Milestones

Happy #62 to Me!

I started my life sixty-two years ago on a cold and blustery day. I weighed 9 lbs and one ounce and my (not even 5 foot tall), mother swears I nearly killed her.

Cute, huh?

Of course, being born at noon meant that she was back in her room in time for lunch. Lunch that day was a turkey sandwich! So I didn’t wreck her day completely.

I was the youngest of three children and you know what they say, the youngest is the most spoiled.

I didn’t feel that way, of course, as there seemed to be an expectation to excel. I did try for a while and then when I hit my teens I went in the opposite direction and rebelled!

I may not always have made the best choices in my life, but somehow I made my way and I was blessed with two daughters, Mandy and Katie,

and now my grandchildren, Savannah and Quinn.

Hmmm! Sixty-two! Imagine that? I remember as a kid when my grandmother and then my mother were this age. Somehow they seemed like old ladies! I certainly don’t feel like that. There is so much left that I want to do!

We have so much fun together and these two are the light of my life! I am so very blessed!

So, Happy Birthday to me!

I am thrilled to announce a rather big milestone for me. I started this journey for weight loss, healthful living, and being able to look into the mirror and like the person, I was seeing, back on January 1st.

It has not been easy, but I’ve been so faithful and decided that this wasn’t something I was going to do partially, but a change I will make for the rest of my life.

…Drum-roll, please…

…I have now lost…

I’m not quite done, although I am very close to my goal weight. And when I look at the grand total lost, I am so proud of myself.

I’ve been blessed with a group of 12 women. Despite Covid, we have gotten together each week and shared our journeys together. Several of these women I have known since 2008. They’re family.

A few times along the way I called one or the other of them as I was close to blowing the whole thing. They all had my back.

It is tough. Some days are harder than others, some are easier. In the end, it has all been worth it.

So today, as I celebrate 60.2 pounds gone, I wanted to share that as hard as this is if you want it enough, and believe in yourself, you can do it too!

In Memory of September 11, 2001

I think we all can tell you where we were, and what we were doing on that fateful day, in September.

September 11, 2001

It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. Sunny, bright, clear with blue skies. I was taking a shower getting ready for a dental appointment, while Jack was working on shingling the house. It was a day like any other here.

Jack had the TV in our bedroom pointed out the window so he could listen to the morning news.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and Jack told me I had to get out of the shower now, something was happening. I was a little dazed and confused. I shut the water in the shower off and grabbed my towel.

Jack and I sat in our family room watching Fox News, ABC, and CNN. A plane had hit one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. Jack, as a former Airline Pilot knew immediately, that it was no accident.

While we watched, suddenly another plane came in and hit the other Tower!
We were both in shock. We listened to reports. No one was saying terrorism, not at first. But both Jack and I knew.

I look at this picture, and I know that none of those innocent people got out alive. That thought brings me to tears each time I see it.

We watched the Tower’s come down, one and then the other. We knew people had died. We just didn’t know how many.

At 12:30 I drove to my dental appointment. There was not another car on the road. Not one. I got to my dental appointment and found that I was the only patient that hadn’t canceled that day.

When I got home we watched the TV all day. I called my family and my close friends. Just to hear their voices.

It doesn’t matter your political affiliations, or how you feel about war. What matters is on September 11, 2001, innocent people died in New York City, In Washington, DC, and in Shanksville, PA.

People like you and like me. Just because. That was the day I learned that we are no longer safe here at home.

I also learned that when our country is attacked in such a manner, we pull together and unify.

God Bless all who lost their lives that day, to their families, who will never be the same, and all who serve this country each and every day to protect and defend us.

September 11, 2001: Basic Facts

Chronology
8:46 AM Plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 AM Plane crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:17 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halts all flights at U.S. airports. It is the first
time in history that air traffic has been halted nationwide.
9:38 AM Plane crashes into the Pentagon. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:45 AM The White House evacuates.
10:05 AM The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10 AM Plane crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:22 AM The State and Justice Departments, as well as the World Bank, are evacuated.
10:28 AM The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.
10:45 AM All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. are evacuated.
1:44 PM Five warships and two aircraft carriers are ordered to leave the U.S. Naval Station
in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast.
4:10 PM Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapses.

The Flights
American Airlines Flight 11
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 92 people on board
Crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center at 8:46 AM

United Airlines Flight 175
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 65 people on board
Crashed into South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 AM

American Airlines Flight 77
From: Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport)
To: Los Angeles, CA
Lives: 64 people on board
Crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 AM

United Airlines Flight 93
From: Newark, New Jersey
To: San Francisco, California
Lives: 44 people on board
Crashed into rural Pennsylvania (southeast of Pittsburgh)

Victims
Victims came from more than 90 countries around the world.
The following are the number of people who died at each site:

World Trade Center 2,823 (includes airline passengers)
Pentagon 125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 11 – 92 people on board
Flight 175 – 64 people on board
Flight 77 – 64 people on board
Flight 93 – 44 people on board

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m, the times the Towers were hit. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. The time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

That day, these first responders also died, as they raced to the scene trying to save anyone they could.

343 Firefighters (including a chaplain and two paramedics) of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
37 Police Officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (PAPD)
23 Police Officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and
8 Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics from private emergency medical services
1 Patrolman from the New York Fire Patrol

Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
August 15, 2002

Sixteen Pounds

Life is racing by so quickly, and my new, healthy, lifestyle, really is making a difference! Today was a big day for me. I weighed in and I now have lost the bulk of my weight, with just 16 pounds to go!

Call me thrilled that this big change in my life, has led to such positive results!

Yay, Me!

Happy Birthday, Melodie!

Today is my sister’s birthday. I wish I could be down in Connecticut with her to celebrate her big day. Alas, this is one more Covid-19 moment.

I do want to tell you all what a wonderful sister Melodie is. She is five and a half years older than me, and I was her “first baby”. She cared for me like a little mother and was always more like a mother to me, than a sister.

Mel is one of the kindest women that I know. She always has a smile and a warm greeting for those around her. She loves her family with her whole heart and rejoices in their successes and comforts them in their sorrows.

Ron and Melodie

She has been married to her husband, Ron for 49 years. They met at the age of 13 at summer camp and wrote to each other for many years before their wedding in November of 1971.

So today, on her sixty-seventh Birthday I want to wish my beloved sister, Melodie a very Happy Birthday!

35 Years

It’s hard for me to believe that it has been thirty-five years since the car accident that took the life of my six-year-old daughter, Katie.

It seems like so long ago, another lifetime. And yet, it also seems like just yesterday and I remember each and every detail.

The accident happened on June 13, 1985, and Katie passed away a few days later on the 19th. I’d prayed she would come back to us and wake from her coma. But, sometimes prayers are not answered.

Each year I have felt such pain. And guilt. Guilt at having been the survivor of this great tragedy. One that was entirely the other driver’s fault.

However this year I have a feeling of lightness. I will try to explain, but I am sure many of you will doubt what I am about to write.

My daughter, Mandy gave me a wonderful Mother’s Day gift. She gave me a psychic reading this Spring. I am a great Doubting Thomas, but this man was amazing and spot on.

Mandy & Katie 1985

I will not go through all he told me, but he did tell me that Katie was telling him that she did not blame me, that it wasn’t my fault, and that she is fine!

There was so much more. He knew things that no one else did, but the healing words he spoke, how it all happened, helped me to finally heal. Finally, I was able to forgive myself.

Me & Katie November 1984

So on this day, the day that changed my life forever, I am able to know that my dearest, sweetest daughter, Katie, is resting in peace.

November 8, 1978 – June 19, 1985

Happy Anniversary to Us

Today is our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. It was a picture-perfect day on Cape Cod, and although it was a small wedding, it was a very nice one.

So, Happy Anniversary, Jack and may we have many more.

Happy 13th Birthday, Anneliese and Arnie!

Thirteen years ago, in the early morning hours, Greta went into labor. I was so excited to welcome her first litter of puppies, and I sat with her as she began the long journey to motherhood.

A few hours later, Arnie, Anneliese and three of their sisters made their debut.

This was the start of something neither Jack or I had ever experienced. Having two pups, brother and sister, from the moment of their birth, for their entire life.

It’s pretty amazing. Watching these two grow and emerge as two sweet, yet very different pups.

We knew we were keeping Anneliese. I loved the look of her and felt that she would carry on the Dackel Princess line, in her time. She had a great nose (scent wise), and such personality and spunk!

Arnie, who is so sweet, loving and laid back. Here he is at a month old. A handsome boy then and now.

Arnie was actually sold to a woman from New York State. On the day she was due to pick him up, she called and canceled as her life was falling apart. She explained it all to me on the phone. I listened and gently told her she needed this dog. But she said no.

Arnie was 12 weeks old and I was really crazy about him. So was Jack and so was our young neighbor Emily. He was due to leave on that Saturday and by Monday morning we knew that Arnie was staying with us.

Here they are the first year of their life together. Best friends always.

Below is a short montage of their life together, with us. I feel so blessed to have had these two pups in my life every single day of their life. In many ways, although Greta was their biological Mom, I have been their forever Mom all these years. And now that Greta has passed away, her children help me to not miss her too much.

They both are one of my life’s greatest blessings. The years of faithful love and companionship are truly priceless.

The Weekend Wrap

Since Sunday was my birthday, most of the weekend was spent celebrating my special day. And it was a very Happy Birthday!

It started on Saturday going to see Savannah is a play. “Lion King Kids”. Savi played a Wildebeast! And she did a fabulous job!

Then on Saturday night my three cousins, Janet, Dave, and Larry came to Mandy and Matt’s house and we had a full celebration meal, which included Surf (Shrimp) and Turf (Expertly grilled Steak!)

We donned party hats and acted silly.

Savi

Freya

Janet, Me and Larry.

The somewhat dented Ice Cream Cake. The box containing the cake was dropped (accidentally). It did not lessen the deliciousness of the cake!

The dented cake! Beautiful nonetheless!

I got a few lovely gifts, including two wintery nightgowns. Lucky for me as we’ve been getting down into the lower teens at night.

On Sunday morning, (my actual birthday) Mandy made me some breakfast and then I headed home. It was another stellar day and the drive went by quickly.

Then Jack took me out for lunch at The Common Man Restaurant, where we feasted on Mussels and then had Reuben Sandwiches. The restaurant treated me to a chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce for my dessert!

All in all, this was one of the nicest birthdays ever!

However, all that said, after all this wild eating, I am feeling stuffed! I may not eat until well into tomorrow!

God Bless Our Veteran’s

I am grateful to all the men and women who have served our country, and continue to serve. Also, I am grateful that my Veteran Husband, Jack came home alive from Vietnam.

A very young Jack.

Hubby served in the early 1960s in the Army. He was a fixed-wing pilot on the Otter and the Caribou Aircraft.

Here is Jack with his Army Aviator friend, Jim. They’ve been friends all these years.

This group of men had flown Otters and Caribou aircraft during their time in service to our country. This museum had a beautiful Caribou aircraft for all to see.

Now, in Jack’s later years, it is Jack and I going through his Agent Orange Health problems. We’ll get through it. I am just so grateful that Jack made it back. If he hadn’t I never would have known him or had him in my life.

The last thirty-two years have been good ones for us. And on this Veteran’s Day, I am so grateful to have my Veteran sitting next to me at home.

God Bless the Men & Women of the Military. I thank them all for their service.