So here's the short of it,
Happy Anniversary Liga and Valdis!

 And here's the long.

Mednieku pils Inčukalnā

Seventeen years ago today, we woke up in Riga, Latvia.  After lunch Victor, our in-country adoption facilitator drove us from the city to a small place in the country called Incukaln (pronounced Inch-u-kahln).  Our destination, the Incukaln Home for Children housed in an old hunting castle.  There had been an outbreak of hepatitis and it was under quarantine at the time. Compared to the stories he heard from others who went to adopt children, we were hustled in and back out and given little opportunity to see the grounds or meet many of the other children. We were asked to take pictures of about 10 other children to bring back to The Open Door agency.




This picture was taken within 10 minutes of the first time we met Liga and Valdis. Neither of them spoke any English. "Hallo" was as close as they got!  I had memorized about 50 Latvian words and we had an English-Latvian dictionary!  What an adventure we would have over the next months until the kids learned enough English to communicate with us.

So here's the short of it,
Today I honor and remember all those who served.
I especially think of Dad. 

 And here's the long.

This morning Alan, Liga, and I went to the Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Cemetery with Mom.  Joyce was on her way back from a visit to David and met us there at the cemetery.  It was a sunny and hot morning. The program was lovely and there were lots of veterans and their families there.  Someone said that today was one of the largest crowds they've had in several years. Dad always went to the programs at the cemetery. It was so beautiful there today. All the gravestones had a flag, and flags lined the roads that wind their way through the cemetery.

I was glad we were able to be there.

So here's the short of it, 
Meredith and Ben got married today.


 And here's the long.

We drove to Atlanta and back today for Meredith and Ben's wedding. It was such a lovely affair, and as they used to say in the little hometown newspaper where I grew up,"a good time was had by all".

Here's a wish for a long and happy life to Meredith and Ben!

So here's the short of it, 
Alan's been sick all day.

 And here's the long.

This morning when I woke, Alan was moaning and groaning - it was a bout of really bad nausea.  I called in to the answering service and got Dr. Jolly.  Alan and I both thought it was food poisoning, but Dr. Jolly said that there's a really bad stomach virus going around  - that's what she thought it probably was. She gave him a prescription for phenergan. But since the Pharmacy doesn't open until 9:00 - he had a couple more hours of that awful nausea. The phenergan knocks him out, so he's been in the bed all day.  I thought about a few weeks ago when I had that awful nausea and vomiting that I attributed to food poisoning, and wonder if I got that virus early on.

Anyway, whether it's food poisoning or the virus, I hope it's mostly gone by tomorrow - except that he still has fever. We are supposed to drive down for Meredith's wedding in Atlanta. I hope he's feeling well enough to go.

So here's the short of it, 
I have a new computer.

 And here's the long.

I'm really excited for my new home computer! It came today via Fed Ex.  I've been tracking its shipping progress ever since it left Shanghai.

It's a MacBook Pro!

I just got it out of the box a bit ago. I've got a lot to learn because I've been away from Apple products ever since the merger of City Schools which was over 10 years ago!  I'm so excited to relearn what I used to know and then come up the learning curve with new things!  

So here's the short of it, 
Mom and I made an early Memorial Day visit to the cemetery.  

And here's the long.

Since Mom is going to Atlanta tomorrow to be there for all the pre-wedding festivities, we went to the cemetery today.  At lunchtime, she and I met at the cemetery.  Dad loved red roses so much, and they seemed so appropriate for Memorial Day.  

As we were leaving Mom said something to me and I didn't hear it, when I asked her to repeat it, I could see that she was choked up a bit and weepy.  She said, "Last Sunday it was two years since he was home." 

It hardly seems possible that it's been two years since he went to the hospital for some routine surgery that would turn into the nightmare that led to his death.

We miss him so much, and are so glad that Mom is here in Chattanooga so nearby.

So here's the short of it,

Tonight at Wednesday night church, veterans were honored.

And here's the long.

Mom invited us to Wednesday night church since it was the service honoring veterans. Dad had spoken at that very event several times. As a matter of fact, he spoke the Wednesday night before his surgery.

It was a very nice evening. Two gentlemen spoke. Bob Rayburn is a Navy veteran who served in the Battle of Leyte Gulf Bay.   I first heard of that when I read the novel Space by James Michener but this is the very first time I ever heard anyone who was there speak about it. Then a gentleman who served in the Navy during the Vietnam war spoke. I was glad to be there to hear their stories.





The church has a permanent display of some of its members and past members who served in the military.

Here's a close up of Dad's picture on that display. 

I am such a lucky woman to have had Gene Howard for a father!