A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....12-24,25,26-03 ~ Let Us Rejoice

Billie

[The Mayor]

I'll check it, but the addy should be right..

[WVNan]

Nope, they came back. Freepmail the right addy and I will try again.

[The Mayor]

You got mail, I'll have to update my profile..

[WVNan]

I tried again. I think I misread the L for an I.

[lonestar]

Not quite as cute as hanging on the clothes line. But really cute!

A+

[The Mayor]

I gotem! Thankyou..

[Billie]

A+

:) - well, I know you like the hind legs hanging on the clothesline, but the names and numbers of those hostesses are all wrong now. :)

[Billie]

Finest Friends, thank you all for your participation on our Christmas thread. I am going to bid you all a good night and will see you Monday as we pay tribute again to our Finest Military. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. It's beginning to *not* look a lot like Christmas around here as I'm 'unwrapping' my house. I swear I didn't put that many ornaments ON the tree! :)

[dixie sass]

Merry Christmas Lucy! You sure look purty. Tell your mom to scratch your chin for me!

[dixie sass]

Lol, I love all that stuff, especially chocolate, nuts, cookies, cakes, etc...

[dixie sass]

Special good FRiends are awfully nice, even when they object to the popping.

[dixie sass]

Goodness Billie, it's only about 7:30! You must be one tuckered out little girl! I love the gif. Sweet dreams and happy ones.

[The Mayor]

G'night Billie, see ya Monday early?

I tried to remove remnants of Christmas but i've been out numbered by the rest of the family that wants to keep them up.

Have a great weekend!

[Dubya]

Thank you COBI.

[LadyX]

Just received this, that will be appreciated by every true American here, especially every Veteran, and those with loved ones or friends serving in the military.

Lord - please take special care of every man and woman in our military, wherever they are serving, and bring them safely home.
Amen.

Absolutely beautiful...

A Different "Night Before Christmas"

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
and I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A man, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Soldier, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift
away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
to the window that danced with a warm fire's light
then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"
"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,
that separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
then he sighed, "that's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own sons in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, they've sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,
I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
who stand at the front against any and all,
to insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your sons."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought and we bled
is payment enough, and with that we will trust
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

---

WE WILL REMEMBER THE PRICE OF FREEDOM, AND ALL THOSE WHO SOUGHT TO ENSURE IT ~ ~ ~

LadyX - USMC - Korean Conflict

[WVNan]

We will not forget the sacrifices that bought our freedoms.

<--click

[Victoria Delsoul]

See you Monday, dear Billie. And thanks again for this lovely thread.

[LadyX]

Good to see you, Sistah Nan. Gearing down slowly and enjoying the lull, and hope you are able to rest a little ...

Weather in the 60's looms ahead for several days - I can handle that..:))

[TexasCowboy]

Words seem so inadequate, LadyX.

Beautiful!

May God bless you for posting this, and may God bless all of those who guard our freedoms tonight in every corner of the globe and those who stood the watch before.

And may God bless those who wait with fear in their heart tempered by a pride and love like so many who have waited before.

Thank you for your service, sweet lady.

[LadyX]

Ah, Marine, you also are an important link in The Long Chain of those who were willing to give their all for America!

It matters not if you guarded pots and pans or pushed pencils or manned trenches under fire or flew bombers - every job is vital to the success of any military group.

To serve with honor is our privilege, and the source of tremendous satisfaction, as every veteran knows so well. It is not dependent upon recognition by others, but is an inner wondrous feeling, if done for a just cause rather than to wrest something belonging to others.

May Americans always have this vision and spirit and willingness to battle for the betterment of mankind.

Father God - we hold high The Torch in Your Name, and only in that will this nation find favor and survive and prosper...guide our President and leaders, Lord, to do Your will. Amen.