They Grow Up...

...so fast:

A Father And Son Take The Same Photo For 27 Years. The Last One Is So Beautiful

I Love The WWII Era...

...music. It always reminds me of my parents - the greatest generation.

I Want My Daddy

Whenever I hear/read a story about WWII vets, I think of my dad:

70 years after WWII service, Shoals man receives high school diploma


Canadian soldier’s World War Two remains finally laid to rest

I Could Never Figure This Out

Cousins

Grand Kiddie and His Mommy...

...are here to see me. Grand kiddy doesn't like me. He's grumpy. But I like him.

One of My Favourite Poems

...from one of my favourite poets:

On Children

"Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

 

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

 

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."

We named our son after him.

Old Songs...

...that my parents would have listened to on their radios and danced to in the dance halls:

10 Classic Songs from the World War II Era

Brings back memories of my childhood and my mother playing the piano.

My Niece In The News...

...in a good way: Crime victim praises restorative justice during Saskatoon event

About Damn Time

Conservatives propose increasing legal marriage age to 16, say it will keep ‘barbaric cultural practices’ out of Canada

"The government is proposing to set 16 as the national age of marriage in legislation introduced in the House of Commons on Wednesday that it says will help keep “barbaric cultural practices” out of Canada.

The bill tabled by Chris Alexander, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, targets early forced marriages as well as polygamy, which the legislation would make grounds for deportation.

The Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act would make it a criminal offence to participate in or officiate at the marriage of an underage child. Removing a child from Canada for the purposes of forced marriage would also be criminalized.

The Justice department has also asked the provinces to have judges sign off on marriages involving those between the ages of 16 and adulthood. Currently only parental consent is required and the minimum age for marriage varies by province and, by some interpretations, is as low as seven."

As low as seven!! Wow!!!! I didn't know that. My granddaughters are close to that age. I can't imagine them being married. They're too lippy, for one thing.

Logan Loves His

baby brother:

An Excellent Series About War

I especially like #9 Peter van Uhm: Why I chose a gun, if for no other reason than it mentions Neimegan, which my father helped to liberate in WWII. Some of them are brain-dead leftards, though.

War Stories

Too Damn Busy...

...to blog. Got a wedding to go to in Toon Town on Saturday and a billion things to do before that. Don't expect too much here until I get back, and then I don't know where I'll go with it. A  long time ago I mentioned I was thinking of starting a new blog dedicated to skewering the Indian Industry. I'm still mulling that one over. Or I might just pull the plug on this blogging business all together. I'm getting bored with it.

Whoopie!!

Just got news today that I'm gonna be a grandma again!! This kid will be number 5.

#5 is scheduled to put in an appearance on April 26th.

My Poor Baby..

...Got an email today from my daughter. She was in hospital. She had had an "ectopic pregnancy" that ruptured her left fallopian tube. For a while, she's going to feel like she's been kicked in the stomach by a horse.

This was posted on Facebook by the nieces; the second generation of The Sisterhood. Worth a chuckle.

What I Do With My Spare Time

of which, I have plenty.

I watch tres interesting videos like these ones:





Hope he's right.

Another Moment Of Kleptomania

This one, again, from Facebook, courtesy of my twenty-something niece.

Oh My God!!!

My baby, mother of Sydney and Logan, is 33 years old today. Where did the time go? And oh my God, I feel a song coming on - or two:



Dontcha wish you had the smarts when you were 20 something years old (when this song, and the lass that sings it, was popular) that you have when you're sixty something? Whoever said "youth is wasted on the young" had it so right, but why does one have to get old before one realizes the truth of that statement? Oh well, who said life is fair?

Here's another from that era that reminds me of my little girl:



/old fart speak.

Speaking Of Gun Control...

...The news over the last few days got me thinking of a story told by my parents. This, apparently, happened before my parents met, but my mom was pissed off about it anyway.

According to the lore, on board the ship, after WWII was over, my dad was returning to Canada with a couple of things he apparently wasn't supposed to have. I have no idea why he wasn't supposed to have them, but it makes for a good story.

What he had with him was a pair of binoculars and a German pistol, which he used to tell us kids he stole off a German general. Because he wasn't supposed to have either, he tossed the binoculars into the Atlantic but he kept the pistol. (My sister has it now.) Of course he didn't bring any ammo with him, so the thing was useless.

Anywho....as the story goes, my mom was mad at him for tossing the binoculars and keeping the gun. I kinda have to agree with her. The binoculars would have been far more useful. My dad had a couple of shotguns which he used for duck hunting and for killing the farm animals before they were butchered. But a German general's pistol, without the ammo, wouldn't have been very useful.

The Sisterhood...

...draws in the brother with the promise of "micemeat" tarts.

My sisters all live in Saskatchewan, whereas our one and only brother lives way down, as far away from us as he can, in a lovely little town called Steamboat Springs in Colorado. He and his wife are coming for Christmas in Saskatoon.

The following email exchange took place on December 12:

Bro: "Brenda (his wife, also an honorary member of "The Sisterhood") was telling me that you were asking who likes Micemeat - I DO!!!

For some reason I did not get the e-mail.

Bring lots of mincemeat tarts, butter tarts, pepperment patti cookies etc. I will dispose of them for you!

Love Jack" (Did you notice the typo. Oldest sister certainly did.
.............................
Linda: (Oldest member of The Sisterhood and boss of us all.)"Okay, mincemeat for you & Bruce (her husband)! (and me)
(or micemeat, which might be harder to find in the store – gotcha, Jackie-boy) Evil grin."
.............................
Arleen: (Baby in the family who is hosting Christmas this year.)LOLOLOL micemeat for Jack!
.............................
Me: "LOL!! I never noticed that, but seeing as how winter has arrived, perhaps there are mice inside that can be trapped, skinned and cooked. (Okay, I've lost my appetite now.)"
.............................
Bro: "Oh God! I'll go scurrying around after eating those!"
.............................
Now you know why he rarely visits. We always tease him that Mom liked him best - WHICH WAS TRUE!! He got all the best toys at Christmas.

Anyway, looking forward to mincemeat tarts. Micemeat tarts, not so much.