NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease 

I looked at him in uniform 

So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He stood out in the crowd

I thought how many men like he
Had fallen through the years. 
How many died on foreign soil
Evoking mothers' tears


How many pilots' planes shot down
How many died at sea
How foxholes were some soldiers' graves
No, freedom isn't free


I heard the sound of "Taps" one night
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill. 


I wondered just how many times 
That "Taps" had meant 'Amen'
When a flag had draped the coffin
Of a brother or a friend.   


I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
Now with interrupted lives 


I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington
No, freedom isn't free. 


Enjoy Your Freedoms - ALL of them on this blessed day of celebrating freedom
Just as our salvation, they were bought with a price!!!
We may be struggling as a nation, but we are STILL the greatest nation in the world!
God Bless Our Troops Everywhere!!!

287 OUR KIDS

Do we ever really see our children as grown ups?  I mean really?  In a recent correspondence with our son, I indicated that he would always view his nearly two-year-old son as he is today - innocent, vulnerable, fragile – and that he would one day struggle, as most parents do, to view his son as an adult, all grown up and able to make all his own choices with a mature outlook and an understanding of life.  We all have to resist many of our impulses and urge to throw our arms around our grown children and hug them and kiss them as we did when they were babes.   We are challenged to watch from the sidelines and they struggle with the balance of life not always knowing when to let them teeter or when to let them fall on their own.  It is nearly impossible not to push our ‘years of experience’ advice upon them when we see they are about to make a mistake that we learned lessons from in the ‘school of hard knocks’ and could save them a plethora of heartache if they would but listen to our wisdom rather than have to gain their own in the same painful way we did.  I am sixty-one years old – you would think that I have had enough of life’s rivers flow under my bridge to figure some things out, but even now, by beloved mother still reminds me how important it is for me to get my flu shot before winter fully arrives.  You see, we just cannot help ourselves.  We love and care so deeply for these fragile ones that even when they reach seniority on their own we still try to protect and preserve them at every turn.  I am not in any way chastising my precious mother, only using this one thing as an example, so easily seen by any observer, of how, as parents, we never outgrow our love for our children.  The answer to my opening salvo? – No, we really never do – to us, as loving parents, they will always be ‘our kids’!

286 My Message To A Vet – November 11, 2009

Since Woodrow Wilson declared this day Armistice Day in 1919, America has set this day aside for you – to remember your deeds of valor and dedication and, in many instances, ultimate sacrifice in a cause so noble that silence is the only deserving response – a pause in serene sanctified awe for the freedom that you did not give, but rather, preserved for us in our generation to embrace.  I thank you, brave souls, for whether the conflicts demanded your life or not, nevertheless your life was changed – altered from its original course in some way – a sacrificial benevolence knowing that the good of the many outweighed the safety of the few or the one.  I bless you for that giving heart that tore you from among the masses and exiled you in a foreign land isolated from all that you were there to protect – berated, cajoled, and spat upon, yet you held your station – you made certain that your vicarious hardship and suffering would insulate us from the same fate and offer to us, to me, a better life than would ever be afforded otherwise.  How can I repay such selfless ambition – how may I display my most sincere gratitude for your offerings?  I may only make certain that in the course of new outrage and formerly unknown atrocities, that I exert effort equaled only by that of you and your comrades to ascertain that you are never forgotten – that your investment of love for your country is never stained by the wicked undermining of ingrates that use the very freedoms you kept for them to tarnish the memories and, in some cases, even disavow the sustaining accomplishments themselves.  I, for one, shall never forget the liberties paid for in units of blood and body parts strewn across countless battlefields – I shall remind those in my inner circle of family and friends that there was an investment made in America by Americans – patriots who gave no thought to their own person but thought only of generations, living and yet unborn, who would live a better quality of life as free men than in bondage.  Today, I salute you!!!  I have not earned the right to do so – I am only empowered to do this by your generous gift, which is not taken for granted, at least by me.

NFL 277 - 10-04-09

What a powerhouse!!  Unbelievable start to today’s game against the Washington Redskins!  Is there hope?  We have not scored in the first quarter since October or November of 2008!!!  Now, just two minutes into the game and we SCORE!!!!  Talk about imposing – 10-o at the half, despite missing two rather simple field goals, and the only team really playing ball - The Bucs!!!!  Are we to once again to return to the form we had when Tony Dungy was ‘The Man’ taking us to the playoffs year after year only to be fired by the hapless Glazers for never winning ‘the big one’?  Now that Tony has his Superbowl ring with the Colts, I wonder if Malcom and the boys still think they made the best deal?  Millions of dollars and five or six future draft picks for a John Gruden, whose only claim to fame was taking a Dungy-built team to the win Superbowl XXXVIII and after that, nothing, and I do mean nothing!!  I digress – it is the opening of the third quarter – suffice it to say that Bucs must have ingested too much Gatorade in the locker room.  Or perhaps Raheem Morris thought that a first half domination was enough to carry us through the entire second half, but the third quarter proved to be our demise – the ‘Skins tore through us like a flint-chiseled arrow-head shredding weak flesh ripping us up to the stats of 151 yards gained on offense to our 14!!  Sixteen third quarter unanswered points proved more than we could overcome and once again we were left in the lurch as we drew only within three and time expired before we could tie the score – wishful thinking anyway!!!  Now 0 and 4 – and the only really bright spot seems to be the potential in our new rookie quarterback, Josh Johnson.   I think we should use the rest of the season playing all the rookies and getting them some live game experience for next season – I think if we are to have hope, that is it – next season!!  Great posture, Glazer family – it is as though once was proof enough that the Bucs are a formidable team – but that was the 2002 season – and this is the NFL, which really is an acronym for Not For Long!!!

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SERENDIPITY 276 - 10-03-09

Given a week’s respite from our normal Saturday routine, which includes having dinner and a couple of sets of Canasta with our great friends, I decided to take Cynthia out for a special treat.  You all probably have that special place that you go when the time is extra special or intimate and romantic – we have always had an affinity towards a special fondue restaurant here call The Melting Pot.  I decided to take Cynthia there for a relaxed time away – tranquil, because you literally cook your own meal in a quaint setting in a central fondue pot and the dining experience usually lasts in the neighborhood of two-and-a-half hours, not great if you are famished, but totally awesome if you just want some great down-time.  I never presume to take the Tampa drive without a reservation at The Melting Pot – that is, until today – big mistake!!!  When we arrived around 6:45, we were informed that reservations were booked solid until 9:30.  Imagine my disappointment – no, you cannot.  What a let-down for my sweetie.  I asked her where else she would like to go and her gracious reply, as often given, was “anywhere with you”.  Now I totally want to take her someplace special, but where?  She does not know the area, so asking her is not very productive.  I inquired as to what she might like to eat – she said a steak would be nice.  There are a half-dozen steak places in the vicinity, each offering an ‘okay’ steak but lacking sorely in the ambiance I was hoping for tonight.  We finally decided on one which required a U-turn and just as we sat at the corner awaiting the signal arrow, there it was!  A billboard staring us right in the face for Shula’s, America’s Steak House – Yes, one in the same, the perennial coach of the Miami Dolphins famous for the one and only undefeated season of 1972 – now entrepreneur of his own chain of nearly fifty quality restaurants, all of them featuring some of the best steak ever to pass your bicuspids!!  From the initial placement of freshly baked bread loaf with the tomato – mozzarella salad, delicately laced with the balsamic glaze, poignant with fresh herbs, rosemary and thyme,  melt-in-your-mouth, done-to-perfection most tender filet ever, grilled asparagus, double baked potato right down to the last custardy drop of authentic crème Bruleè and sumptuous coffee, this surprising even ranks easily in the top five of our lifetime of dining experiences – and all this happened because of spontaneity instigated from oversight.  Never give up on serendipity.  

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ONE SHOT 267 - 09-24-09

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This blog is written by Rick Larrison, middle brother to Roger as a part of a challenge assignment.


This summer I have been play golf in the Conseco golf league on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after work. Our usual tee-time has been 5:00 PM.  The league ended in early August. Several of us have chosen to continue to play on Thursday afternoon as long as the climate conditions permit. Today should have been one of those golf days, but it rained all day and they closed the course at 1:00 PM. My BLOG today was going to be about golf anyway. So, I shall continue with what I had in mind.

I have been blessed this summer to play a few rounds with Rick Kassel, a man I have know since I was 8 or 9 and he was a teenager. He and his brother Paul used to ride their bikes to our house and Roger and I would join them and we would then ride to Rea Park in Terre Haute to play. Sometimes we would get to the golf course so early that the sprinklers were still watering the greens. Reminiscing with Rick was a real thrill. Rick has a saying “I have three things to say about golf; “I love this game, I hate this game and this game is too easy”.  Rick is a fairly good golfer and he loves to talk. He provides suggestions to his golf mates, usually if they are struggling with some aspect of the game. I hope to get at least one more round in with him before the golf season is over. (I live in Indiana, so unless you like to play in the snow or frigid temperatures, we have a season.)

Most golfers are what are termed “Duffers”. This is a term that represents how well we play. You hit a decent shot followed by a duffed shot. I have been a “Duffer” from the first time I ever swung a club. You will find no “Tigers” in this group. It is just plain ugly golf. So, why do we keep returning to the golf course and paying to play this frustrating game? Some golfers get so frustrated that they give up the game completely. Mark Twain said, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." I think that in every round of golf there is at least one shot that makes you want to come back. This shot is one of those rare occasions when the planets are aligned, your feet are aligned, your swing is perfect, and you hit the ball on the sweet spot of the club propelling the tiny white ball skyward. It flies straight and land exactly where you wanted it to land and it rolls to within inches of the cup. Hopefully this is your second shot, but more than likely it is your third or fourth shot. That really does not matter. The feel of that shot and the result are just enough thrill to make you want to come back. You want to come back and hope that every shot is like that one shot – which, we all know, is never the case.

 

PROCRASTINATION 266 - 09-23-09

This BLOG was again a guest contribution by Richard Larrison (Rick), Roger’s middle brother.

Procrastination!  Now that is a very big word and we all have been accused of doing this - especially around April 15^th of each year. So, as I did in BLOG 265, let’s see what Wikipedia says this word means:

Procrastination is a behavior which is characterized by the deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Psychology researchers use three criteria to categorize procrastination: for a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.

Now this is interesting, because I know why my brother got behind on entering his BLOGs. He and Cindy were taking care of the “Energizer Bunny” (AKA Isaac) while their son and daughter-in-law were moving into a new apartment. So, his time was not counterproductive, nor was it needless. Time spent with a grandchild is precious and memorable. It perhaps was delaying, but my guess is that the BLOG was delayed because the little tike zapped all of the energy from his “Poppie”.

 

So, now let me interject another big word, Prioritization. Again let’s reference Wikipedia:

prioritization (plural prioritizations)

1.      The process of assigning priorities to things or tasks.

Roger was putting spending time with his Grandson and preparing himself for the next day (i.e. Sleeping with Isaac), ahead of writing his daily BLOG.    Does Roger have his priorities assigned correctly?……

 

By all means, the answer to that question is YES! Life is short and uncertain. Always put your family first, your faith second and then everything else. Never pass up the opportunity to express your feelings for those that you love and care about.

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