both Army and Marines and I think I remember an admiral. At this service, the names (that we are aware of and it numbers in the hundreds) are read off in a solemn reading.
Sunday evening was watching the closing ceremonies at the Olympics. I got dizzy and a headache from all the flashing lights and trying to make out what was really going on. United States came in 2nd behind Russia in the medal count but that didn't mean much to me. I enjoyed the watching. I saw the "Super G" and I held my breath a lot. Just hoping no one was going to crash. I saw some skiers miss gates and then just slowly ski down the side, out of the competition. What a disappointment it must have been for them. But they gave it their best effort and you can't ask for anymore than that!
Now to get on with the new scrapbook pages. I scanned in some old photo's to copy over to my daughter's computer and then I decided to play with some new scrapbook kits and some of the old ones.
Three of my Grandchildren in Alabama in the 90's
Daughters Charlie & Denise in Yokosuka, Japan
Daughters Charlie * Denise and Gr-Granddaughter Olivia playing around
Daughter Charlie w friend Terri and her niece Krista, who is stationed in South Korea
Daughter Charlie in the 80's when she attended Barbizon Modeling school
Great Granddaughter Olivia in 2007 about 3 1/2 yrs old
I think I've rambled on enough for today. I hope everyone looking in will enjoy the pictures and have a nice day! We almost got some snow last night. There was a dusting of snow this morning when I got up at 6:30 Am but it's already gone! Bummer!
P.S. If you don't want to comment here, I have added a box on the left side of the blog to drop in a quick comment if you wish.
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