Happy New Year!

By The Time You Read This Most Likely It Will Be 2010. I Wish All My Readers A Wonderful Year To Come. I Hope The New Year Brings You Happiness And Joy.
I Want To Put All My Friends And Family To A Challenge For The Coming Year.
I Am Asking That Each Of You Perform 12 Acts Of Kindness. That Equals Out To Just Once A Month. You Can Mow Somebody's Yard, Shovel Their Snow, Or Just Give Them A Ride To Wherever They Need To Go. Hand a Five Dollar Bill To Someone Who Looks Like They Will Put It To Good Use. You Don't Have To Know This Person. Pay For The Car Behind You In A Drive up Fast Food. There Are A Number Of Things You Can Do To Brighten Up Somebody's Day. If At All Possible Do It Anonymously. Challenge 5 Of Your Friends To Do The Same Thing This Coming New Year! You Would Be Surprised At How Contagious This Can Get.
With So Much Hatred In The World, All I Ask Is To Spread A Little Love To Another Human Being.
Sit Down And Hand Write A Letter To A Former Teacher, Pastor Or Neighbor That Has Made A Difference In Your Life. Don't Sign It Because The One Who Receives It Will Be Overwhelmed With Joy That They Made A Difference In Some body's Life.
I Never Make Predictions And I'm Not About To Start Now. I Am Thankful For My Friends And Family. I Am Fortunate To Have Them. I Have Seen How You Can Never Treat A Day As Any Other. Life Can Change With A Blink Of The Eye.
My New Years Resolution Is To Blog More This New Coming Year.

Reflection Of 2009

I Guess The Best Way To Describe The Year 2009 Is To Refer To It As The Good, Bad And The Ugly. Let It Be Known I Hate Winter!
I Really Don't Like To Mention January, February Or March Because If I Had My Way Those Three Months Of My Life Is Almost Non Existent. It's Not That Nothing Good, Bad Or Ugly Ever Happened, It's Just A Horrible Time Of My Life Because Of Winter In The Midwest During Those Months. I Call Those Months My Hibernation. In My Opinion Life Begins On April 1st Of Every Year.
Ok, Let's See....January. We Can't Forget The 3rd Because If It Weren't For That Date You Would Not Be Reading This. My Father's Birthday Is On The 3rd. My Sisters Birthday Is On The 7th. To Maintain My Sanity I Bowl On Thursday's With The Old Folks.
Was There Even A February? Oh Yes Ofcourse There Was. Who Can Forget Groundhog Day? Unless That Little Critter Had Good News To Report I Would As Soon See His Butt End Up As Road Kill! (Just Kidding P.E.T.A)
Ok, How About March, My Last Month Of Hibernation? Ofcourse For My Family It Was A Tragic One At That. In That Month My Mother Lost Two Of Her Brothers, Rick And Then Danny, Just 2 Days Apart. Let's Just Forget About The Rest Of That Month.
April 1st, My First Official Start Of The New Season. This Has Always Been When I Get Things Going For The Charitable Organization I Am Involved With. As A Matter Of Fact It Was The Birth Of The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville. The Organization I Had Been Involved With For So Many Years No Longer Wanted To Distribute Left-Over Rummage. Since I Had Been Doing This For 22 Years I Could Not Turn My Back On These Wonderful People Who Lived In Poverty. I Became Certified Over The Winter Months With The State Of Illinois Which Resulted In My Becoming Director Of This Fine Organization.
April Brought With It Another Tragic Death And This Time It Was My Grandmother. She Passed Away On April 9th. She Was 94.
My Bowling Team Lost A Cherished Man In Ralph(Magoo)Howard. He Was Such A Fun Person To Know. I Will Miss Him.
April With The New Flowers Coming From The Ground Also Brings Mushrooms. It Has Always Been A Tradition With My Son We Go Into The Woods For What I Always Refer To As White Man Soul Food.
Danville Has Had A Very Nice Summertime With The Exception Of A Few Very Hot And Humid Days, Which Is Always Expected In The Midwest.
My Sister In law Lost Her Father And My Parents Lost A Dear Friend In George Popadines.
At Summer's End Final Preparations Were Being Made For The Return Of My Brother Tuck. He Had Been Living In San Diego For 25 Years. Upon His Retirement He Was Returning To His Roots And Bringing His Wife Who Knew No Other Weather Than That Of Southern California. Boy Is She Ever In For A Surprise! Ofcourse I Won't Forget My Introduction To Barnee, Tuck And Evelyn's Boston Terrier. He's Such A Good And Loyal Dog And It Was My Pleasure In Meeting Him.
Tuck's First Week Back In Danville Brought Me The Luck I Had Been Searching For. My First 600 Series In Bowling! Bowling Is My Passion And I Enjoy Competing In The Sport.
We Had A Few Health Scares With My Dad. He Had An Infection In His Colon And A Couple Heart Procedures. All In All It Appears He Is Mending Well And Back On The Road To Recovery.
My Friend Chris And I Venture To Westville Each And Every Sunday For Our Euchre Lessons. We Have Been Doing This For More Than 5 Years Now. It's Something We Enjoy Doing Plus It Allows Me To Spend Quality Time With My Folks. We Were Able To Re-Claim Our Crown Back After Losing It. We Always Keep Track Of Our Wins And Losses And Each Year It Is Never A Run Away, This Year Especially. Last Sunday Going Into Play Chris And I Were Only One Game Ahead Of Them. The End Result Was Chris And I Won Overall By Three Games. We Will Gladly Wear Our Euchre Crown Because We Know We Earned It. Our Opponents Have Been Playing Together For More Than 57 Years! One Thing Is For Sure. If We Won, We Earned It.
A Couple Weeks Ago We Received News That Brenda Had Another Stroke. It Was Touch And Go For Her In The Beginning But For The Ones Who Know Her Best Are Aware She Is A Fighter. This Stroke Left Her Paralyzed On The Left Side. She Is Slowly Getting Her Strength Back And Will be Released From The Hospital On New Years Day. Praise God For That!
It's Great To Have My Brother Tuck Back In Danville. It's Good To See My Father Back On The Road Of Recovery. It Appears He May Be Able To Bowl Again. His Doctor Told Him To Quit. Because Of The Success Of These Procedures He May Be Able To Rejoin The League Once Again!
I Received A Phone Call Asking For Assistance On A Bed. A Lady Had No Heat In Her Trailer And Church Members Needed To Move Her Out. Circumstances Prevent Her From Taking Things With Her. I Was To Make The Donation This Afternoon But Had To Cancel Because My Battery Is Dead. I Don't Have The Funds To Replace The Battery At The Moment So I Assured Them The Bed Is Not Going Anywhere. They Need To Find Someone With A Truck To Pick It Up.
My Trailer Was Borrowed By The Pastor's Grand Daughter's New Home In Georgia. I Told Them To Take Their Time Because I Won't Need It Until After The First Of April.
My Truck Needs About $500.00 Worth Of Work Before I Can Start My Season In The New Year.
Oh, That Brings Me To Inquiring Your Opinions In How You Will Pronounce The New Year. Since The Beginning Of This New Century We Began Calling It Two Thousand, Two Thousand One, Two Thousand Two, Etc. I Think It's The Media That Is Preparing Us To Refer To The Future Years Ahead By Calling it 2010, 2011, 2012, Etc. I didn't Realize This Until Recently. I Had All Intentions Of Calling This New Year Two Thousand Ten. Then I Thought Of Those Who Lived In The Early Years Of The 1900's. They Probably Also Referred Their Year Nineteen Hundred One, Nineteen Hundred Two, Etc. At Some Point In Time They Too Began Calling Years 1910, 1911, 1912, Etc.
Yes I Know, A Bunch Of Useless Information. I Was Just Curious As To Your Own Pronunciation Of The Coming New Year. At Some Point We Must Change Our Ways Or Everybody In The World Will Know You Are An Old Fuddy Duddy That Refuses To Change With Time.
So All In All I Would Have To Say I Will Be Happy To See 2009 Leave. To Me It Will Be Just Another Year Of Reflection With A Whole Lot Of Sickness, Sadness And Deaths.
My Hopes For The New Year Will Be To See Happiness To Those Who Need And Deserve It.
Stay Tuned For My Last Blog For This Old Year. In It You Will Read What My Wishes Are For This New Coming Year.
In Closing I Say Farewell To 2009 And Hello To 2010 Or Two Thousand And Ten. However You Say It!

The Gift Of Love And Pride

One Day Last April My Father Stopped By To Give Me Grandma's Clothes. She Just Recently Passed Away And He Had To Get Her Things From The Nursing Home In Which She Lived. After We Put Them In My Garage And He Left I Had My Moment To Reflect On Grandma And What She Meant To Me.
I Have Always Referred To These Type Of Clothes As Boo Hoo Clothes. In The Charity I Am Involved With I Get Alot Of Clothes Donated To Low Income Families Throughout The Warmer Months. It's Always Difficult When I Get A Call From A Widow Wanting Me To Pick Up Her Husbands Clothes. Every time I do This There Are Always Tears. That's Why I Call Them Boo Hoo Clothes. It's Really Touching To Be Honest About It.
The Idea Struck Me That I Had A Friend Who Made Quilts. I Asked Her If She Could Make A Quilt From Grandma's Clothes. When She Confirmed It I Told Her I Wanted It To Be Completed By Christmas. In My Opinion The Most Perfect Christmas Gift For My Mother.
My Father Was Raised In Poverty. He Didn't Get Alot Of The Things Boys His Age Got Because They Just Couldn't Afford It. His Father Was A Country Preacher.
He Had Always Stayed True To His School Spirit And Pride. I Can Remember Him Going To His Old High School To Root On His Team To Win. Every Few Years The Covington High School Class Of 1950 Would Get Together As A Class Reunion To Fondly Remember The Good Ol Days Of Yesteryear.
This New Coming Year That Class Will Celebrate Their 60th Year Since They Graduated.
One Day I Was Surfing The Internet And I Ran Across High School Rings. This Man Can Create A High School Ring In What Ever School Colors You Requested. Covington High's Color Were Black And Gold.
Even Though I Had Trouble With Our Postal Service It Had Arrived The Saturday Before Christmas.
I Can Never Remember Ever Being This Excited About Giving This Years Gifts To My Parents. It May Have Been Because I Strayed Away From The Traditional Gift Certificates And Gave From My Heart Instead. I Didn't Let Cost Be A Factor In This Years Gifts Because I Was Willing To Pay Whatever I Had To For These Two Special Gifts. This New Year He Can Proudly Wear His Ring With His High School Pride. As For My Mother, She Can Fondly Remember Grandma As She Has Her Lap Quilt Draped Across Her Legs. Just The Thought Makes Me Smile And Gives Me Peace.
I Wish All My Readers A Very Merry Christmas. Let You Have Peace And Love Through Your Holiday Season. Always Remember, Jesus Is The Reason For The Season.

The Rest Of The Story

As Stated In The Proceeding Post I Would Give Up My Seat As Anchor Of My Bowling Team If My Brother Tuck Bowled A Higher Series Than I Did Yesterday.
Let The Truth Be Known That Tuck Indeed Bowled A Higher Series Than What I did. I'm Glad That He Did Because It Was Most Likely If He Hadn't We Would Have Lost. The Team We Bowled Against Ended Up Tying Overall. Results Could Have Been Much Worse Had Tuck Not Bowl So Well.
I Looked At Him And Told Him He Could Have My Spot As Anchor. He Told Me No, That Position Goes To The Bowler With The Highest Average. Yes I admit I Have Been In A Funk Here The Past Couple Of Weeks. I Think It Happens To The Best Of Us.
I Think That Was A Very Gracious Thing For Tuck To Do.
Our Team Is Still Tied For Second Place. Next Week Is A Different Week And The Results May Be Alot Different. I Have Been Playing With A New Ball. It's Just A Matter Of Time Before I Get Use To It. Once I Do, Watch Out!

Bowling For Anchor

I Bowl A Couple Days A Week. I Have An Average On One League Of 175 While The Other League Is 155. The League That I Hold 175 Average Is The League That I Am President Of. I Feel Relaxed And Very Comfortable. The Other League With The Lower Average Is Around A Bunch Of Loud Music, Beer Drinking, Rowdy Bunch Of Guys. I Think What My Problem Is Because I Don't Feel Comfortable. I Feel Stressed Which I Believe Is Effecting My Bowling.
My Brother Tuck Mentioned To Me I Should Have Him Anchor The Team. For Those Who Don't Know What A Bowler Anchor Is My Best Description Is The Last Bowler In The Line Up. It's A Very Important Position Because Sometimes The Game Comes Down To The Last Bowler.
My Brother Tuck Recently Moved Back To Danville After Living In California The Past 25 Years. He Began Bowling On My Team Just A Few Weeks Ago.
Tuck Has A Lower Average Than What I Do But Is Working On Raising It Once He Get's Acquainted With The Lane Surface We Have Here In Danville.
He Made A Comment To Me Tonight On The Phone That I Should Let Him Anchor Since He Has Been Bowling Better Than Me The Past Few Weeks. Well, For The Record He Has Bowled One Week Better Than I Have Which By The Way Was Just Last Week.
I Got To Thinking About What He Said. If He Wants My Bowling Position Then Make Him Earn It. I Told Him Who Ever Bowls The Higher Series Tomorrow(Thursday) Can Be In The Anchor Position From Now On. Either Put Up Or Shut Up!
I Will Let You Know In My Next Blog Who Will Anchor The Rest Of The Season.

Project Swan (Stay Warmer At Night)

Project Swan Will Make It's Debut This Coming Friday November 27th. Yes I Know It's Black Friday, But It Was Planned That Way. The Busiest Shopping Day Of The Year The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville Will Have Their Big Box Truck Parked At The Danville Wal Mart Parking Lot Beginning At 6:00am. Why? Why Not!
If Every Bed Were To Have A Blanket On It The Resident Could Lower The Thermostat At Night Saving $$ That Could Go Toward Other Uses. It Has Been Said You Can Save 3% For Every Degree You Turn Down Your Thermostat. By Placing A Blanket On Every Bed And Lower It 5 Degree's Saves You 15% Each Month You Use Your Furnace. Here In The Midwest We Have Our Furnace On At least Four Months, Maybe Five. If My Math Is Correct That's At least 60 % Or More Over The Course Of A Winter.
The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville Will Gladly Accept Your New Or Gently Used Blankets. These Blankets Will Be Distributed The Following Week To Local Residents Who Are Unable To Afford Them.
The Success Of This Program Depends On You! If You Are Unable To Come Up To Wal Mart This Friday Just Call 442-7586 And Arrangements Can Be Made To Have Them Picked Up.

Please Donate

Tonight I Watched A Television Show Called Three Rivers. I Watched It For The First Time And I Was Really Touched.
Tonight's Episode Starred A Very Brilliant Actor, Mandy Patinkin. He Was Dying From Lou Gerig Disease.
Life As He Knew It For All His Years Were Behind Him. His Future Would Include Life On A Respirator. He Would Soon Weaken And Eventually Won't Be Able To Swallow. He Made A Decision To Die Then Donate His Organs So Others Can Have A Second Chance At Living.
To Be Quite Honest About It I Have Never Been Directly Involved In An Organ Donation. It Must Be A Humbling Experience To Be On The Receiving End Of A Life Changing Donation Such As A Human Organ.
I Look At It This Way. A Book. It's A Book With Words And Content And Meaning. Tear Out It's Pages And It's No Longer A Book.
The Human Body With All It's Glorious Wonders and Beauty Can Shine Through A Lifetime Of Love And Laughter Until Death Comes Knocking On Their Door.
I Am A Registered Organ Donor. I Hope Whenever My Time Comes There Will Be Something Salvageable For Someone Else's Needs.
If You Haven't Considered Donating Your Organs I Would Hope You Would Research It And Make The Right Decision And Save A Life. Your Organs Will Be Of No Use To You So Why Not Give The Gift Of Life?

Thank You Mandy For Your Great Performance!

If A Tree Could Talk...

What Would It Say? One Can Pretty Much Tell If A Tree Is An Old Tree. Tree's As We Know Them Date Back To The Beginning Of Time.
A Property On The South Side Of Westville Illinois Sits A Plot Of Land With A Large Family Home. The Entire Front Yard Which Is A Rather Large Yard Was Filled With Tree's. Tree's Of Different Species Inline With Another Which Represents It's Own Unique. I Often Wondered Why Someone Would Plant So Many Tree's In Their Front Yard.
The Answer Came To Me One Day When Business Brought Me To That Particular Parcel Of Land.
After My Business Was Complete I Turned To The Woman Who Resides There And Asked Her Why Were There So Many Tree's In The Front Yard. She Had Told Me Her Husband Smokes And Two Of Her Sons Did As Well. She Has Tried To Convince Them To Quit. It Came Upon Deaf Ears. She Decided To Plant A Tree So It Could Produce More Oxygen Into The Air. She Loved The Beauty Of It. She Watched That Tree In All Four Of It's Seasons. She Became Overwhelmed And Decided To Plant Another Tree But Of Another Species.
Knowing She Had No Control Over The Addiction That Has Inflicted Her Loved Ones She Began To Plant Tree After Tree. Before She Knew It There In Her Front Yard The Tree That Represents Life Bearing It's Fruits As Well As Delivering The New Oxygen For All Of Humanity.
I Have Two Maple Tree's In My Yard. The Last Leaf Fell To The Ground Just A Few Days Ago. In It's Beauty Of Mid Summer The Leaves Create The Shade From The Rays Of The Sun. Today It's An Ugly Dead Looking Tree. Life Appears No Longer And It Saddens Me.
Illinois Experienced A Rapid Change Of Color This Year. Being Color Blind Takes Away The True Beauty Of The Fall Season.
I Have Often Heard People's Favorite Season Is Fall. Other Than A Short Couple Of Weeks Of Changing Color That's All Fall Has To Offer.
Spring Has Always Been My Favorite Season Because To Me It Represents New Life. The Flowers Of Spring To Our Delight As Well As To Wildlife.
A Tree Can Be Counted In Years By The Inner Circles Of The Trunk. Whether That Favorite Tree That Brought Fond Memories Of Your Childhood, Or The Tree You Planted In Memory Of A Loved One. Tree's Are Planted Along Side Property Lines Which Also Provides A Wind Break For Your Homestead.
I Planted A Tree Ten Years Ago When My First Grandchild Was Born. A Crimson King Maple Still Standing At 713.
Last But No Least The Tree In The Middle Of The Parking Lot. Have You Seen It?
A Lone Tree Stands In Alpha On Center Of Pavement. Now If That Tree Could Talk. I Spent Alot Of Friday's Under That Tree. I Have Held Alot Of Lengthy Conversations Under That Tree. Alot Of Life's Stories Were Told By Some That No Longer Are With Us. I Lost A Friend This Past Week. He Stood Under That Tree With Me A Few Times Sharing His Life's Journey.
That Tree Represents A New Beginning For Many Lives. Prior To That I Visited People On A Hot Pavement With No Shade. As A Symbol Of Unity And Friendship That Lot Was Paved But The Tree Was Spared. To Provide The Shade Needed To Continue Our Neighborly Chats, The Tree Lives On.
I Told Billie To Conduct My Funeral Service Under That Tree At High Noon On A Friday.
I Believe It Would Be A Fitting Tribute For Everything That Had Been Shared Underneath It.

Is There Life Without A Bunn?

Billie And I Know No Other Life Than A Bunn Coffee Maker. What Makes It So Special?
It's Design Is Instant Hot Coffee Within A Couple Minutes Of Pouring Fresh Water Into It. I'm Afraid To Guess How Many Years We Have Had One But As Far As I Am Concerned There Is No Better Coffee Maker Than A Bunn.
I Use To Joke With Billie About The Flooring In Front Of The Coffee Pot On Franklin Street. There Was An Obvious Wear In The Floor And That Is Funny Because Most People Who Know Billie And I Are Aware That We Are Heavy Coffee Drinkers.
A Couple Of Weeks Ago The Burner That The Pot Sits On Quit Working. So Far We Have Managed To Make This Work. Billie Won't Put Her Coffee In The Microwave. I Will Make One Pot Of Coffee And Pour The Contents Into A Thermos. I Will Make Another Pot Which Will Be For Me. When It Gets Cold I Will Just Heat It Up And All Is Well.
I Can't Begin To Think Of How Many Real Nice Coffee Pots I Handled Through The Summer Months. If It Wasn't A Bunn I Wasn't Interested.
Maybe I Should Star In A Bunn Commercial. It Should Go Something Like This... It's Not Real Coffee Unless It's Made In A Bunn.

The Bittersweet Of It All

Well Today Is The Day! My Brother Tuck Retired From Operator of The San Diego Trolley System. He Probably Thought This Day Would Never Get Here. Get Here It Did And He And His Wife Evelyn Will Spend One More Night In Her Native Land Of San Diego.
After A Send Off From His Co-Workers Today At The Trolley Headquarters, His Preparations Tonight Will Be His Toughest And Most Challenging.
How Do You Say Goodbye To Your Daughter? He Told Me On The Telephone Tonight He And Evelyn Will Say Their Good Bye's To Evanna. She Just Recently Got Married And Decided To Make Her Home In The Only Land She Has Ever Known.


Tuck On The Otherhand Was Born And Raised In Danville Illinois. He Knew Once He Retired From His Job They Would No Longer Be Able To Afford To Live In The California's Economy.
Danville Was Their Choice To Spend Their Remaining Years Of Retirement.
Tuck And Evelyn Have Been In My Thoughts Alot This Summer As My Father And I Prepared To Get Their House Ready For When They Returned To Danville. Evelyn Came To Mind Each Time We Had A Thunderstorm. Those Who Live In The Midwest Are Somewhat Familiar To All Kinds Of Weather Activity. I Wish I could Be With Evelyn In Her First Thunderstorm. The Crackling Roar Of The Thunder Will Most Likely Cause Her To Jump Out Of Her Skin. The First Snowfall And The Others To Follow Will Give Evelyn A Different Perspective On Weather Than What She Has Experienced In Southern California. Since I Have Been Mowing Their Grass You Can't Help But Notice The Two Squirrel's That Call The Tree In The Back Yard Their Home.


Even Though The Wildlife And The Weather Is Different Than What She Has Been Accustomed To, It Is My Hopes And Prayers She Will Eventually Feel Comfortable Enough To Consider This Home As We All Have During Our Lifetime Here In Danville Illinois.
Tonight As I Write This, Tuck And Evelyn Are Spending Their Last Moments Together Reminiscing, Laughing And Yes Crying With Their Youngest Daughter Evanna. Choices Were Made And Life Goes On. Our Children Grow Up And Make Decisions They Feel Are Best For Them And For Their Life.
Tonight I Say To My Brother To Hold Your Daughter In Your Arms And Hold Her Tight. You Were There As She Took Her First Breath. You Raised Her The Best You Knew How. You Lived Your Lives Doing Things Together Through Love.
I Can't Imagine What You Are Going Through At This Moment Because I Am Fortunate To Have My Daughter Live In The Same Town. I Can't Imagine It Any Other Way.
However,Opportunity's For The Quality Of Life You Are Seeking May Not Be In The Same Hometown That Your Parents Live In. I Guess Karma Plays A Role And The Circle Of Love And How It Unites New Life For Those Around That Circle. Tuck Left His Parents Many Years Ago For Opportunity. Because Of His Leaving He Gained So Much.
We Love You Evanna!
Welcome Home My Brother, My Friend. Welcome My Sister To The Midwest. It May Be Of A Different Culture Than What You Are Accustomed To But Always Keep In Mind God Created All Things For A Reason. I'm Sure You Will Adapt Well To Your New Life.
Your Journey Will Begin Tomorrow Morning. Please Drive Safely And Enjoy Your Trip. Consider This Like A Vacation. Throw Your Watches And Calenders Away And Enjoy What Life Has To Offer. You Don't Have To Be Here On Tuesday Or Wednesday. Get Here When You Get Here.
Consider This. This Will Be The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life.
Godspeed...........JCMM

It's Not Labor Day Without Jerry

Each Labor Day I Watch The MDA Telethon. Money Raised Each Year Are For Those Inflicted With Muscular Dystrophy. Celebrities Show Their Talent For The Cause. Every Day People Like Us Donate What We Can To Help Those In Need.
Ofcourse I Am Not Just Talking About MDA. I Am Talking About Helping Mankind.
Today Marks A Tradition Of Giving. Not Just In The Sense Of Money But Of Yourselves.
Whether It Be For The MDA, The United Way Or Even Volunteering For A Hospital. There Is Always Somebody Who Could Use A Little Help From Time To Time.
Jerry Lewis Will Not Be Around Forever But His Legacy Should.
"Live This Day As If It Will Be Your Last. Remember That You Will Only Find "Tomorrow" On The Calendars of Fools. Forget Yesterday's Defeats And Ignore The Problems Of Tomorrow. This Is It. Doomsday. All You Have. Make It The Best Day Of Your Year.

The Saddest Words You Can Ever Utter Are, "If I Had My Life To Live Over Again." Take The Baton, Now. Run With It! This Is Your Day!

Beginning Today, Treat Everyone You Meet, Friend Or Foe, Loved One Or Stranger, As If They Were Going To Be Dead At Midnight. Extend To Each Person, No Matter How Trivial The Contact, All The Care And Kindness And Understanding And Love That You Can Muster, And Do It With No Thought Of Any Reward. Your Life Will Never Be The Same Again."
I Expect To Pass Through Life But Once. If Therefore, There Be Any Kindness I Can Show, Or Any Good Thing I Can Do To Any Fellow Being, Let Me Do It Now, And Not Defer Or Neglect It, As I Shall Not Pass This Way Again.

MyTwilight Zone Moment

As Many Of You Are Aware I Am President Of The Senior Citizen Bowling League. My Position Sometimes Require Me To Contact Members On Occasion.
I Was Doing That Tonight When I Wanted To Discuss An Issue With A Current Bowler. I Got Out My Membership Roster And Looked Up His Number. The Phone Was Answered By His Wife Martha. The Conversation Goes Like This; Hi Martha, This Is Greg Miller How Are You? She Said Hi Greg How Are You? I Then Asked To Speak With Joe. There Was This Long Pause.....Then Martha Said There Is No Joe Here. Another Long Pause By Myself....When I Finally Said Huh? Finally Martha Told Me She Was Martha Howard. Martha Is A Dear Friend Of My Mother And The Widow Of Ralph, Who Use To Bowl On My Team. The Joe I Was Trying To Reach Has A Wife Named Martha. The Bowling Leagues Secretary Inadvertently Placed Ralph Howard's Telephone Number With Joe's Information.
After It All Played Out It Left Me With One Of Those Feelings. You Know What I Mean.
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone

Happy Bithday Tuck

Today Is My Brother Tuck's 56th Birthday. It Is His Last Birthday Celebrated In San Diego. Tuck And His Wife Evelyn Will Be Moving Back To Danville After He Retires As A Trolley Car Operator.
Tuck Has Been Counting His Days Until Retirement For About As Long As I Can Remember.
His Love For His Hometown Of Danville Is Astounding.
His Wife Evelyn Has Never Lived Anywhere But California. They Presently Reside Where It Never Rains. I Was Thinking About Evelyn The Other Day When It Was So Blasted Hot. The Heat Index Reached 105 Degrees. I Realize It Gets Hot In Southern California But It's A Different Hot. We In Illinois Experience Every Season Of The Year. I Heard That Evelyn Said She Wanted To Make A Snow Angel In Danville's First Snowfall. Hahaha, I Think She May Do That Once But She Will Soon Hate Winter Like Most Of Us. Our Rainfalls? I Bet We Get More Rainfall From One Storm Than They Get In A Years Time.
It's Going To Be Good To Have Tuck Living Back Here In Danville Again. He's A Good Brother As Well As A Good Person.
So Tuck, Continue Your Countdown To November, Your Month Of Retirement.
Your Next Birthday Celebration Will Be In Danville. Your Home.
Happy Birthday Bro.

Danville Has Lost A Very Good Family In Aya Eneli And Her Husband Ken, A Doctor Have Moved To Texas.
Aya Authored A Weekly Column In The Commercial News. Her Words Were An Inspiration And Wise Beyond Her Years. Aya Is A Motivation Speaker Of Life With All The Many Challenges We Face In Society Today.
From The Lesson Of The Ant And The Grasshopper Or How We Should Be A Good Neighbor, Some Have Become Better People By The Teachings Of Aya Eneli. Their Departure Will Be Danville's Loss.
She Feared Not On Addressing The Sensitive Issues Of Poverty, Equal Rights And Human Kindness Toward Others.
I'm A Believer That Everything Happens For A Reason. We May Not Know What It Is At The Moment But Their Mission Here In Danville Has Left An Everlasting Effect On This Community. That Reason Could Have Been The Eneli's Family Or Someone Whose Life Has Been Touched By Them.
Whatever The Reason, The Finality Of It All Is Her Words And Her Teaching Should Not Be Spoken In Vain. Let's Set The Example And Be A Good Neighbor, A Better Teacher, A Better Communicator. The Character Of Our Soul Was Molded By The Sincerity And Morals She Has Passed On Through Her Writings.
I Will Miss Her Weekly Column. I Hope She Will Continue To Deliver Her Message To The Good People Of Texas.
I Believe God Has Placed Individuals In Their Current Environment For A Reason.
Her Mission Here In Danville Has Been Completed.
Here's Wishing You Your Abundant Life Aya Eneli.

Sometimes You Just Have To Play Doctor

If The Bowling Season Were To Begin Tomorrow There Is No Way I Could Hold A 14 Pound Ball No Less Than Roll It 60 Feet. Rewind Two Years Ago This Month. I Was Experiencing Piercing Pain In The Upper Shoulder Area. Since My Father Had Heart Related Issues In His Early 50's I Figured It Would Make Sense To Have It Checked Out. His Pain Was In The Upper Shoulder Area As Well So There Was Reason Enough To Be Concerned. My Brother Just A Year Earlier Had A Heart Attack And Had Stints Placed Inside Him To Keep His Blood Flowing.
Long Story Short, They Kept Me Overnight For Observation. I Was Released The Following Morning Showing No Signs Of Heart Related Problems. Yet I Still Had This Pain That Would Not Go Away. What About That I Asked? They Knew It Wasn't Life Threatening So It Seemed They Weren't Too Concerned. I Could Only Stand The Pain For An Additional Day Or Two So I Decided To Travel To Champaign And Go To Carle Hospital.
Please Don't Get Me Wrong, The VA Hospital Is Very Good To Me. If It Weren't For Them I Would Not Be Alive Today. I Hold No Grudges But I Had To Find The Source Of This Pain. I Consider Myself To Have A High Tolerance For Pain But This Was Becoming Unbearable. When I Arrived At Carle They Eliminated Any Kind Of Heart Related Problems. They However XRayed Where The Pain Was Located. It Wasn't But An Hour Later When They Found The Problem. In The Cervical Area Of My Spine The Cartilage That Separates The Disk Were Breaking Down. It's All A Part Of The Aging Process And There Was Nothing They Could Do. They Prescribed IB Profen And Told Me That Should Help. Ofcourse I Gave Them A Rather Odd Look Because That's What I Take For My Daily Headaches And I Thought They Could Prescribe Something A Little More Stronger.
They Informed Me The IB Profen Was Not For The Pain But For The Swelling. The Past Couple Of Weeks Before Finally Going To See A Doctor I Had To Raise My Arm In The Air To Get Some Comfort From The Pain. They Explained That Just The Weight Of My Arm Was Causing The Pain And It Would Be Relieved Once I Raised My Arm. That Made Sense To Me. Since The Swelling Was The Source Of My Pain The Main Objective Was To Get It Reduced So I Could Go On With My Everyday Activities. After About A Month Of Taking The IB Profen All My Pain Was Gone And It Hasn't Returned Yet.
For The Past Couple Of Weeks I Have Been Experiencing The Same Type Of Pain But This Time On My Right Side. Yes, My Bowling Arm!
This Pain Appeared Just A Couple Days From A Scheduled Doctors Appointment So I Tuffed It Out Until I Saw The Doc. She Agreed With My Assumption That The Pain Was Associated With What I Was Experiencing Just Two Years Prior. However This Time She Gave Me Something A Little Stronger For The Pain But Told Me To Continue With The IB Profen. It's Been More Than A Week Since I Saw The Doctor And The Pain Is Still There. A Friend Of Mine Was Having Some Of The Same Type Of Problems And He Told Me To Try Naproxen. I Told This To My Doctor A Couple Years Ago And She Agreed That It May Help. It Did Help But They Wouldn't Let Me Have Both IB Profen And Naproxen. After The Swelling And The Pain Went Away I Switched Back To IB Profen Because The Naproxen Was Not Relieving My Headaches. I Still Have Some Naproxen Left So This Morning I Decided To Begin Taking It. At This Point I Have Nothing To Lose. I Decided If The Pain Doesn't Go Away In A Couple Of Weeks I Will Have To Return To The Doctor To See If They Can Take Some XRays To See Exactly What The Problem Is. We Both Assumed It Was Related To What Happened Just Two Years Ago. You Know What They Say About Assumptions.
Bowling Is Another Couple Months From Now And It Is My Hopes This Will Be All Healed By Then. I Am President Of The League And I Would Have To Resign If I Am Unable To Bowl. Being President Is Not As Important To Me As Bowling Is. My Brother Is Returning To Illinois To Live Off His Pension And He Will Be Joining My Father And Myself And Bowl On Our Team. I'm Not Sure How Much Longer My Father Will Be Able To Continue To Bowl. He Has Been Having Hip And Back Problems And Every Week Is Different For Him. He Briefly Quit Last Season Because Of The Pain He Was Experiencing. It Is My Hopes His Condition Improves And He Will Continue To Bowl.
So In The Meantime I Have Two Months To Heal Or Otherwise Quit Bowling.
Let's Hope For The Best!

Top Secret Info Disclosed

Anyone Who Has Ever Served In The Armed Forces Will Tell You That There Are Times When You Must Keep A Secret. No Matter What Happens, You Must Not Disclose Something That Is Told To You That Is Top Secret. Not Even Your Mother.
The Only Top Secret Information That I Was Informed Of Was Disclosed This Week In The Nantucket Island Newspaper.
A Bunker Was Built Back In The Early 1960's On The Naval Base On Nantucket For Then President John F Kennedy After The Cuban Missile Crisis As Well As The Early Days Of The Cold War With Russia.
It Was Referred As The "Kennedy Bunker" And We All Knew The Purpose. It Was For The Then President And His Family In Case Of Nuclear Attack Of The U.S.
When I Was Stationed There I Was Told The Current President Which Was Nixon And Then Ford Could Possibly Be Ushered There To Safety. There Are More Bunkers Built In Various Places Throughout The Country. I Have No Knowledge Of Their Whereabouts.
The Island Newspaper Has Disclosed This Information To The Public This Week and This Is Why I Have Disclosed This Information In This Blog.
Now I Take No Top Secrets With Me To My Grave Other Than Where I Have Buried All My Worldly Fortunes. Haha!!
To Read More On This Subject You Can Copy And Paste To Get There.
http://ack.net/kennedybunker052809.html

I Love Thunderstorms

We Know Them And Expect Them From Time To Time. I Am Referring To Thunderstorms And Tornado's. Danville Illinois Is Located In The Midwest Of The United States. I'm Not Sure If Illinois Is Included In The Tornado Alley Of The Midwest But This Part Of The Country Can Be Downright Unpredictable. I Won't Even Mention The Winter Months. I Will Blog About That Another Day.
April Through June Can Bring Some Rather Heavy Thunderstorms Here In The Midwest. This Spring Of 2009 Has Been Rather Odd. We Would Have A Couple Days Of Nice Temperatures, Then We Would Have A Cold Snap. This Type Of Weather Has Been Going On The Past Couple Of Months. Tonight We Had A Storm System Roll Through And Came With It Were Tons Of Memories Of Storms Past.
I Have Always Been Fascinated With Storms. Yes Lighting, Thunder, Hail, Wind & Rain! On Occasion There Will Be A Tornado Touch Down In The Area. With Each Storm I Stay Tuned To The Police Scanner Listening To Storm Reports.
My Grandson Called Tonight. He Too Is Fascinated With Storms. He Will Be 10 Years Old In A Week Or So. He Is Always Full Of Questions About Storms Or Tornado's.
Billie And I Were Sitting On The Front Porch Waiting For The Storm To Reach Us. It Was Dark With The Exception Of Lightning Strikes In The Distance.
I Then Wondered About My Sister-In law In Southern California. Ever Hear The Song That Says It Never Rains In Southern California? Well I'm Sure It Does Rain In Southern California But Nothing Like It Does In Illinois. Her And My Brother Tuck Will Be Moving To Danville This Coming November. Just In Time For Winter! Hahaha!!
The Most Obvious Is Wanting To See Her Reaction To The First Cold Spell Or The First Real Snowstorm. However Being From Southern California I Would Like To Sit With Her During Her First Midwest Thunderstorm. Will She Be Fascinated Or Scared Out Of Her Wits? I Have No Idea How She Will React. We Are Accustomed To These Storms And We Grow Into The Experience Of Them. Put An Adult In A Situation That Is Out Of Their Zone, Expect Anything.
I Will Most Likely Always Enjoy Storms And Everything That Comes Along With It.
I Think I Will Go Out And Sit On The Front Porch And Watch The Lightning.

MaGoo, We Will Miss You

His Name May Have Been Ralph Howard, But I Fondly Named Him Mr Magoo A Few Years Back. We Lost Our Dear Friend Ralph This Past Thursday Morning(5-7-09).
I Met Ralph Many Years Ago When I Started Going To His Church When I Was A Teenager.
Ralph And I Bowled On The Same Team, The Keenagers. Ralph And I Had Something In Common Besides Bowling. He Called Me A Partime Left Hander. Actually I Am Ambidextrous. He Noticed It Right Off When He First Seen Me Bowl. He Said, Greg, I Thought You Told Me You Were Left Handed. I Explained I Did Some Things Left Handed And Other Things Right Handed. A Left Handed Bowler Is A Rarity. I Have Tried To Bowl Left Handed And It Just Did Not Work Out.
So Anyway One Day I Went Up To Ralph And Put My Arm Around Him. I Said Ralph, You Remind Me Of Somebody. I Told Him He Resembled Mr Magoo. He Got A Kick Out Of That And Another Bowler Had Lots Of Fun With Him As Well As Rubbing His Head And Calling Him Magoo.
I Spoke To A Fellow Bowler Today And She Said She Just Loved Ralph. Well Who Didn't?
What An Honor To Know Such A Happy Go Lucky Type Of Guy. That Was Ralph X Howard Jr, Husband, Father, & Grandfather And Friend To Many!
You Left Your Mark On Mankind And Will Always Be Fondly Remembered.

May Day!

No, Don't Get Excited, There Is No Emergency! It's The First Day Of May!
This Day Has Never Been Celebrated With As Much Enthusiasm In The United States As In Great Britain. The Tradition Of Celebrating May Day By Dancing And Singing Around A Maypole, Tied With Colorful Streamers Or Ribbons, Survived As A Part Of The English Tradition. The Kids Celebrating The Day By Moving Back And Forth Around The Pole With The Streamers, Choosing Of A May Queen, And Hanging Of May Baskets On The Doorknobs Of Folks, All The Leftovers Of The Old European Traditions.
This Brings Back Memories For Me When I Was A Child Growing Up On Franklin Street. I Had Prepared With Loving Care Baskets Made From Construction Paper. Inside These Baskets Were Carefully Assorted Flowers Of May From A Small Area In Our Yard. There Were Two Elderly Women Near Our Home That I Had Planned As Recipients Of These May Flower Baskets. Shortly After I Returned Home One Of These Elderly Women Called My Mother To Tell Her I Was Picking Her Flowers. After My Mother Explained To Her What I Had Done For Her She Felt Awful For The Accusations. I Think It Was Then When We Became Friends For Life. God Bless Goldie Jacobs And Happy May Day Everybody!

Quarter Of A Million Miles!

This Weekend The Odometer On My Truck Will Reach 225,000 Miles! That's Alot Of Miles!
Even Though The Majority Of Those Miles Were Put On It Long Before I Purchased It. The 93 Chevy Box Truck Runs As Good As The Day It Was Born. It Was A Budget Rental Truck At One Time So I Imagine That's Where The Miles Were Racked Up.
It Had Been Sitting Behind A Church Prior To Me Buying It. It Was Rarely Used And It's Exactly What I Was Looking For. This Will Be My Third Season Working With It.
I Can't Imagine Doing What I Do In A Regular Size Pickup Truck!
I Didn't Want To Celebrate This Special Mile Mark Cruising Down The Road When The Odometer Announced This Special Number Alone. I Take Good Care Of This Truck And In Return It Takes Care Of Me.
I Consider Myself Working A Special Mission In Life And Cannot Imagine Life Without This Truck.
So If You Are Traveling Down The Road And See A Nut Waving His Arms As He Is Driving Down The Road, Just Ignore Him. I've Got My Own Little Celebration Going On!

Thanx Cuzzzz

A Big Thank You Goes To My Cousin Kim For The Banner She Created For My Blog Site. I Think She Did A Wonderful Job!
Thanks Again Kim!

God Is Awsome!

Please Pray For My Truck

Ok, Here We Go! My Season Has Started And I Already Have Problems. Why Can't These Problems Occur After I Get My Feet Wet? Yes I Know, Maybe It's Best It Happens Early In The Season Before I Really Get Too Busy To Have Problems With The Truck. Money Is Tighter Than The Lady Next Door Right Now So I Guess When It Rains, It Pours!
I Know They Don't Design Cars And Trucks To Run Forever Without Problems But The Timing Can Be A Little Easier For My Wallet. Now If I Were To Have Problems Like This In Mid Season I Would Probably Not Bat An Eye.
If It Were A Minor Problem I Wouldn't Be So Upset About It. My Truck Is Everything To Me. Without It, Well I Don't Want To Imagine Life Without My Truck.
I Will Know Tomorrow What Kind Of Problem I Am Dealing With And How Much It Will Set Me Back. In The Meantime I Will Be Stressed Out Hoping It's Not The Worse. I Know It Could Be Worse. My Engine Is Good As Well As The Transmission. My Brakes Are The Problem And I Just Know It Won't Be A Cheap Project. I Will However Try To Get This Accomplished By Cutting A Few Corners.
In Cases Such As This It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know. I Will Keep You Posted.

It's Mowing Season Once Again

Yep, That's Right, Lawnmowers At Work Again. Since Illinois Has Been Experiencing This Odd Spring Weather Today Was The First Day I Have Mowed.
My Feet Hurt. My Back Hurts. My Legs Hurt. Well....I Would Not Be Suffering As Much If I Had Not Put On That Extra Weight Over The Winter Months. Yes I Know We Go Down This Road Every Springtime. I Manage To Shed The Extra Pounds I Put On In The Winter Months By Doing My Summer Gig But I Really Feel The Pain In The Month Of April. It's April When I Get Started In My Truck. It's Also Mushroom Season And Mowing Season.
I Really Need To Go On A Massive Diet Over This Summer In Anticipation Of Me Gaining Weight Next Winter But Hopefully Not As Much As I Normally Do. I Am Getting Too Old To Shed The Weight Like I Have In Years Past. I Use To Laugh About It In Years Past Because No Matter What Weight I Put On Was No Sweat In Taking It Off. I Need To Make Some Drastic Changes This Year. The Plan Is To Lose More Weight This Summer And Gain Less Next Winter. Sound Like A Good Plan To Me. I Wish It Were That Simple.
Every Wednesday I Mow The Church Grass, My Grass, And The Grass Where My Storage Building Is Located. That's Alot Of Grass To Mow In One Day But Somebody Has To Do It. It Won't Get Mowed By Itself. I Try To Mow Every Wednesday So All The Yards Look Good Plus It Keeps Me In Shape. But Come on It's So Hard To Get Use To After That First Mowing Day.
Did I Say My Feet Hurt?

Is It Just Me?

This Blog Is For Real Mayonnaise Lovers. If You Are Not One, No Need To Read Any Further. I Grew Up In A Household That Served Miracle Whip. I'm Not Going To Bad Mouth Miracle Whip To Get To My Point. My Point Is Some People Don't Think There Is Much Of Difference Between Miracle Whip And Mayonnaise. Someone Might Say Pass The Mayo And Low And Behold They Pass You Miracle Whip Or Salad Dressing.
I Believe I Was A Young Adult When I Fell In Love With Mayonnaise.
For Those Who Like The Taste Of Miracle Whip Or Salad Dressing I Say Hey Hey, I'm Happy For You.
What Burns Me The Most Is Whenever I Order Out And Order Mayo On My Sandwich, It Comes To Me With Salad Dressing. These People Are In The Food Business For Crying Out Loud! Is It Just Me?
When I Order Something Prepared Especially For My Taste I Expect It That Way And Not Substituted With Something Other Than What I Ordered.
If You Wanted Mustard On Your Sandwich And The Restaurant Ran Out, Is It Ok For Them To Put Horseradish On It Instead?
Let Me Say It Like This. Real Mayonnaise Lovers Know The Difference. You Can't Fool Us!

Never Judge A Book By It's Cover

As The Old Saying Goes, Never Judge A Book By It's Cover. Susan Boyle Has Been All Over The Internet For The Past Couple Of Weeks. In Case You Have Missed It, Here's An Opportunity For You To See Exactly What I Am Saying.
I Really Don't Need To Elaborate Because In This Case Words Speak Louder Than Anything Else.
It Appears You Will Have To Copy And Paste For Viewing. I'm Sure You Will Feel Great After You Listen With An Open Heart. Enjoy!


http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/videogaga/16130/susan-boyle-hype-revitalizes-10-year-old-cover/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

Alaya Goes To Grandma's House

It's Been Talked About For Weeks But It Wasn't Until This Past Sunday When I Took Alaya With Me To Grandma's House. I Told Both Mom And Dad I Would Bring Her Down Some Sunday When We Come Down For Our Euchre Lesson.
Mom And Dad Have Been Tossing Around The Idea About Getting A Pet. I Know Finding That Perfect Pet Can Be Difficult.
Alaya Is A Miniature Yorkshire Terrier. She Is The Perfect Dog For Billie. She's The Perfect Lap Dog Weighing Only 3 Pounds. She Is At Billie's Side From Morning To Night. She Is On The Couch Or Wherever Billie Is At The Moment. At Night You Can Always Find Her Snuggled With Billie.
Alaya Came To Us When Her Previous Owners Had To Move And Their New Residence Did Not Allow Pets. So In Reality She Was Abandoned From The Only Home She Knew.
I Believe Alaya Thought She Was Being Abandoned Once Again. Showing Her Displeasure She Made A Deposit On Their Lovely Couch And Carpet.
First Off Let Me Assure You Pets DO NOT Rule Our House. If Our Pet Is Not Housebroken It Does Not Come Into Our Home. I'm Sorry But That's One Thing We Won't Tolerate. I Am Almost Positive She Would Never Ever Make A Mistake Like This Again At Grandma's House Because Now She Know's The Routine. She Knows She Is There For The Attention She Gets Then Goes Home When I Go. Boy, She Was Right On My Heels When It Was Time To Leave. She Made It Clear She Was Going Home With Me.
If They Haven't Given Up Their Thought In Bringing In A New Addition To The Miller House In Westville, I Think A Yorkshire Would Be A Wonderful Addition To Their Lives. Yorky's Are Loyal To The Ones Who They Reside With. They Prefer To Go Wherever Their Masters go. They Love Care Rides. If They Must Stay Home They Are Content With Their Favorite Blanket And Maybe Their Favorite Toy.
Alaya Is Billie's Dog. I Continue My Search For An Australian Husky. I Will One Day Have One I Could Call My Companion.
In The Meantime I Will Smother Alaya With The Love She Deserves. To Know Alaya Means To Love Alaya. I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way.
Even Though That Day The Shirt She Wore Said Daddy's Girl. Not True! She's Mommy's Girl 24/7.

Those Who Believe In God Knows He Works In Mysterious Ways. One Moment In Time Is All It Takes For You To Believe Again, If You Have Ever Had Doubts Before. Some Times In Weakness We Question God's Existence. Yet Again There Are Times We Need To Be Reminded Just How Mysterious He Can Really Be.
God Listens To Our Heart. I Think I Realize This More Today Than I Ever Had.
Today Is One Of The Holiest Days Of Christianity.(Good Friday)
Those Who Read My Blog On A Regular Basis Know I Seldom Express My Christian Beliefs.
It's Not That I'm Not A Believer Because I Truly Am. Some People May Feel If They Want To Be Preached At They Would Go To Church. That's Ok, No Preaching From This Pulpit.
I Must Say However, Unless You Have Been Touched By The Holy Spirit, You Have No Concept Of What I Am Trying To Tell You.
I Know God Visited My Heart Just A Couple Days Ago. This Experience Will Be With Me For The Rest Of My Life.
I'm Sorry I Cannot Give Complete Details Because It's Between Me And God. Trust Me Friends, God Is Real. God Is Love. I Know It's Difficult To Believe In Something You Cannot See. This May Be The Reason Why There Are So Many Non-believers Today.
I Guess You Must Experience What I Experienced For You To Truly Understand What I Am Trying To Say.
I Know There Is Eternal Life For Those Who Believes In Him. Do You?
Have A Wonderful Easter Everybody!

People Ask For Forgiveness For Various Reasons. Some Are Sincere, While Others Are Not. I Have Found Those Seeking Forgiveness To Be More Humbling Than Those Who Receive It. My Reasoning Is Self Gratification On The Part Of The One Who Seeks It.
It's Easy To Say You Are Sorry. However, Words Are Just That. The Meaning Behind Your Words Are More Sacred.
Sure There Have Been Times In My Life When I Told Someone I Was Sorry. However, On A Handful Of Occasions I Truly Meant It Deeply. You Say You Are Sorry When You Accidentally Bump Into Someone. You Say I'm Sorry When You Offended Someone Or Hurt Their Feelings.
I Can Count On One Hand When I Sought Forgiveness Because I Truly Was Sorry. A Person Reaches A Point In Life When Seeking Forgiveness May Be Their Last Act On Earth. I Believe Those Who Seek Forgiveness And Are Sincere Should Without Doubt Receive It.
Nobody On This Earth Should Be In A Position To Hold Out On Forgiveness Due To Anger. Anger Can Destroy A Person Within. At Times Anger Seems To Be Your Only Option To Deal With Or Get Even With The Person You Are Angry With.
They Say Confession Is Good For The Soul. I Believe Forgiveness Ranks Right Up There With It.

Ohhhh No!

I Just Hung Up The Phone From Talking To Mom. I Did Something I Feel Embarrassed About.
Here Goes. I'm Finishing Up My Conversation With Her And I Casually Mention The Cubs Are Coming On Television. I Told Her I Suspected Dad Is Sitting In Front Of The Television Prepared To Watch It. She Told Me No, He Was Asleep. I Told Her She Better Wake Him Up So He Won't Miss It. I Hung Up And Turned My Television To WGN. No Ballgame. I Brought Up The TV Guide Page To See When They Came On. Ohhh MYY!
They Don't Come On Until 7:00. That An Hour From Now. I Know It's Too Late To Call Her Back, Because I Know She Has Already Woke Him. I Went In The Other Room To Tell Billie What I Had Done. I Told Her All I Could Do Is Blog About It So I Won't Feel So Bad About What I Had Done.
They Say Sleep Is Over-rated Anyway.....Sure, That's Until He Decides To Wake Me Up An Hour Before I Wanted To Get Up.

I Voted & Maintained My Personal Goal

Say What?
Yes, I Tried To Cheat At Voting This Week. Last Week I Called The Election Board To Inquire As To When The Deadline Was For Absentee Voting. I Was Told I Could Come In Up To The Day Before(Monday).
Yes I Know Some People Don't Believe In Voting Early. I Never Voted Absentee Before Other Than When I Was Serving In The Navy. However Since I Moved To The East Side And Was Told I Would Be Voting At The College I Was Turned Off Immediately. Why You Ask? I Assumed Being At The College It Must Be The Central Voting Location For The Entire East Side. WRONG! I Had To Pass Up Fire Station Number 4 Which Has A Polling Place To Get To My Polling Place. They Sure Don't Set It Up To Be The Nearest One To You Anymore.
Ok Back To My Story. I Went To The Election Office Yesterday To Attempt To Vote. I Gave Them My Drivers License And They Found Me To Be An Eligible Voter. They Printed Out A Paper That Had All My Vital Information As To Who I Am And Where I Live. I Was Asked To Check A Box As To Why I Was Unable To Vote In The Election On Tuesday.
Reasons Such As Being An Election Judge, Out Of The Country, Serving On Jury Duty, Etc. Well.... I Could Not Find The Appropriate Box Which Pertained To Me. I Told Them I Called Last Week And They Told Me I Could Vote Absentee Up Until Monday. They Informed Me I Could Have Voted Absentee Without Showing Cause Up To Last Friday.
They Then Looked At Me And Asked If There Was A Reason I Didn't Want To Go To My Polling Place. I Confessed I Don't Like Lines. They Laughed And Assured Me There Would Be No Line. To Be Truthful About It, I Have A Perfect Record Of Voting And Never Having To Stand In Line. Since This Election Is Not Considered A Major Election They Told Me They Expected A Very Low Turnout.
Ok, I Gritted My Teeth After I Passed The Fire Station On My Way To The College. I Walked In And They Were Correct In Their Assessment, No Line. Nobody Was In There Other Than The Election Judges.
Ok, I Dodged The Crowd This Time And Still Maintain My Perfect Voting Record Without Standing In Line. I Realize The Next Time I Won't Be So Lucky. Yet Again I Just May Make Another Trip To The Election Office, But This Time On The Right Day!

MY BIGGEST FEAR!

Wrigley Field....

It's That Time Of Year Again! Baseball Season Is Upon Us Once Again. For Me That Means The Chicago Cubs And Wrigley Field. If You Have Never Heard Of Wrigley Field You Are Either Very Very Young Or Live On Another Planet.
The Cubs Begin Their Season The Day After Tomorrow(Monday)In Houston. It Will Be Another Week Before The Cubs Come Home To The Friendly Confines Of Wrigley.
They Play Three Games In Houston Before They Go To Milwaukee To Play The Brewers.
It's Been Awhile Since I Have Been To Wrigley. Next Year My Brother Tuck Will Be Living In Danville And I Am Certain A Trip To Wrigley Will Be On His Agenda. I Would Enjoy Taking My Father Once More. He Is Getting Older And He Loves The Cubs Just As Much As I Do. It's Only Right For Him To Return To Wrigley Atleast Once More.
I Think I Have Traveled To The Windy City About A Half Dozen Times To Watch The Cubs Play. A Couple Times When I Was A Snot Nosed Kid And The Rest Was When I Was Old Enough To Go By Myself. I Never Went Alone Because Wrigley Was So Special You Just Had To Share The Experience With Somebody.
Wrigley Field Is Rich With History. The Wall Of Ivy To The Old Fashioned Scoreboard.
It's Not The House That Ruth Built, But Babe Did Play There. In Fact So Did Many Other Well Known Players Of The Game In Baseball's Past.
I Will Always Have Fond Memories Of Wrigley. The Bleacher Bums, To The Fans That Throw The Homerun Balls From The Apposing Team Back Onto The Ballfield. The Wind That Would Blow In From Lake Michigan And It Would Freeze Your Tootsies Off. On The Other Hand If It Was Blowing Out, Homeruns Would Be Bountiful!
There's No Place On Earth Like Wrigley Field. If You Haven't Been There I Hope One Day You Will Have The Opportunity To Go.
Cub Fans From Around The World Were Praying The Cubs Would Win The World Series Last Year On The Cubs 100th Anniversary. Now That We Have 100 Years Behind Us, Maybe This Will Be The Year Of The Cub.
In Any Event All I Can Say Is GO CUBS!!

Growing Up Playing Ping Pong

I Remember The Day As If It Was Yesterday. It Was A Fold Up Type Of Table That Had Wheels On The Bottom Side To Manuvere Wherever You Wanted To Play The Game.
My Father Must Have Been A Very Patient Man To Teach His Three Young Sons And Daughter How To Play Ping Pong.
I Would Say We Were Considered Very Good Players. I Played In PE Class At School And Nobody Could Beat Me. I Sure Do Miss The Game. It Has Been So Many Years Since I Played A Game.
One Thing I Appreciate The Most Was My Father Never Gave Me A Game. You Know How Some People Let Someone Win A Game To Give Them Confidence? Ofcourse Nobody Wanted To Lose All The Time. My Two Brothers And Myself Played All The Time And I Would Have To Admit We Were Pretty Much At The Same Level Of Play. So Ofcourse We Won Some And Lost Some. However When It Came To Dad He Told Me One Day That If I Were To Ever Beat Him I Would Earn It. My Father Was A Very Good Player. I Believe He Was Pretty Much The Best At The Firehouse.
I Knew Someday I Would Eventually Beat My Father At Ping Pong. I Was 22 Years Old Before I Beat Him At The Downtown Fire Station. I Knew It Wasn't A Gimmee, And That I Had Earned The Honor Of Finally Meeting His Challenge. I'm Glad He Raised Me With Those Principles. If You Want It Bad Enough You Must Work For It. Nobody Is Going To Hand You Anything Unless You Earn It. It May Have Taken Me 22 Years To Accomplish Beating Him On The Ping Pong Table. It Wasn't The Win That Matters The Most To Me. It Was The Fact That I Worked At It Long And Hard Enough To Earn It. The Day I Earned That Game, My Father Shook My Hand In Defeat. I Beat Him Maybe A Couple Times After That But It Wasn't As Important Than The Lesson I Learned From It.
It Never Was About Ping Pong Afterall.

Mac Bowls A 600 Series In Bowling!!

I Just Love That Headline! Wishful Thinking On My Part I Guess! I Am In My 4th Consecutive Year In Bowling. I Started Bowling On A League Back In 1976. I Bowled Just 1 Year Then Quit. I Bowled The Entire Season Using A House Ball And Rented Shoes. It Wasn't Until 1984 When I Began Getting Real Serious About Bowling. I Bought My First Ball At K Mart. I Bowled For About Three Years Then Quit. A Little More Than Ten Years Later I Joined The Senior Citizen League.
When I Joined The Senior League I Was The Youngest Member On Board. The League Lowered Their Age Restriction From 55 To 50 In Order To Get More Bowlers.
First Off, Don't Get The Idea In Your Mind A Bunch Of Old Folks With Walkers And Canes Throwing 5 Pound Balls Hoping It Makes It To The Pins Before It Stops. There Happen To Be Some Very Good Bowlers. First Bowler That Comes To Mind Is Stan The Man. I Call Him Stan The Man Because He Is The Man. He Is A Very Talented Bowler That Has Held The Mens High Game And Series For As Long As I Have Been A Member.
You Have Big Bob. As Big Bob Stands There Staring Down Those Pins, You Could See Those Poor Pins Shivering In Fright. All Ten Of Those Pins Recognizes This Man Who Throws The Ball 100 Miles Per Hour Down The Lane. Even Though This Gentle Giant Bowls Each Week In Unbearable Pain At Times, His Love For The Sport Is Greater.
Sammy Who Retired For Health Concerns. With Her Fibro Condition She Knew Every Day May Be A Challenge For Her. Yet She Has Come Out Of Retirement To Finish Out The Season For Our Beloved Mr Magoo(Ralph).
You Have Terry Who Everybody Loves. We Had A Scare A Couple Years Ago When He Was Diagnosed With Cancer. He Was Able To Beat The Cancer And Now We Have Our Wonderful Friend Bowling With Us Again.
I Saved The Best For Last. My Father. We All Thought His Bowling Career Was Over Just A Few Weeks Ago. His Hip Has Been Giving Him Fits And Everything Medically Has Been Done With The Exception Of Surgery.
He And My Mother Have Been Bowling On This League Ten Years Or More. He Use To Have A Respectable Average Throughout His Career Of Bowling. Because Of His Hip Ailment He Has Not Been Able To Bowl His Potential. I Know How Frustrating That Can Be. You Can Love A Sport So Much But Because Of Health Concerns Are Unable To Enjoy It Fully.
I Pray His Hip Condition Will Get Better Over The Summer Months. We Have My Brother Tuck Joining The League Next Season After He Retires And Moves Back To Illinois From California. Hopefully We Can All Three Bowl Together On The Same Team.
Alot Depends On Whether Or Not My Father Is Physically Able To Continue. We Have Bowlers On This League Who Are In Their 80's. We Have Bowlers Who Have Had Knee Replacement. We Even Had A Blind Bowler, God Rest His Soul. Oh Charlie Boone Had Very Poor Vision But His Love For The Game Brought Him To The Alleys Every Thursday Afternoon.
There Are Only Three Weeks Left In This Season. I Am Running Out Of Time If I Intend To Bowl My 600 Series For The Very First Time In My Life. I Have Come Close Several Times But Never Mastered It. I'm Going To The Bowling Alley Tomorrow With The Intentions Of Bowling That First 600 Series. Tomorrow's Match Play In My Opinion Is The Most Important For Our Team This Year. Our Team Is Not In Contention This Year So All We Can Be Are Spoilers. There Is Only One Half A Point Separating First And Second Place Team. We Can Make A Big Difference If We Do Well.
If The Next Blog Doesn't Have The Headline Mac Bowls His First 600 Series, Remember One Thing Is For Sure. All Five Members Of The Keenagers Know What Is At Stake. Wish Us Well!
We Want To Win All The Games And I Want To Bowl A 600 Series. That Is No April Fool!