Spoke to Dad last night

So I call dad to say happy holidays and check to see how he and his wife are doing.. He tells me all is well, his knees are holding up, since the knee replacement he feels like a 65 year old... He feels good. His birthday is coming up, he will be a spry 75 years old. I love my father... So much I can't even explain. His wife will be putting on a 75th birthday party for him.

He asked me to come. I think this is the first time in a long time my dad has asked me to come out to Cali for his birthday. This is a huge milestone, 3/4 of a century old, I WILL BE THERE for that momentous occasion.

I cant wait. This will also give me a chance to see my friends and celebrate my birthday with them as well. My dad and I were  born in the same month.

What do you get a man of 75 years for his birthday? Reading glasses, magnifying glass, the big print books... Not sure. But I do know I will be there with lots of hugs and kisses..

Love you Dad!

From My side of the Family~

My niece - She meets and marries a young soldier- has two beautiful little girls- She moves to an Army base with her husband - he gets deployed to Iraq- Spends a year there, and IED explodes near their vehicle, his commanders legs get blown off and his legs are full of shrapnel - He comes home for surgery to recover - is home for 22 months and then goes back to Iraq -

Present time-

My niece Joan flies home to California from Texas with her kids to be with her mother and father. She will stay there until her husband returns from his current tour. She finds a job, the kids are in daycare and thriving, she is happy... Her husband calls her and tells her he will be home in the next two week and that she needs to come back from Cali to set up her housing to prepare for his return.

She returns with kids in tow.. She sets up housing, buys furniture - prepares for her husband to return - He then calls her and says (get this) I WANT A DIVORCE... She was floored... She doesn't understand and asks him why, what happened.. He tells her he has been corresponding with an ex-girlfriend on Facebook and wants to be with her... He tells her the divorce papers are in the mail, just to sign them and go about your business..

So after being incredibly devastated, she gathers herself, the kids and moves back to Cali.. So far no papers have arrived, no Christmas gifts for the kids and no communication from the soldier husband...

Poor Joan... I think of her daily since the news of this story came to my attention... Idiot Soldier husband....

Black on Black crime

OK, so we have a cousin, we will call him Jim, he and his wife live in a house they share with another cousin and his wife and three kids, one of which is special needs, we will call them Donald and Keisha. Now Donald and Jim got into some sort of argument, Jim and his wife decide to kick Donald and Keisha out the week of Christmas, all their belongings were put on the street and they were left homeless.

Now my mother-in-law drive to the a friends house to pick up Donald the wife and kids, she brings them to her house, where her husband, brother, daughter and her husband and child also live... (this is a full house already) Now Donald, the wife and three kids are there with no where else to go, no belongings (they were stolen) and a disabled child.

Cousin Jim, feels no shame in his act and has not attempted to apologize for his actions. We are all amazed that he would do that to family.  All we can do is pray the Donald, Keisha and the kids find housing soon.

by the way- they have been waiting for their housing voucher and should have it be Feb... Why couldn't Jim and his wife wait till then???  We may never know...

Today 29 Dec 2011 - An Uncles deception

So my husband calls me before I get to the office to tell me a quick story about his uncle Jack. He begins to laugh... I ask him "what is it"? He said, "you wont believe what I just heard" I asked him to tell me.. Here we go:
          His aunt Sue went to the hospital to visit his uncle, (he is in the hospital after becoming very ill) Jack's pastor asked Aunt Sue, "how long have you been in the country?" Sue looked at him surprised and said "all my life, we were born in North Carolina and raised in Arlington" Why? she asked.. Here's the kicker... The pastor continues.. Jack said he was from Nigeria, he said the entire family lived there and when your mother passed away in 2004 he could not make it back to Africa, so we gave her a memorial service at our church.  Sue looked as surprised as anyone would.. She said, we have lived in Arlington for over 50 years, my mother died in Arlington, and was buried in Arlington. The pastor looked dumbfounded.

       Now Jack has been ill for over 20 years, do you think the karma is catching up with him?