Sharon sent me this. I encourage you to pass it on.
Of Hulas and history Wednesday, Sep 24 2008
Homeschooling 101 Hawaii 8:32 pm
We have just returned from Hawaii. I never wanted to go to Hawaii. Beaches, men of war, hot humid weather, bugs and hula dancers just never had a hold on me.
We set up this trip a year ago, anticipating our empty nest. We researched things to do, bought our tickets and reserved our accommodations on Bellows Air Force Station. The trip was wonderful in so many ways. We reconnected with two nieces we hadn’t spent time with in years, and who were absolutely awesome hostesses. We created memories with my sister and brother-in-law which we will enjoy over and over again through the hundreds of pictures we all took, and in addition to the touristy things and shopping till we dropped, we learned a bit of history.
I really didn’t know a lot about WWII history because I was bored with it in high school. To me it was just so many dates and names. Homeschooling our children changed that for me. I wish I could have taken them to Hawaii to study that part of American history on site. We visited the Arizona Memorial which commemorates the surprise attack by the Japanese on our ships and military installations in and around Pearl Harbor and brought about our entrance into the war.
We visited the USS Missouri and saw how our fighting men worked and lived and where the Japanese surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur.
Then we went to Punchbowl Cemetery where thousands of our heroes are buried. There is a majestic mother’s monument there with the engraving “The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of freedom.” It was certainly sobering to me because we have a son who has just been inducted into the Air Force and who believes in his solemn duty to serve his country. I pray that he won’t have to give his up his life in battle, but I am not in control of his future.
In an age when we are impatient about finding immediate closure to our conflicts with other nations, it is easy to forget the enormous sacrifices made by our brave American sailors, airmen and soldiers who fought in the past and continue to fight for our freedoms around the world. Right now, Mike is dealing with juggling schedules, pleasing his officers, writing papers and making his own way at UD. All this is preparation for life—wherever it takes him. If he is called to war, I pray that he will serve honorably in the tradition of the American men who have served in conflicts around the world and were willing to put their lives on the line. He has a tradition to uphold of great -uncles who served in both the European and Pacific theaters of the Second World War.
Because of its critical place in American history, I found Hawaii to be a very interesting place to visit. The beaches are beautiful, the water sublime, the scenery magnificent, and yes, the hula dancers are graceful and lovely.
But it was the time spent with family and the history lessons that made the trip worthwhile for me.
Fireproof Tuesday, Sep 23 2008
Family Life and Family Movies Fireproof 2:37 pm
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/
This is a movie with a good message and lots of Catholic endorsements. It starts this weekend and needs support to stay in the theaters beyond its first showing. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I will concede up front that there are some things in this marriage I would like to have seen (like children), and since it was done by evangelicals, the delivery is a bit different than we are used to, but the message is good, nevertheless, and there is enough action to keep it from just being a “chick” flick.
Celebrating Family Tuesday, Sep 9 2008
Autumn and Family Life and Homeschooling 101 Scottish Festival 4:14 pm
Education is much more than book-learning. We experienced a wonderful weekend of learning with our children and grandchildren. It was a weekend steeped in family pride–pride in the roots from which we came. (I should say, roots from which they came, because I don’t have any Scottish/Gaelic blood in my veins. But I have adopted my husband’s clan as my own). Homeschooling does not only take place in the home. For 2 1/2 days, our grandchildren learned about different aspects of Scottish/Gaelic culture at the Highland Festival in Estes Park. They marched with our clan and dozens of others to the music of bagpipes and drums. They competed in Irish dance. Most important, they saw that they are part of something bigger than themselves. Family, clan, nation. All were on display and there was pride in all. For though these Scotsmen wear their tartans proudly, they don’t forget that they are Americans, and there were lots of flags and patriotism evident.
He’s in Thursday, Sep 4 2008
Mike in College ROTC 10:23 am
It’s official. Mike is now committed to the Air Force with his signature on the bottom line of the form. He has all the ROTC mess straightened up now and starts today with his training.
The empty nest Monday, Sep 1 2008
Family Life empty nest 6:28 pm
Family is wonderful. There was a very welcome voicemail on my cellphone from my precious daughter-in-law inviting us to dinner when we got in from Dallas. It was a long drive home and I was dreading going into our empty nest…
We let the cat out for awhile and then went to see our son, daughter-in-law and 7 wonderful grandchildren. That kind of took the sting out of coming back to our empty house.
By the time we came home, we were so tired we went to bed. I ducked into Mike’s room for a peek. He had left it nice and clean, but luckily there is still a lot of him in there.
I miss his hour-by-hour updates on the political scene, as well as his hugs and music. But I only teared up once today.
