Take Care of Those Paper Angels

Grateful for our two

Newhart and Politics

I went looking for some classic Newhart, one particular scene, but happened upon this instead.  We all need a good political laugh nowadays.

You Ain't Nothin But a Hound Dog

So in all this excitement, I've developed some type of head/chest congestion.  It's great, really. 

I've gone from sounding like this:

To this:

At least the guys at work like it.  Though, Bob is kinda sick of hearing me bark.

I'm an AUNT

Congratulate me.

If all goes well, as of this minute I'll be a new aunt again.

My niece will have "delivered" two girls, given to her by the Grace of God and the State of Indiana. These two sisters are now ours.

Thank you God. Thank you, State of Indiana. Thank you New Mom and Dad.   Congrats Grandma and Grandpa!

Spirit of Christmas

Bah Humbug.

Christmas was always magical to me.  We didn't have a lot growing up, but Mom always made sure we had wonderful Christmases.  Christmas started earlier and earlier each year because when my parents were done "finding" all the presents from Santa, they would wake us up, even in the middle of the night. 

Christmas "mornings" remind me of the many mornings of being awaken at 2 or 3 in the morning and my parents leading us to all of the presents Santa had managed to save up for most of the year.  One whiff of coffee brewing brings me right back to that morning when I received a "real" china play set.  I asked mom to put some water in the tea pot and she returned the tiny china to me with REAL coffee.  My brothers wheeled up to my diner in their new Radio Flyer wagon. 

Sadly the kids nowdays will never remember the smell of a new transistor radio.  I should bottle that and sell it as perfume, I would make a fortune.

Thank you Mom for making Christmas so special.

I miss those days.  I loved Christmastime even after I grew up.  Twenty years ago I would decorate for days.  I put up a live Christmas trees even when I lived alone.

Eighteen years ago last May, I was again newly married.  In June my dad retired.  In August he was diagnosed with liver cancer. 

His last Christmas was also his last birthday.  He turned 60 on December 25, 1991.  He died just barely a month after that. 

From that time until now, Christmas has been hard.  Too much sadness and too much drama.  Bob suffers his own Christmas nightmares,  mine are more recent. 

But by Christmas Eve, all that changes.  My family has been been celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve since we grew up enough to realize Santa had already visited.  

Last week I found online a song that described my feelings about Christmas now.   I found it here.


This precious girl who has an amazing voice now has a family who loves her after losing both of her parents.  Her courage and strength amazes me.  

I was hoping to embed her version within this post, but found that I couldn't.  So I've embedded below the original song.  It doesn't compare to Katie's version or her strength.  God Bless this child.  If she can look for hope at Christmas, surely the rest of us can also.




"Where Are You Christmas"
Words and music by James Horner
Copyright © 2000

Where are you Christmas
Why can't I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter
You used to bring me

Why can't I hear music play
My world is changing
I'm rearranging
Does that mean Christmas changes too?

Where are you Christmas
Do you remember
The one you used to know
I'm not the same one
See what the time's done
Is that why you have let me go

Christmas is here
Everywhere, oh
Christmas is here
If you care, oh
If there is love
In your heart and your mind
You will feel like Christmas all the time

I feel you Christmas
I know I've found you
You never fade away
The joy of Christmas
Stays here inside us
Fills each and every heart with love

Where are you Christmas
Fill your heart with love


SOOOO, wait.   I just got this letter posted on my family web from my new niece who will legally be my niece on Wednesday morning...

The marked out words said "but if I end up with another family, I'll never forget you.  But I know that will never happen."  

God Heals All Wounds.  Never Forget It.

Dad, you would have loved your new great grandbaby girls. 

Toys for Boys

This is a great gift for a little boy....

Well, until it tangles up with his sister's hair....

Scissors please.

Sometimes it still stings.

But grandbabies nephews and nieces help

Who's That Sleeping On My Floor

On Saturday morning, I never knew who to expect might be camping out in our living room. I was young, probably 12 or so. I cannot tell you how many mornings I would wake up and walk to our living room and find a kid or two sacked out under a blanket.

They were always friends of my brothers. Some had parents who really just didn't care about them, some were just lonely because they were only children. All were welcome in our house.

I had nearly forgotten about all those kids until last night. Most just stayed a night here and there, a couple lived with us for a month or two or three. I can't tell you how many there were, more than four, probably less than a dozen.

Not all of the stories had happy endings. Most grew up to be decent functioning adults, one ended up in prison. But none of them, none of them ever betrayed the trust my parents had placed in them by letting them stay at our house. I never remember feeling threatened, these kids were part of our family and when our dad lay dying years later, some returned to our house and reminisced about the old days. For many, my dad and mom were the only true parents they had ever really known.

Nearly a year ago my mother told me that my niece and her husband were thinking about adopting two little girls. Given the number of "stray" kids that were part of my upbringing, I would have assumed that my first reaction would have been a big smile. I hate to admit it, but my first reaction was that my niece didn't realize what she may be getting herself into. I worried.

But oh, how I underestimated my niece's instinct along with the joy these two precious girls would bring in my own life.

In a week and a half these two little girls will forever be legally tied to our family. But they have been tied to our hearts from the very first meeting.

Which leads me to another story. Imagine taking in a kid off the street. A teenager, a black kid in a white millionaire neighborhood. A kid who was homeless, whose mother was an addict and a background you were unfamiliar with.

I would love to believe that my heart and faith would be bigger than my fear of the unknown. I want to be that person, but I know I will never be.

But there are some people who do the right thing, no matter what. There are people in this world who turn a blind eye to the fear of taking in a troubled teenager.

Last night we went to see The Blind Side. A true story of the Touhy family who took in Michael Oher. A VERY big black teenager who had no home. They brought him in their millionaire neighborhood, fed, clothed him and changed his life.

What would have become of Michael Oher had this family been too fearful to let him into their home with their teenage daughter and young son?

I don't know the answer to that, but I would bet everything I own that his life would not have turned out like it has.

Obviously Michael Oher was a special kid, not letting his early life affect how he percieved the world, but then so are the Touhy's.

The movie was wonderful from start to finish. It would have been a great fictional story, but it's not fiction. It's too amazing to be fiction.

If you haven't yet, go see The Blind Side. It will just make you hopeful that you might be able to change one person's life.

My niece is changing two.

What a wonderful Christmas gift WE'VE been given.