Day 11, Thankful for Those Who Serve

I don't have any digital photos of the men in my life during their military service, but I am thankful for all of them, and for all men and women who have served the causes of freedom throughout history. And I am thankful for those who still serve today.

I married a sailor. I don't have a picture of him in uniform. I really must scan all those old photos.

Thank you, Chief James L Jeffers, for serving in the US Navy, 1965-1976. He was a Fire Control Technician on nuclear fast attack submarines. He never saw duty in Viet Nam, but was an active part of the Cold War.












He is in this picture somewhere. I remember standing with a crowd on the docks in Groton, CT the day the Archerfish was launched. It was freezing cold. My feet were numb. The men had to stand at attention on the metal deck during the ceremony and as the huge hulk slid into the icy waters of the Thames River. Jim's mustache was a frozen icicle when he finally got off the boat.




My father, David Roy Coleman, Jr, served in the Army during World War ll, though he never went to battle. He was stationed in Texas, working as an accountant, serving 1,300 miles away from his wife and children. Thank you for your service, Dad. I am a war baby, conceived during a weekend leave and hurried trip to the Grand Canyon - the half-way point between my mom and dad. I am one of the first wave of baby boomers.

My father-in-law, Beryl L Jeffers served in the Army Infantry during WWll. He was captured in Germany and held in Stalag 11b Fallingbostel Prussia Work Camp until the end of the war. He suffered injuries that effected him for the rest of his life, but he never complained or let it slow him down. Thank you, Dad.

A friend posted a wonderful prayer on Facebook today (thank you Hallee the Homemaker). This prayer was delivered right before The Battle of the Bulge. It is appropriate still today.

By direction of General George S. Patton, Third Army Commander, Msgr. James H. O'Neill, Chief Chaplain of the Third Army, wrote and published Training Letter #5 in December 1944, which reads in part:

"Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace.

"We must march together, all out for God...We are not trying to make the best of these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail."

Amen and Amen.

Day 9, Thankfulness

Today I'm thankful for my daughter and granddaughters, and the chance to spend time together. I'm wishing my sweet daughter-in-love and other two granddaughters were here with us. It's baking day. Spending time together in the kitchen is such joy!

Right now, the girls have all gone to the gym for a quick workout. I'm sitting by the fireplace in my daughter Laura's house, having a cup of Chai latte and waiting for the oven timer. The peach crisp, from this year's crop of Green Bluff's peaches that I'd frozen and brought along in the motorhome, is baking. I have to admit, it's easier to cook in Laura's kitchen, even with three of us working. 

With working full time, fixing good meals gets difficult, so Laura tries to cook up a month's worth of main dishes at a time. Today we made chicken divan, chicken and rice casseroles, chicken pot pies and burritos. They are packaged, labeled and stacked in the refrigerator, ready for the freezer.

Then for quick snacks, there's pizza crescents. Cheese and pepperoni rolled in crescent rolls. Looks yummy enough to eat!

Spending time with teenaged girls is always a treat. They showed me hilarious You Tube videos. What Does the Fox Say, and It's a Dad's Life. Now I'm "in the know." It's nice to be able to understand when they giggle at those "inside jokes." I also got a full preview of the prom dress wish list. So fun! Now that all my kids and granddaughters live so far away, I feel extra blessed to be able to share these moments.

Thankful, Day 8

Yesterday I posted that it was a hard day to be thankful, and I had to turn to the Psalms, specifically Psalm 66. The outpouring of prayers and compassion from so many friends blew me away.

Today I am thankful for friends and family, and for the amazing technology of the Internet that allows us to be part of each others' lives daily and to hold each other up in prayer. Your prayers were felt. And appreciated!

I'm thankful that a nun lived over a hundred years ago. Born in 1856, she became Sister Mary Joseph Dempsey, then she became a nurse. She worked as the surgical assistant to Dr. William James Mayo from 1890 until 1915. She has many great accomplishments, but she observed that patients who had a particular nodule, or node in the area of the umbilicus (belly button) had cancer that had metastasized from another organ in the abdominal region. http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2984.html

Yesterday we met Dr. Dustan Osborn, Gary's new oncologist. He talked to us in terms we could understand. He's the one who introduced us to Sister Mary Joseph and that background on the node on Gary's abdomen. In a nutshell (and not particularly scientifically stated) while a baby is still developing in the womb, the umbilical cord supplies all the nutrients needed from the mother to the baby. Various tubes run from the umbilicus to the digestive organs in the body that then distribute it to the blood stream and the rest of the body. Those tubes are no longer used after a baby is born, and the umbilical cord is cut, but they are still there. As I understand it, cancer cells can migrate along those unused tubes back to the umbilicus, where they form a nodule. That is Sister Mary Joseph's Nodule.

Today, I am thankful that Gary's surgery was delayed. It seemed frustrating that things weren't moving faster. We all wanted the doctors to get in there and fix it. But then Gary felt a lump near his belly button. He almost didn't tell the doctor. He thought it seemed insignificant. I am thankful that he did tell his primary doctor. That led to a hernia repair surgery and a biopsy. And that changed how his cancer will be treated. No more surgery. Now the focus will be radiation and chemotherapy. I am thankful for advances in medical research that make treatment available and easier on the patient than it was twenty-five years ago when my mother-in-law went through treatment. And for the prayers of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who haven't even met Gary, and that God hears our prayers and is faithful to answer.

Day 5, 30 Days of Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for a new day. New starts. New opportunities. Yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to go right. First thing was a dead battery in the Jeep. Jim put it into neutral and pushed it close to the motorhome battery, so he could jumpstart it. It didn't want to start or stay running. The old  Jeep (1998 with 160,000+ miles) has a new battery, so we feared it had serious electrical issues. Finally got it running. We figured out, the seatbelt got stuck in the door when it closed, and it kept the overhead light on all night. Blessing - the car charged up and is running fine.

Then we'd lost a nut on Jim's bike fender, so the fender fell off. Blessing - it didn't fall off while we traveled. It waited until he took it off the bike rack.

Can't get cable TV working. As Jim tried to hook it up, he discovered an antenna wire was very hot. Blessing - he discovered it before it started a fire. Porch light not working. Hot water heater won't work on AC. Blessing - it does work on propane, so we have hot water. Leak on accessory hose for toilet. Refrigerator suddenly quit working on AC. Blessing - it came back on when we turned off a heater. Both key fobs stopped working on motorhome. Blessing - new batteries fixed them. Jim forgot to pack a box of my books. Oh well. They'll still be there when we get home in the spring.

And the topper - we got a parking ticket in Olympia because we didn't have enough change. Gary's insurance appointment took 50 minutes, and we only had 35 minutes on the meter. Oops. So we are making a $15.00 donation to the City of Olympia. A dollar a minute. Pretty expensive parking. There must be a blessing there somewhere.

Today, we get to see Laura. Tonight, we get to watch a Tumwater High soccer game. They are playing District Playoffs. Kathryn is on the team. She shares the goalie position with another player, so I hope she gets to play tonight. Go Thunderbirds!!!

Wendy Beeghley Photography

Thankful, Day Four

Today I'm thankful for reaching our destination safely. And for a great ending to the day - being with family. Three of our favorite people, Kathryn, Madie and Gary, went to dinner with us last night. Buffalo Wild Wings, in Olympia, Washington. Yum! Then we met the girls at Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae. Double yum!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving

Day Three: I'm grateful for so many things, but forget to be thankful. I saw someone else post 30 days of Thanksgiving, so I decided to do the same.

Today, the third day of November, and the second day of our trip, I am thankful for a country where we can travel freely state to state, and for diesel costing less than $4 a gallon (however temporary). I am  thankful for RV parks with electricity to hook up to, even if the trucks parked in the next lot in back of the truck stop ran their generators all night, and the trains ran hourly across the interstate, which is only a stone's throw away.

Jim didn't believe me, but I swear the bed vibrated all night from the rumble of the generators. I'm very sensitive that way, like the Princess and the Pea. A reminder that truck drivers have to sleep too, but they spend their days transporting our food and clothing, our fuel and automobiles and every imaginable necessity and convenience from factories to stores, also for our convenience. I'm happy to share the roads with them. One more thing to be thankful for.

It was dark when we pulled in last night, but finding the Pilot RV Park was no problem. Just turn into the Pilot Gas Station and go past the McDonalds. With their bright signs, we couldn't miss it.

Those thoughts and the gentle background hum lulled me to sleep.

Here are my previous posts, Day One and Day Two, just to keep them all together.

Day Two: I'm thankful that in spite of the PC crowd trying to take Christ out of Christmas, the tree from our forest is still officially the Capitol Christmas Tree.

Day One: Love the 30 Days of Thankfulness idea. I'm thankful for living in a small town in the amazing Northwest, where everyone you know gathers to celebrate the cutting of the Capitol Christmas Tree, that will bring joy to multitudes of people.https://www.facebook.com/capitolchristmastree2013