A little of everything...

I hope everyone had a Very Happy Father's Day weekend. I decided to take a few days and just turn the computer off and spend time with my family. I also felt like I needed to reflect on the week in general..maybe say some prayers. As you all know, one of our friends passed away last week. He was in a motorcycle accident. He left a little 5..just turned 6 yr. old little boy behind. The funeral was of course, very moving, emotional and heartwrenching..as are all funerals. Tim was 36 yrs. old. He had reached a point in his life (I believe) that he was looking to make a change in his ways and really trying to straighten his life out. He was a very, very good daddy. I think his son had really brought out the best in him. He was his everything. His wife had left him a couple of years ago. The weekends with his son were the high-lite of his life. The father told the pastor that when they came into Tim's house after the accident..they found the Bible laying open on his bed...he had evidentally been reading it before he went out for a ride. I believe in my heart that God must have been talking to him and telling him to make things right. It brought me to sobbing tears, literally...We never know when our last moments will be..I just wonder if sometimes God gives us little (winks) or heads up to let us know we need to prepare? Tim was a firemen. The firemen from all the local and surrounding firehouses were all there. In the road, right before the entrance to the cemetery...they raised the ladders up and had a flag hanging. They also stood all lined up at attention at the entry and all around the casket. It was truly one of those things you'll never forget in your lifetime. I guess with Father's Day being this weekend..I reflected some on Tim and his family. How sad it was to me that his little boy had lost his this week. Life is so hard sometimes isn't it? It kind of gave a new meaning to Father's Day for me...It was a reminder to me of how fragile and precious life is...The picture at the top is of the fire truckes with the ladders up. I apologize for the shadow at the top..but our van has a shadow to cut the glare all along the top front glass.

On another kind of sad note...I got a call yesterday from the lady who runs the horse therapy that Sam participates in. The people they were leasing ground from to run the horse therapy..told them that they needed to leave..they didn't want them there anymore. So, no more horse therapy for Sam. This sweet woman has a child with Downs Syndrome. She did this completely free to any child or adult with disability. All the costs came out of her families pocketbook. I know this made Sam very sad as it did me. It was the one place where everyone talked to him and no one judged or ridiculed. He loved riding the horses. He was very good. They had a horse show last fall and he won a 1st and 2nd place trophy. He loves the horses there too. They were his friends. He has little figures of them that he keeps near his bed. The one horse in particular..that he rode the most and rode in the horse show..was named TJ. TJ came from out West. He is a retired cowboy horse. Sam just loves him. All those horses all have to now go back to the lady that trained the woman here locally. They'll be going to another state 2 hrs. away. Even when he wasn't riding..he loved taking a drive and then stopping and talking to them in the pasture. He won't even be able to do that. I hope and pray that something might change in this situation...but I don't think that is going to happen. Most places charge $30 a lesson and so I don't think that is an option right now either. I think there may be another place that does the therapy..I think it's probably a good half-hour to fourty-five minute ride. I don't know if they are even taking anyone. Please pray for Sam..that he might not be too heartbroken and saddened by this..pray that he is able to keep his chin up :) (This is Sam riding on TJ) Here is something else I found to be kind of moving...my dear friend Kim sent this to me..when I read it this morning I knew I had to share it!!
Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must Have stung quite a bit.

The complaint: 'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.

The response: Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.. A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects. The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you.....Jesus Christ...



and the American Soldier...

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. USAF

I hope this touched your heart as much as it did mine!! Jerelene