I'm aware it may be true that the majority of those who read this blog don't like Obama.   But he does have good speech writers.   In the speech about the school shootings he quoted part of a line from Nature Boy - to teach your kids ". . . to love and be loved in return."   He also said parents may think of their kids as parts of their hearts runnin' around out there.   I never read or heard anything like that before, and I like it.  

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, HANNAH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REBECCA!

Emma gets her blue belt

Emma has been taking Judo for some time and has now gotten her blue belt after being tested on various moves and throws.

I thought maybe I had heard the last of the "small world" stories, but I was wrong.   Yesterday I happened to hear a woman at a nearby table mention some names of people and parts of the area I grew up in.   So I went over after eating, and we talked a few minutes.   I told her I knew Dan Stehle and Bob and George Murray.   I guess I didn 't say where I had lived.  Tonight when I went into the dining area, she motioned for me to come over.   She wanted to know my sisters names.   I told her, and this time mentioned Myers Avenue.   She said she used to get her hair fixed at a beauty shop on Myers Avenue.   Can you believe that?   She had been one of my mother's customers.   So it's possible that maybe I had been in the house sometime when she was getting her hair done.   Even if that coincidence never happened, I'm still amazed that my mother had fixed her hair.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EILEEN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MORGAN!

I was surprised this morning by a call from Mike, who said he wanted to call me on Mom's and my 69th wedding anniversary.    I told him, that at that point, I hadn't thought about it.   Maybe the reason was that I hadn't made a note on the little calender I use to remind me of all the other family birthdays and anniversaries.   My guess is that I would have remembered sometime before the day was over.   The day in Portsmouth in 1943 was much like it is here in Mansfield today - maybe a little warmer.   Mom told me later she was a little ticked off at me for not coming to see her during the morning.   I guess I had heard it was bad luck to see your bride-to-be the morning before the ceremony.   But she still said, "I do" when asked the important question.   I don't remember the last time December 1 might have meant anything to her.   It might have, even last year.   I just wasn't able to detect it.   Does it mean anything to her where she is now?    I believe so, but in a way those of us still on this earth will have to wait until we go there to fully understand.