Birthday Gift

Me: It's the peak of the political season. Lots of talk about lots of things. You know - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

RT, noticing the painted board sitting by the fireplace: What's this?

Me: Oh, Mrs. Jenny made that.

RT: Really? What is it?

Me: It's a birthday gift for you...a few days early. 

RT: Really? That's cool...I like it.

Me: It's only words. And words are all I have to tell you how much I love being married to you and living here in Liberty. That's all. Hope you like it. Happy Early Birthday, my love.

Took a quick little trip to Jackson Hole as part of the birthday celebration. As my friend Angela wisely said, "when you celebrate a birthday, you're celebrating the event, not the date." True true...so let the celebrating begin, I say!

Haha...and as part of celebrating HIS birthday, I got a new pair of kicks....gotta love that!!

Saturday Centus time again. I love how Mrs. Jenny just knows exactly what prompt to give us each week (in red above). She's so smart...and so talented. Don't you love the sign she made for us?!

Be sure to stop by Mrs. Jenny's and see what the other Centusians did with their 100 words.

Hot Fun in the Summertime...

I guess technically it's not summer yet, but it sure felt like it today. And what do you do when it's hot and sunny outside? You find a place to cool off. 

It's my daughter's birthday today. Truth is, though, that she's one of the greatest gifts in MY life...and it just keeps getting better. Not only do I get her and her cute hubby, but what about these two little monkeys that come with the package!?

Happy Bday, baby girl. You are the best daughter any mom could ever hope for! I love you.

You Know How Sometimes...?

...you meet someone and from then on you are fast friends? That's how it was with my friends Erika and Bernardo when we met in Coyhaique, Chile almost 10 years ago. And since then, they've been like family.

 

Today, their son, Mauricio, married the love of his life in the Salt Lake City temple. She, from Mexico. He, from Chile. 

Friends and family came from far and near to celebrate with them.

 Kind of like the United Nations...the way it should be.

Les quiero, los Moras! Les quiero muchísimo!

Thanks, Mom

It's Mothers Day. Time to pay tribute to all the moms in our lives. Certainly our own, without whom, none of us would be here. But countless others too...even those who have no children of their own, but who influence the lives of so many.

Motherhood is about patience, sacrifice, exploration, temperance, enthusiasm, perseverance, exhaustion, courage, faith, laughter, pain, endurance, and a million other things. But most of all, motherhood is about love.

Happy Mothers Day to any and all who have ever loved a child.

The Thing About Dreams

She danced on tiptoe the whole way home. Years of nightmares wiped away in an instant.

Donald was surely the man of her dreams. Handsome. Strong. Kind. Devoted to family. Well-worn photos he carried showed his longing for home.

She had pinched herself. I'm living the dream, man meets woman. Man and woman live happily ever after. In America.

The few months seemed like a lifetime. Walking. Laughing. Dreaming. Spending precious time together.

But today, today the dream ended. She had searched for him. Gone. Without warning. Without notice. His company had shipped out that morning. To America. Without her.

It's been a long week. If you've been following along, you know that we buried my hub's Uncle Donald this week, and along with him, we buried an unsolved mystery that has captivated us all. To catch up on the story, you might want to read my posts from Thursday and Friday. 

I hadn't planned to write any more about it, but then Mrs. Jenny gave us the perfect prompt (in red above) for this week's Saturday Centus, so how could I resist? Our instructions: exactly 100 words, including the prompt. 

With a few more words, I probably would have written of Donald's anguish when he was ordered to pack up and move out with no possibility of telling the young woman. At least, that's how it played out in my mind. Like that of the two star-crossed lovers whose dreams were not to be, my imagined story had to be cut short. 

Be sure to check out what the other Centusians are dreaming about this week by clicking here. 

Remembering Romance or Revising Reality?

Salzburg, Austria. Summer of 1945.

He was handsome and strong, an American soldier, having spent much of the war building bridges - forty of them, to be exact. His warm smile and air of confidence camouflaged the pain and trouble he had known all too well in the war.

She was a blond beauty with piercing blue eyes. Her rosy cheeks showed no sign of the ravages of war, the oppression of the Nazi regime or the abuse of Red Army soldiers she and others like her had witnessed first-hand. Since the arrival of the GIs she had heard stories of war brides who were swept up by handsome GIs and taken to America, the land of milk and honey. She had dreamt of Mickey Mouse, Coca Cola and a home with a washing machine. Her mother had warned her, though, about pursuing this foolish dream. She didn't listen. She wanted out.

The room seemed to sway. The smell of smoke and alcohol pungent in the air, a mix of swing and jazz music pulsating in the background only added to the tension between soldiers seeking a much-needed break from their rigorous and often mind-numbing duties, and the beautiful women with their own stories of pain and suffering to tell.

Their eyes locked from across the room. That was the beginning.

But the beginning of what?

My hub’s uncle, Donald, passed away this week. He was just days shy of his 88th birthday. He lived a fairly solitary life, never marrying or having children.

Uncle Donald joined the army at age 21. Serving with the 163rd Combat Engineers, he landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy just days after D-Day, in June of 1944. His service took him through France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. He served his country courageously and received four Bronze Star medals and one Silver Star. He was honorably discharged and returned home in February 1946. Not much else is known about his life during that time.

This week, my sister-in-law collected his belongings from the small room at the assisted living center he called home for the past several years. In a cardboard box with the family photos he loved and a handful of newspaper clippings, she found one small photo that didn’t seem to fit. Not a family member. Not a celebrity. Just an unknown young woman, the photo showing signs of the passing of many years, important enough to hold together with pieces of surgical tape.

Who was she? Why did he keep her photo? The only clue to her identity - two words on the back in Uncle Donald’s handwriting - Salzburg Austria. Did he fall in love with her? Was it a short-lived romance that ended abruptly when he returned home? Had he intended to bring her back with him? Were there children? Was she still alive?

Did he dream of her when he raised his eyes to the clouds in the Wyoming skies all those years he worked the railroad after coming home?

Uncle Donald never spoke of this woman. But, then, like many soldiers who've been in a war zone, he didn't speak much of any of that time. Today, we'd probably say he suffered from PTSD. He certainly had some hard times upon returning home.

There’s not much chance that we’ll ever know the real story. At least not in this life. I like to think that there was something more than a single night of reverie and that perhaps they have found each other once again. Rest in peace, sweet Donald.


Uncharacteristic as it might seem for me, this is my Alphabe-Thursday offering this week. But then, it's an uncharacteristic week and I'm feeling a bit more reflective rather than my usual rebellious and rambunctious self. R is for Remembering Romance or Revising Reality. Be sure to read what the other Alphabetarians registered over at Mrs. Jenny's for that rowdy letter R by clicking HERE.

Happy Valentine's Day

Smoooooch!

Oh, ho hum. What's all this kissy face stuff about, anyway?

It's Valentine's Day, THAT's what!!

Hope your day is filled with love, laughter and things that make your heart sing!