You Won't Find This Man In The History Books. He Was Not A Famous Person Notable For Anything Particular. Meet Larry Harvey. He Recently Passed Away Very Suddenly. Nobody Was Prepared For His Untimely Death. In Fact Just One Week Earlier He And His Family Were Holding Services For His Younger Brother Who Passed Away With Heart Related Problems.
I Was Viewing Photo's Taken Of Him And His Family Members That Was Posted On Facebook The Day Of The Funeral. He Appeared Cheerful And Full Of Life. Just A Couple Hours Later I Received The Dreadful Phone Call He Had Passed Away Suddenly On The Golf Course. After The Initial Shock Of It, All I Could Do Was Sit Back And Allow The Memories Of Him Flow Through My Mind. Larry Married My Mother's Sister Janice. To Me Their Life Together Was Almost Like A True Love Story. He Loved Her So Much. Her Death Was The Only One I Ever Witnessed In My Lifetime. My Heart Broke That Day. Larry Was A Large Man. He Held Her In His Arms As She Took Her Last Breath. I Actually Felt The Presence Of Our Lord In That Room During Her Passing. It Was One Of The Most Touching Moments Of My Life. One Day Many Years Ago Larry Done Something For Me That I Will Never Forget. At A Time In My Life When Things Seemed Uncertain. It Was A Gesture Of His Love And Confidence In Me.
Apparently Larry Touched So Many Lives. The Day Of Visitation At The Funeral Home Hundreds Of People Stood In Line For Hours To Pay Their Last Respect For Him. I Was Totally Overwhelmed By How Many People Were There. Yet None Of It Surprised Me Considering The Kind Of Man Larry Joe Harvey Was. Even Though His Mission On Earth Is Now Complete With Only 65 Years, His Legacy Lives On Through His Children Left Behind. My Cousin Kim, Layne And Scott Were Exposed By The Kindness Of A Gentle Giant.
Even Though We Feel Sadness Because His Life Was Cut Short. In Our Hearts Though We Know He Is Now In Heaven With Those That Left Him Behind. I Am A Believer That Everything Happens For A Reason. We May Not Understand It And We May Not Approve Of It. When It's All Said And Done God Has Spoken. He Has Created And He Can Taketh Away. It May Have Never Been About The Person Who Died. It Could Be About The Ones Left Behind. There Is No Question About Larry Being In Heaven. We Are Never Guaranteed How Many Years We Have Of Life. We Should Be Thankful And Count Our Blessing For Each Day We Have. Because Life Is A Gift.

Not All Pugs Are Nice

Most Of My Readers Know I Have A Pug. Her Name Is Cassie. A Lady At My Sale Also Has A Pug. She Brings Him Most Of The Time She Visits. Last Week "Pugley" Was Being Walked By This Lady's Husband. I Couldn't Help But Notice That Pugley Was Lifting His Leg On Any And Everything That Day. I Cracked Off A Comment That Dog Couldn't Have Much Left In Him. The Husband Informs Me That He Could Do That All Day. I Took It As A Humorous Comment, Until This Week.
I Am Talking To The Lady Who Was Sitting In The Car. The Husband Gets Out And Begins Walking Pugley. I Watched Them As He Was Walking Him Near The Furniture. Then It Happened. I Can See It In Slow Motion As I Remember This. I Hollered Pugley!! I Walked To Them And Told The Husband He Was Going To Pee On The Couch. He Sternly Informed Me He Wouldn't Have Let That Happen. He Then Stormed Away. I Told The Lady I Had Upset Her Husband And That I Was Sorry. She Told Me Not To Worry Because The Two Belonged With Each Other. He Most Certainly Would Have Pee'd On The Couch. As For Her Husband He Would Most Likely Let Him. He Was An Irresponsible Person.
I'm Not Sure If They Will Ever Return Again. If They Do They Know I Am Not Prejudice Against Pugs. I Am Just Prejudice Against Stupid People.

War And Peace

I'm Not Sure Why I Included Peace In The Title. War Is One Of The Ugliest Words I Know. There Has Been War Since The Beginning Of Time. I Believe That Will Be What Brings An End To This World As We Know It.
A Soldier From This Area In Which I Live Was Killed Recently. Services Will Be Held Tomorrow, Then Laid To Rest In A Near By Cemetery. A Tragedy Like This Reminds Us How A Senseless Death Can Change Your Views In Every Sense Of The Word. Morally And Politically, Are Extreme Opposites In Describing War. In Just My 57 Years Of Living I Have Known War More Than Peace. Political Wars, Or Shall I Call It Conflict, Yet What Ever You Decide To Call It, The End Result Is The Same. Thousands Of American Soldiers Lose Their Life In Exchange For A Foreigner's Freedom. Yes You Heard That Correctly. The Wars Of Past And Present Are Because The United States Feel It Must Police The Entire World. For Thousands Of Years Nations Declared War On Their Neighbor Due To Political Differences. I Disagree With My Country's View On World Peace. I Don't Believe We Should Sacrifice As Many Lives To Obtain Peace. However I Do Believe Everyone Of Our Soldier Should And Would Protect American Soil. The Last Time We Were Attacked By Another Nation Was In WW2 When Japan Bombed Pearl Harbor. The September 11th Terrorist Attack On The Twin Towers In New York And The Pentagon Building In Washington Was That Of A Political Organization. It Was My Opinion That Since Osama Bin Laden Was Responsible For These Attacks They Would Go After Him In The Country In Which He Has Lived. Afghanistan Should Have Been The First Nation We Looked For This Evil Person. You Don't Go To War With A Nation Because A Political Organization Is From There. You Go After That Organization. Instead We Go To Iraq And Declare Their Ruler A War Criminal Who Refuses To Tell Where His Weapons Of Mass Destruction Are Hidden. He Was Tried And Convicted And Hung To Death. Yes He Was An Evil Man. He Deserved To Die For All The Deaths He Was Responsible For During His Reign. However I Disagreed With The US Going Into That Country And Changing Their Government. Keep In Mind These Eastern Nations Have Been Fighting For Thousands Of Years. The Billions Of Dollars We Have Spent To Support People That Live In A Different Land, Could Be Better Spent On Americans And Their Struggle With Health Care. Hunger Across This Country Increases Daily. The Taxes We Pay Should Go Toward Programs That Improve The Quality Of Life.
Lance Cpl. Joshua Witsman I Salute You. You Are One Of Many American Hero's. If Your Death Would Tell A Story Let It Be That You Sacrificed Your Life For The Service To Your Country. Whether It Be Foreign Or Domestic Soil You Solemnly Swore; (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
(b) Who May Administer.— The oath may be taken before the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary of Defense, any commissioned officer, or any other person designated under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
Joshua, Many Of Us Will Bow Our Heads In Sorrow And Gratefulness For Your Sacrifice. May God Bless Your Family.

Heaven's Gentle Giant

This Week Heaven Inherited A Wonderful Human Being. Our Worlds Loss Became Heaven's Gain. At Times Like This I Just Cannot Understand Why God Takes A Person Like Marc Williams. Let Me Give You A Brief History Of The Marc I Knew.
I First Met Marc When He Worked At Steak N Shake Restaurant. He Attended School With Billie Jo. They Were Both In The Same Class In Tilton Grade School. They Then Went On To South View Junior High School. Billie Shared With Me How The School Kids Would Pick On Marc. He Had A Speech Impediment And Walked With A Limp. Billie Befriended Him Early On And The Two Were Lifetime Friends. When Billie Introduced Me To Marc, His Charming Personality Shined Brighter Than His Disability. Soon You Never Heard The Slurred Speech. I Think What I Found The Most Re'marc'able About Him Was In Spite Of Those Who Poked Fun At Him His Personality Molded Around It. Instead Of Getting Mad At People For Their Childish Ways He Forgave Them. His Faith In God Shined His Every Day. Marc Became A Walking Talking Instrument For True Forgiveness. He Had The Ability To Find Humor In Our Everyday World. He Found His Way Into Your Heart.
Again I Cannot Understand Why God Took Him So Young. He Loved The Lord And His Life Here On Earth Benefited More Than What It Would In Heaven. Heaven Is For Eternity. So Why Not Let This Earthly Man Walk This Land And Witness Unto Others How Forgiveness Really Works? I Shared My Confusion With Billie Last Night. I Tearfully Told Her I Was Confused. God Took A Man Who Would Better Serve Him On Earth Than That In Heaven. Marc Was An Inspiration To Be Around. Marc Had Epilepsy And He Experienced Seizures While Growing Up. Just Another Reason For Kids To Poke Fun Of Him. He Was Different Than Them But That Never Discouraged Marc. He Was Determined To Defeat The Bully With Kindness And Forgiveness.
Looking At Marc William's Life Is A Lesson Learned. He Has Shown Me How To Forgive. He Has Taught Me How Humor Can Stand Taller Than Ridicule. Marc Williams Life Ended Too Soon. Just Another Example Of Us Asking Why So Soon? It Makes No Sense. I Will Never Forget Montgomery Marc Williams. His Every Day Living Taught Us About Love. Love Is First And Foremost.
I Will Always Cherish My Encounters With Marc When I Would Run Into Him At The VA Hospital Or The Post Office. He Made A Difference In My Life. You Can't Remember Marc Williams Without Smiling. God Speed Marc....