Mom’s and Their Babies at Christmas

Editorial note: Play the video for the full emotional effect of this post while you read.

My own Mom passed away in 1993. It still seems like just a few weeks or months ago, never years or even a decade. She died in her sleep and I will never forget what the Priest said at her service. Louise is dancing with Kings. He offered that analogy because she crossed over with a smile on her face. To this very day that is the one memory I cherish most when I think of my Mom. I remember her smile whenever she looked at me her baby in my mind. No matter where I am, no matter what I am doing, I can feel that love and smile and it makes the world an easier place to deal with.

Many years later in 2003, my wife’s Mom passed away. My wife was crushed and devastated. Her mother was her world and as much as they argued and fought and laughed together they both would run through a burning building to save the other. Judy loved her daughter with all of her heart and the grand children loved their Grammy. But the love her Mom had for her baby was priceless and you could not match it. The two of them were inseperable.

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are hard when the Mom’s are no longer around. One thing is certain, Mom’s never stop loving their babies and Blake Shelton nailed the heartbreak that many people feel that have lost their Mom…



I’m not ashamed as a man to say that I cried when I first saw this video. It brought back to me so many memories of what I would have done different in my own life. Regrets for harsh words when I needed to be set straight. It made me sorry for all the stupid things I did when I thought I ruled the world. I loved my Mom with all of my heart and this time of year I miss her more than ever. Christmas has not been the same without my Mom or my Wife’s Mom in the world. And yet, we know that they are watching over us. Mom’s are forever and thankfully so! We love you Mom and miss you. Always in our prayers.

Thank you Blake Shelton for this song!

Papamoka

Dedicated to my wife’s Mom Judie Curtin Poulin
and my Mom Louise Courtney O’Keefe... We love you and miss you...

Military Service Recruits Down Amongst Blacks

First statement I have is why is it that this piece in the Washington Post is focusing on just “Blacks” also known as African Americans or simply Americans. What about the amount of White Anglo Saxon Americans not signing up for service in our nations military? What about those folks from the Asian parts of the world that just happens to be an American too? What about those pesky Canadians that dared to dream to be American or for that matter what some people would say settled for the lesser of two evils?

Serving in our nations military is a volunteer based academic and lifestyle choice. It is a choice that a person makes based on many levels of thought and current political atmosphere on what the current President calls something that could be a thousand year war is not very appetizing to the pallet for signing up to serve your nation in the military.

This is what the Washington Post has to say on this issue that I personally found very racist…

Number of Blacks Joining Military Down

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
The Associated PressMonday, June 25, 2007; 12:18 AM

WASHINGTON -- The number of blacks joining the military has plunged by more than one-third since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began. Other job prospects are soaring and relatives of potential recruits increasingly are discouraging them from joining the armed services.
According to data obtained by The Associated Press, the decline covers all four military services for active duty recruits. The drop is even more dramatic when National Guard and Reserve recruiting is included. – Washington Post

Let us just assume for argument sake that any family, no race needed to be divulged, parents love their babies and those same parents learned the mistakes of past wars. Wars fought for true freedom can be justified but wars for political friend’s business profits are just wrong. How many parents would be willing to sign up their child for service knowing that the profits from that child’s service are bank rolling friends of politicians? Nope, not doing it here! This matter transcends race across America that is filled with just… Ummm Americans.
More from the WA PO…

The decline in black recruits overall has been offset partly by an increase in Hispanic recruits and those who classify themselves as other races or nationalities.

This category could include people who consider themselves Portuguese, or of other European descent that are not covered by the main categories of white, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaskan, black or Hispanic. –Washington Post

(Snip-a-Roo)

At the same time, the military is opening the door to many recruits it has not welcomed in the past. That includes people who are a bit older; who score lower on aptitude tests; and who have medical conditions such as asthma or attention deficit disorders that can be controlled better now with medicine.

The Army, for example, increased its age limit for recruits from 35 to 42. – Washington Post

Somebody slap me up side the head and call me stupid! If African Americans are not signing up for military services then the standards for being in the service are lowered? What is the military saying about our friends in the African American community? Are they calling my friends in the African American community less than knowledgeable on the ways of the world when it comes to military service or complimenting them as an American?

I have to say that I encourage service in our military but I can not ask any parent to encourage belief in a war that our President has no plan to end other than opening his Presidential Library in Texas. Passing the buck is easy when you don’t care about the kids that will die for an imagined war with no clue as to how to offer a solution. Let the next guy or gal worry about it.

Then again, who are you voting for in 2008?

Papamoka

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