To each his own. To me my own.

Posts tagged “Miscellaneous

Survivor 22 – Nicaragua

The new season of Survivor is premiering on CBS tonight – I can’t wait!! The show simply never gets old to me. This season is set in Nicaragua and promises to be the most grueling season of earth, wind and fire that we’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing in any of the past eleven years.

Haters, be gone. Tonight I will have my undisturbed 60 minutes of unparalleled HD reality bliss… bring it!!

©CBS Survivor

Visit official site here


Hibachi Hearts

Oh how I’ve missed my little blog. Seems like there’s not been enough time lately to do anything. I’ve got some catching up to do on my reading as well! Today makes it official – the month is now half spent. In lieu of content, thought I’d bore you with some pictures today…

The sunrise this morning was beautiful – it cast a pinkish-purple hue on the buildings around me.

Pardon the office lights in the background!

This past weekend was perfect weather. We took full advantage of it Sunday by gathering our daughters together and climbing a mountain. Okay, it’s not the biggest mountain around, but a mountain nonetheless. It was a great time to be had – we took on the climb, had a beautiful scenic view for a prize, and partook in a nice picnic lunch afterwards that sweetened the deal.

Feel the vogue. Feel it.

The last stairway to the top...

Our prize for the climb - whatta view!

Our lovely ladies – mine on the left, K's on the right.

Last night my sweet man brought me roses for Valentines day, both stem as well as a plant for the yard. ♥ We went to dinner at our favorite Japanese steakhouse, Sasaki. My gosh how I love that place! It’s so nice to walk in there and be greeted by our first names – and we always seem to find another friendly neighboring couple to chat with.

St. Valentine's dish o' the day. Yessir & thank you.

Good times.


To Thine Own Self Be True

After about a years worth of failed attempts to reach me through texts, I received an innocent enough email from an old acquaintance. It’d been over two years since I’d even seen the guy, and it’s not like a real friendship or anything ever existed. I did what I thought was the right thing – I politely replied back, informed him I no longer had that phone number, and saw no point for further contact between us. I wished him the best, and gave my regards.

The next morning, he had sent an email apologizing twice for ‘bothering me’ – that he’d gotten married, and ‘was going to tell me so if the conversation arose’.

If the conversation arose? WTF does that mean?

Thing is, I found out after the few times I’d seen him years ago that he already had a girlfriend on the side. Recalling that memory got me thinking – if he’s married now… why on earth is he still contacting numbers that reside within his back pocket? I’m just asking…

I would so hate to find out my husband was contacting other women. I know sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, like maybe where a friendship is involved, etc. – but trust me when I say this is not one of those times.

Dude… do the right thing and throw away all those old numbers. You don’t need ’em anymore…


Ode to Six Years

Today marks my six-year anniversary with my current employer. Ironically enough, that particular day in history also fell on a Monday! I am ever grateful for my career. It’s something that I’ve been blessed with never having to be without… a job.

Prior to my current employment, I had been with a company for 11.5 years. For all intents and purposes, it was the company I’d intended on retiring from. As it happened, a series of unfortunate events beyond my control made it necessary for me to seek employment elsewhere. I never could’ve hoped to find a job as good as the one I have now – nor can I say enough good about the group of people I work with.

And so I’ll say it again, because it bears repeating over and over – timing really is everything.


‘de Main Event

The sun has finally shown it’s beautiful face, and the weather is balmy. No need to even leave the house, we have all we need here. A big crock-pot full of my world famous chili has been cooking on the counter since this morning – and tonight’s main event: Superbowl Sunday. I’ve always found it hilarious that the Monday after the Superbowl is the most called-in day at work. Knowing this, I personally would have to drag my half-dead self in no matter how I felt!

Hope everyone has an awesome Sunday and enjoys the main event, the what’s-sure-to-be a kickass halftime show and those commercials too! 🙂


10K

It’s gonna happen to this little blog soon… the 10,000th hit since it started back in late 2009. It doesn’t seem possible, really, that anything I write could be interesting enough for that many people to come by and read – even if it is over the course of time. In any case, I am very humbled by the numbers. If you happen to be customer number 10K, sorry – no happy prize for you. All I can offer is a big smile and a thumbs up! 😀

I’ve had a lot of thoughts running rampant in my head over the past couple of months. Come May of this year, I will have resided at my little condo for three years – my little ‘treehouse in the sky’ as I have referred to so often. Well, I’ve decided I won’t be renewing my lease this year. Just recently, Keith and I decided to make the big jump to combine households at his residence. Needless to say, it’s something we’ve both considered for a long while now. You all know how I feel about timing, that it’s everything… and we both feel more sure than ever that the time is finally right…

Over the next several months, I’ll be busy cleaning out, packing and getting some other affairs in order. It’s amazing what all you can accumulate in three short years. I’m glad to have the extended time to do so, and not have to cram everything into a month’s time, or shorter.

Oh, and have I mentioned how very excited I am?? I mean I’m seriously off-the-charts happy


No Shadow… Spring is Near!!

It’s not gonna be difficult for me to find a subject for me to hop on today…

It’s Groundhog Day, and for the first time in a long awaited while Punxsutawney Phil is not afraid… that’s right folks, NO SHADOW!! Know what that means?

Spring is near!! Spring is near!! Oh gosh… Spring is near!!

The story of Groundhog Day begins with Candlemas, an early Christian holiday where candles were blessed and distributed. Celebrators of the holiday eventually declared clear skies on Candlemas meant a longer winter. The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, brought this tradition to the Germans, who concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather or “Second Winter.” German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania, but how did Punxsutawney Phil emerge?

In 1887, a spirited group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney dubbed themselves “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.” One member was an editor of Punxsutawney’s newspaper. Using his ink, he proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil, the local groundhog, to be the one and only weather prognosticating groundhog. He issued this proclamation on Candlemas, and yes, Groundhog Day. Phil’s fame spread, and newspapers from around the globe began to report his Gobbler’s Knob prediction. Info from http://www.visitpa.com/groundhog-day

In related news, February 2nd is exactly the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is the winter midpoint or ‘cross-quarter’ day. The coldest, bleakest part of our winter season is now officially half over!

Spring is near!! Spring is near!! Oh gosh… Spring is near!

Visit the official Groundhog Day site: http://www.groundhog.org/


Work it out

Having been sunny and highs hitting the mid-60’s, what a beautiful weekend it was. We went hiking for a bit yesterday at a local mountain/state park near Keith’s house – it was just the perfect day for it. With the amount of trailing we’ve done in the past year, I’ve decided that I might just be in need of some hiking gear. At the very least, a walking pole with which to steady myself. 🙂

My outdoorsy stud-muffin...

After the hike, I was completely spent. As soon as we got back, I promptly collapsed on the couch and went out like a light for two hours. This is not like me… I’ve seriously got to work on my endurance. With this said, I have been challenged:

The Jillian Michaels challenge for the week...

I really like the thought of a healthy new recipe under 500 cals per serving. Now, to burn 300 cals (or more) per day? I can only accomplish that one way, Jillian – Ima have to double-up on my workouts this week. I’ll be sure to let ya know how that goes for me.


It’s the Little Things… that get discontinued

It really is the little things in life that I appreciate the most and seem to please me to no end. Bear with me on this for just a minute.

When I find something I really like, I stick with it. No use fixing something that’s not broken, I always say – take for instance my anti-bac. For years now, I’ve been an avid user of the ‘waterless’ smell-good foaming pump anti-bac by Bath and Body Works.  (Note empty bottle to right.) This little 3″ smell-good pump generally lasts me around six months, for which I generally have backups on-hand when the time comes to replace.

Except this time.

So off I go to hit the local Bath and Body Works store on the way home from work… with the addition of my custom BBW Bon-Blinders so I may leave the store with only the anti-bac and nothing else additional.

Now where oh where is my foaming anti-bac? I noticed the newfangled little pocket gel-pacs that require lots of shaking, squeezing and patience to get anything out of… but not my easy little one-squirt smell-good pump. To my dismay, the saleslady informed me they were discontinued, then even proceeded to knock the ‘old’ product by saying ‘they leaked’. I told her in all my years of using, one had never leaked on me. So go knock on my product with someone else, lady.

I went home, checked their website and ended up ordering a slew of them online. Gotta love that online ordering! Mind you, I will have more than several ‘backups’ on hand once they arrive… all lined up in a smell-good rainbow-colored array.

It’s the law of Bon, I swear… if I like something, it will be discontinued. My favorite brand of Clinique foundation fell victim just last month. Prior to that, my favorite Lean Cuisine meal.

Hey Bon, would you like some cheese with that whine??


Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mama’s birthday. We’ll all meet up tonight for dinner at the steak house on the lake (which is where she chose). There the views are excellent and the food is delicious.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when I had to tilt my head up to look at her, not very long at all. Even though she might not know it, she was always my best friend even back then. We did everything together – listened to eight-tracks, cooked oven-doughnuts and pizzas, watched our televisions shows and jumped the ocean waves together. We share the same apparent love for the sea, as we used to float alongside each other for hours on end.

Of course those teenage years came when I rebelled, and turned into what could have possibly been her worst nightmare. I’ve often wished I could reverse time and rethink some of my actions, but this is just not meant to be. In my most rebellious of years, she actually met and married her soulmate – who I’m convinced God sent to her at the most needed time in her life.

Timing. It really is everything.

Today, she’s still my best friend. As was her mother was her best friend. As I hope I will be my own daughter’s best friend. Life is an ongoing circle, always. May we always be appreciative of what we have at the given time.

Happy Birthday, Mama!


My Girl

I am forever thankful for the one child God blessed me with. I find myself contemplating it from time to time, and I simply cannot imagine what my life would have been like without her in it.

From the age of three months, she’s always loved to laugh more than anything else. I can say with 100% certainty that she gets this from her mama – and although that trait seemed to get me in trouble more times than not, she has managed it well.

Even as a young girl, her maturity level always surpassed that of her peers. Her tenderness and caring nature was apparent from the beginning, too. If someone was hurt or injured, she wouldn’t rest until she knew the situation was rectified – even if she was forcefully removed.

A real one-track mind, hers has been said to be. I guess that can be a hindrance at times, but not necessarily a bad thing. I believe that one-track mind was the source of her strong will that has endured from childhood throughout adulthood, which her pawpaw endearingly referred to her as the “Philadelphia Lawyer”. This most befitting term has yet to be matched.

I have often marvelled at her intelligence. It’s not just what you’re born with, ya know – it’s what you do with it. While she watched friends either dropping out of college or opting for other routes in life, she continued to work hard and give the extra mile knowing it would greatly impact her future. From the very beginning, I’ve asked three things of her…
1. Love God. 2. Get a good education so you never have to depend on anyone to keep you up in life. 3. Learn to drive a stick-shift, an emergency situation may warrant you knowing how one day. So far, she’s completed all but number three. 🙂

She’ll be twenty-three in March. Let me now revisit her maturity level, which even today, especially today – exists in full-force. Although she’s fresh out of college, she’s holding her own with her first apartment and a wonderful start to her career. She sees where and what she wants to be in life, and makes it happen. Would that I were that strong when I was her age! She worries about her own parents so much that it’s almost if the roles were actually reversed, and gives good solemn advice that I’ve never found any wrong in yet. Sometimes I see her taking on too much in this area, for her worries are often many. How I do wish I could take some of this weight off of her shoulders at times.

I could, of course, go on. But that’s my bright shining star – always full of surprises, excitement, fun, beauty, ambition, love and compassion, and will spout out an honest answer to anyone regardless of the consequences. I can’t imagine being any more proud of her than I am at this moment… though I’m quite sure the day will come when I am.

(Note the cactus to the rear in photo to immediate right… ouch…)

That’s my little comedienne.


Wayside

I guess I need to see a doctor about getting on a regular sleep-aid or something. Insomnia drives me crazy some nights, where I’m up for hours just lying there. During these times my brain goes into a sort of activity overload where I’m thinking of anything, everything, and all things in-between. I’ll even ‘create’ scenarios rectifying other scenarios – as crazy as I know this sounds. My best friend and I have discussed this and I take solace in the fact that she does it too, so there’s probably more than the two of us out there.

Sometimes I hate dreams… sometimes I love them. Last night I just desperately wanted to escape it. I’m convinced the dream I woke from is what initiated the insomnia last night and into this morning. I abhor such dreams, because they represent my deepest and darkest fear – our own homeland security.

All but a few fragments of our Pentagon had been destroyed by terrorists. To no one’s surprise, the weapon used for the destruction was two planes. For some reason I was just learning of the attack the following day, and people were shocked I didn’t know. In describing it to me, I got a play-by-play ‘visual’ of the attack by others – in other words, it was like they put me back in time for it and I witnessed from above what the officials did and how they reacted.

Apparently they had five minutes knowledge that the planes were coming. I was positioned in a birds-eye view from overhead and watched them go into action – desperately moving delicate equipment, all containing material of a most sensitive nature. Our nation’s STUFF. To see these people, roughly one hundred, take that kind of action was unbelievable. I know it was a dream, and this isn’t how it would really transpire – but they were all moving so fast and in sync, it was nothing short of amazing. There was so much equipment that I kept thinking ‘no way will they ever get it all done’. I watched what resembled worker ants move at light speed until I saw a huge flash of light and the disintegration was apparent. In my dream, there were over one hundred lives lost. Our nation’s internet protocol immediately went into lockdown so there was no way of accessing anything online. The entire country was in complete chaos. The dream ended there.

It’s no wonder that I was up for hours after this dream. This dream won’t come as any shock to those who know me, who know how I feel about 9/11 and that it’s pretty much fallen by the wayside in terms of remembrance. It’s not fallen by the wayside for me, and never will. There is not one single day I don’t think about that most fateful day in our nation’s history. Not one day. I’ve said it many times before, I’d rather have nightmares about that day every night of my life than to let it fade even slightly from my memory. And I still mean that.


A day in the life

Drifting

I open my eyes
unspoken dreams, unbridled pain
Where do I begin again
if it’s not here.

Embracing the newness
of honesty and truth
Wondering when exactly
this lifetime shifted.

Can I reach any further
is it possible
Or have I gone beyond
my intended destination?

Comes full circle, it seems
though lost in translation
a vagabond who searches

Still.

~BM, 2011


Time in a bottle

Have you ever thought about the old saying ‘actions speak louder than words’? I’ve thought about it quite a bit lately. It points out the fact that while people may say one thing, their actions may be saying something quite different – and throughout time, a persons actions tend to give a better indication of their true nature.

Reflecting back on prior lessons learned, I know that we can usually relate this to relationships. Sometimes you feel so very certain about your future or how someone else feels about you, and then something crystal clear is presented. It may be something you’ve ignored for a while, perhaps even grown accustomed to throughout time. It could have been a question that was raised before, only to be brushed back under the rug.

Just like time itself.

 


More lucid delusions

The past two nights my dreams have been nothing short of incredibly weird. It was explained to me by reason of “sometimes your brain just needs to dump the crap each day”. Well, okay – I’ll buy into that.

Dream documentation #232.

Sunday night, I dreamed of myself, my daughter, my mother, my mother-in-law, my ex-husband, and my deceased sister-in-law. My remaining sister-in-law that is still alive was not in this dream. We all were at some recreational park in which a walkway surrounded this flowing river of sorts – almost like a man-made whitewater center, located in the mountains. I noticed my ex-husband racing a small motor-boat around in what turned out to be a lazy river, with swimmers and floaters alike occupying the water. I remember thinking ‘he’s gonna run over someone, or at the very least piss somebody off’. Meanwhile my mother, daughter, mother-in-law, deceased sister-in-law and I were were standing in line at some concession stand. My deceased sister-in-law was angry and upset with me, which seemed to be overshadowing an otherwise good time. I stood beside her in the dream, put my arm around her waist and said “This is not the place and time. We’re all here for Julia [my daughter]”, to which she nodded yes. Next I remember us walking up to a secluded cabin on a hill, where for some reason we were all staying at. The view was excellent and the cabin was rustic and beautiful, inside and out.

At the end of the dream my ex-husband was still out there, going ’round and ’round that river in the boat, as if being driven to do so.

As usual, in documenting the above dream the pertinent one from last night eludes me – this doesn’t come as a surprise. Maybe I’ll get some alone time today on my outside labeling project and it’ll come flooding back. If so, I’ll include it on here as I’d originally planned.

Dream documentation #231 (written December 13, 2010 – but never posted)

Deep into Saturday night, I dreamed of snow. I was driving on the interstate and it became increasingly difficult as I went along. At one point, I got a ‘running start’ while going downhill, and even while driving in someone else’s tracks the foot-plus of snow was bringing me to a halt. I haven’t seen that much snow in, well, it’s been years. It seemed so real. I ended up abandoning my car and attempting to walk to my unknown destination.


Iterum occasió

I’ve written about second chances more than one time, so you’re likely already aware of my deep appreciation of them. The dear fella by the name of Shawn B. over at Happy Publishing frequently brightens the days of many with his website dedicated to inspirational quotations and poems. The one posted yesterday captured my attention, and heart.

The following was posted January 17, 2001 on www.happypublishing.com. Feel free to check the site out if you get a chance…

The Second Chance

We may not have the means at hand
To change a circumstance.
But we may gain, to our relief,
A welcome second chance–

A chance to prove that we will try,
With all our might and main,
To change our ways, to right some wrong,
And pull our weight again.

So let us thank the generous folk
Who overlook our lapse,
And put their trust in our success,
Where once we failed, perhaps.

The second chance can bright results
The first one to outweigh,
For in the meantime we have learned
A little more each day.

-Anna Hayward


Born-on date

Is today for my sweet guy, Keith. Happy Birthday, baby! I hope you enjoy your special day, and the year ahead is all you wish it to be and much more. You truly deserve it.

The sixties… it seems so long ago, but yet not so long ago. Sure, we can’t really remember that era as children of the seventies, but we still remember all the hype. A lot of it we heard about from our parents, you could always depend on the media’s skewed views, and anything left we were taught in history class. The protests, the demonstrations, the assassinations, the Vietnam war, the flower power.

The seventies, now that’s really where it all began. Friends, bikes, and spending most of your time outside. Jimi Hendrix. All in the Family. Watergate. Hee Haw. You still remember your surroundings when you heard Elvis Presley died. Disco music. KISS.

I won’t go into the rest of the decades, as I could only document my own. Unbeknownst to us at the time, during the eighties we came together briefly by being classmates of the same graduating year. How I really wish I’d known you then, but then again, timing is everything….

To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up
that which is planted;

A time to kill,
and a time to heal;
a time to break down,
and a time to build up;

A time to weep,
and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn,
and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,
and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get,
and a time to lose;
a time to keep,
and a time to cast away;

A time to rend,
and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence,
and a time to speak;

A time to love,
and a time to hate;
a time of war;
and a time of peace.

The Holy Bible (King James Version) 
Attributed to King Solomon
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8


Icing on the cake

And that’s sure what it was. The icing came all during the day yesterday from late afternoon on into the night. When all was said and done, about three-eighths of an inch of bonified icing topped our lovely vanilla snow cake. I am eternally thankful we never lost power.

It’s going on mid-week now, and I have yet to go to work. I realized today that my car wasn’t going to de-ice itself, neither was the driveway going to shovel itself. So we dressed, went outside and made a big show of it, huffing and puffing and sliding/sweating our little buns off – to start and finish a job we didn’t really want to do. Seeing as how the temps aren’t supposed to rise above freezing until Friday-ish, I needed to get my tail in gear and do what I had to do to get home. You see, my little treehouse is situated privately in the very back of a complex that can be tricky at best in ice – but once I get out of there, I’m on a main thoroughfare. In going back to work, there was no way I was getting out of Keith’s neighborhood any time before noon. So, I had to get home.

I really don’t mean to drill this ‘Southern’ thing into the ground when it comes to us driving, but… okay just one more time. Have I told you we just can’t drive in the stuff? Snow is bad enough, but go and add over a quarter-inch of ice over it? Impossible. Through country back-roads that have no hope of ever being scraped/brimed? Inconceivable. But, guess who did it and made the ten-mile trip back home? (And, might I add, *cough-cough* you-tubed a portion of it?)

ME! (If anyone ever had doubt as to my southern-ness before, please refer to that accent – my gosh. I’ve obviously been here awhile now.)

Okay, enough with the bragging. For those who wonder, Keith was insistent on at least following me – I just saw no logic in it. After several failed attempts at convincing me, I finally convinced him that I had a cell phone and that signals had always been plentiful through the area, with the exception of a certain spot. But hey, I also had my new snow boots on! So, Da da da-DAH da-DAH!! It’ssss Super–Bonnnn!!

Top left, a Snow-Angel named Keith; top right, icicles hanging from the roof; bottom left, a few minutes into de-icing the 'windsled'; bottom right, me cheesing in (are those really bedroom slippers??) in the snow. Don't ask where the new boots are – I have no idea.

Well, I hadn’t been at home very long at all when a crave-wave winded it’s way into my head and wafted right down to where I could literally smell it.

Chinese… take-out… mmm, good good… come and get me…

I tried to ignore it, really I tried… to no avail. Moments later I was back on the road on a Chinese food quest. I found it so weird that there was no 5 o’clock rush-hour traffic. I mean NONE. I did mention, didn’t I, that the ice and snow brought this city to a screeching halt?

So here it is, my fortune for the date 1-11-11. A very befitting one, I think, considering my day…

Guess this whole ‘I can drive now’ thing means one thing – I gotta go back to work tomorrow…


Winter wonderland

“Baby… it’s white outside”, I woke up to Keith whispering in my ear about 4am this morning. Sure enough, the ground was covered – as much of the south is today. It’s been an unusual winter so far in the south in terms of snowfall. The next few hours were spent pulling up dopplar radars on our phones and contacting the necessary bosses to advise them we weren’t coming in.

As long as Keith and I have been together and through several snows, we’ve never been together during a snow. So instead of packing up and going home yesterday, I went and gathered some extra clothes and opted to stay at his house. Being the sweetie he is, he even took me to the store and bought me some boots to walk in the snow in (it’s tough getting around in the white stuff  in tennis-shoes). We loaded up on the needed goods including another feeder and more sunflower seed for the birds, which they’ve been going nuts over this morning. Camille’s been so enthralled with the birds, that like a little kid she won’t even take a nap. In typical southern fashion, the snow has pretty much crippled the city and surrounding areas.

But it’s soooo pretty. 🙂

Camille scored her a new bed Friday, which would’ve normally taken a few weeks for her to break down and get in. For some unknown reason, she took right to this one! Maybe it’s the color fashion that so closely corresponds with her own.

Or maybe it was the fire.


Thirteen years ago

Every January 6th, many memories come flooding back of you, my dear deceased stepdad.

They called you Big O. You were a sailor, businessman, trucker, husband, dad, pawpaw, and friend. I’m not the only one these memories revisit so very often, there are of course others – your wife, your granddaughter, son-in-law and all of your children and grandchildren alike.

You were a man like no other; generous, loving and strong. You see, God really did break the mold when he made you. I’ve never seen a person who loved people in general so much – you just never met a stranger. Nothing pleased you more than to make someone laugh or smile. You were known to go up and put a strong arm around an unknown and give them a jovial ‘shake’ when you thought they might be having a bad day. Only once in a while would it make the person uncomfortable, but I like to think it made the day better for most.

My, how you loved Dale Earnhardt Sr. – and to say you were passionate about your racing was an understatement. At the time, the infamous Daytona 500 was the one big win that had always eluded your driver – and of course you always took a lot of heat for this. I want you to know the following month after you died, Earnhardt drove his car to victory in his very first Daytona 500 win. It was a very emotional day down here to say the least – but a bright spot nonetheless. Sadly, three years later Earnhardt lost his own life in turn 4 at that very track. There wasn’t any bigger fan of Earnhardt as was you. You and he even looked so much alike it was uncanny – I like to think you’ve both met up by now. I can just see you walking together… with your hand on Earnhardt’s shoulder, telling him your stories.

Many different occasions you’d see a girl or lady with their midriff showing, perhaps even bearing a belly-ring. I remember how you loved that opportunity to go up to these females, put an arm around them and say in your southern drawl “I’ll bet that you like sailors, don’t ya?” I can’t remember a time where the female didn’t look stunned, finally responding with a grin and a “Why?” to which you would say “Because you’re showing off your naval base!!”. You’d always laugh heartily and  then flash that big Earnhardt smile. Actually, it was Earnhardt that had your smile. 🙂

I could write page after page about your character and the huge impact you had on not only my life but virtually everyone you came into contact with… but it would be further emotionally draining today and… long. I believe, though, that somehow you had an idea of how much everyone loved you. Your guidance, perseverance and faith in me greatly shaped my character. And, you would be so proud of the relationship I have with both my mom and dad today.

That fateful January 6th day of ’98 was to be your last. You had a massive heart attack that morning and went to be with Jesus. I have no doubt in my mind that’s where you are now… not a single doubt.

On the 13th anniversary of your sunset Big O, know that you’re still missed just as terribly today as you were in those moments right after your departure. So enjoy yourself up there, tell Mammaw hey for me – and we’ll being seeing ya…