A Few Of FR's Finest....Every Day....05-10, 05-11-03.....Week In Review

Billie and dansangel

[dansangel]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

<

TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog.
MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son.
BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon.
BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband
poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son;
BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset);
WVNan's husband; ladtx Aunt Eva.

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

         

GROUP 5A: TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett. MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick, Leroy S Mort, Mark17. BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

GROUP 7A: TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam, dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony.BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang.

GROUP 8A: TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx. MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law. BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

                     

To Our FReeper FRiends:   We hope you've been having as much fun as we have with our spotlight on various FReepers. We thought we'd kick back on the weekends and simply review those who've been featured during the week. If you missed seeing them and want to say hello to them now, feel free to click on the link to that particular thread. If you'd like to drop in and out of this thread today and tomorrow, please feel free to do that also. One of us will always be around to see the welcome mat is still out, and maybe even put fresh flowers on the table. :)

"Getting to Know You"

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

05-05-03 Cinco De Mayo
.......................................A "Billie Celebration"

05-06-03 A Lesson In Chinese
..........................................Exit148

05-07-03 Never Forget
......................................ALOHA RONNIE

05-08-03 What's So Incredulous About This
.........................JOHN HUANG2 ESSAY

05-09-03 Don't Worry, Your Dogs Are Doing Great
................. Billie

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

God Bless Our Military

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Daisyscarlett; Dansangel; Dutchess; Mama_Bear; and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~

We ask Lord, that You guide the leaders of our great country in their hour of decision. The burden that has been placed on their shoulders is overwhelming. We ask that with Your infinite wisdom You guide them gently to the right decisions.

Please give us the strength, Lord, to get through each difficult and devastating day that faces each of us and our country. Protect and guide our Military that are now being called to duty, strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OhioWfan........................son mystery-ak..........son, husband Gogrammy................grandson Inspectorette...................son Blessed American..........nephew Slip18..........................nephew anniegetyourgun...........nephew Pippin....niece,nephew,loved one Doug from Upland......son-in-law weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater..........cousin WaterDragon..son-in-law,grandson BeforeISleep...................son Warrior Nurse...........active duty SK1 Thurman...........active duty David Osborne.........active duty fc2tomschermuly......active duty bkwells..................active duty LadyX....................grandson LongCut..................active duty Trish.......................active duty The Mayor................niece

Maigrey................cousin ladtx....................2 sons Mama_Bear...........nephew gator girl............husband severa................husband MozartLover...........nephew LBGA........................son SpookBrat...........nephew Himyar.....................son boxerblues............2 sons the piper...................son sheeza...............husband kemathen7...........husband Diver Dave................niece deadhead................cousin JimRobinson.....2 nephews Armymarinemom.....3 sons Consort...........2 daughters Darheel..................niece dixie sass.............nephew BeAllYouCanBe.........son AgThorn.............2 sons kneezles...........son

[dixie sass]

Morning everyone, I hear the traditional sounds of springtime Saturdays - Lawnmowers - and smell the scent of fresh cut grass!

[LadyX]

What a wonderful and loving essay, Luis-in-my-native-Florida..:))

Please come here more often, your words always such a delightful treat for us.....

[JustAmy]

"And, I think it was JustAmy's BD too"

Hey ....... no way am I having two birthdays a year!!!
LadyX had a birthday last week.

LadyX ...... she's giving away your birthday!! Is she related to Meekie?

[nicmarlo]

LadyX had a birthday last week. LadyX ...... she's giving away your birthday!! Is she related to Meekie?

No. Meekie steals people and things....I just give them away, lol.

Okay, so it was LadyX's BD....I was very close! : )

[nicmarlo]

The "devil" made me do it!

Yeah, right! : )

[LadyX]

Meekie, you and I share not having our mothers physically present to honor. This is related for all those in this category - - -

* When Mom Is An Angel *

Some of you already know the last time I saw my mother was when she and Daddy placed my two little boys (then 6 & 7) and me (27) on a plane to join my husband in South Dakota.

We managed to get to Atlanta; a two-day shutdown blizzard in Chicago lifted so I could get through there, although we missed our connection out of St. Paul-Minneapolis. Waited all day in the airport there for a flight at 4 p.m. to Rapid City, landing on a snowy Christmas Eve.

The next year was idyllic, roaming the beautiful Rocky Mountains; eventful, with the birth of our daughter September 30th; and dramatic as two weeks later the Cuban Missile Crisis dominated our Strategic Air Command life.

Ha! That was just a prelude for orders to go to Fairbanks, Alaska, departing the day after Christmas to go through Canada and the Alaska Highway to our destination.

There of course was no way to get to Florida to visit and then to the top of the world, but my mother and I wrote often until January of 1964 when she was stricken with an aneurysm, resulting in her being paralyzed, blind and unable to speak.

She passed away on my second son's tenth birthday in July of 1965 when I was 31, and I'd never gotten to hear her voice again.
She never saw my daughter.

Fast Forward through Gypsy Woman's Life to 1972 when we were out of the service and back in Florida.
Moving so often and renting mostly, I never hung photographs on walls, hauling boxes of them around. Jennifer was then 10, and thus, I realized, hadn't seen pictures of my parents.

One day, going through a box, I showed her some.
The moment I held up my mother's picture, she exclaimed, "But Mom! That's the lady who came to me last night when I was crying about Striker!!"

We had had to find a home for our beloved dog (Collie-Cocker Spaniel mix acquired when she was one), when we left the service in 1969.

She related when she was going to sleep, she was thinking of him amd crying, and suddenly "The Lady" appeared at the foot of her bed and comforted her!

She was adamant that the lady in the picture was the one who had been there and comforted her.
I add that she never had been a fanciful child with imaginary playmates - was a grounded military brat in her early years who rolled with the punches.

Thus am I sure Mom prompted me to get out the pictures to have 'confirmation' of what happened - and am certain of her continued presence, joined a few years later by my Dad.

I can tell you, too, living in this small South Carolina town where my grandfather and grandmother (her parents) lived in the 1920's - he the minister of a church right off the Center Circle by the County Courthouse - I can often 'feel' the prayers they offered here for their children and grandchildren!!

We are surrounded by the love of those gone ahead - - - and in giving love and kindness to others, honor their memories, and love grows - - -

Giving thanks from a grateful heart,

LadyX

Please give your living mothers a hug for me...

[LadyX]

Hi, sass - may I offer you a glass of lemonade to go with this Saturday in Spring?..:))

[LadyX]

"LadyX ...... she's giving away your birthday!! Is she related to Meekie?"

Dunno, but Meekie - my Dad's birthday was the 16th, as was my husband's mother's. Made it easy to remember.

Mine was the 7th, and every year I get Mother's Day, too, the same week!

[Luis Gonzalez]

You just gave me chills, and blurred my vision.

Thank you so much for sharing.

[jwfiv]

Hey, Doll...)...found this screen cap of a dream I had once long ago.

Thanks for your thought re: Mother's Day.

[nicmarlo]

My mother is also not here to honor, having passed away long ago, at the age of 41. Of course, I often think of her, but last Mother's Day, for whatever reason, her absence hit me especially hard. Thanks for sharing "When Mom is an Angel," LadyX.

[LadyX]

Thank you - - -

I was so blessed to have her as long as I did. For those of you who still have yours, do spend time plumbing the depths of yours - ask about their memories and experiences, for when they are gone, you cannot.

For example, thinking there were years ahead, knew she had taught school after college, but never asked the name of the town! Never asked where my grandmother taught school in the three years before she married my grandfather!

I now live in South Carolina, and would love to go where they had been The Teacher.....

All those stories with gaps - all the things they might like to revisit with you, were you to ask - and you'd have more stories to pass to your children and grandchildren - - lost - - ASK her now to relate them.

Better yet, video tape or at least voice record them.

[LadyX]

Hey, Guy...:))

Love the dreamy landscape....and offer this one for you, Johnny Mac...

[MeekOneGOP]

LadyX ...... she's giving away your birthday!! Is she related to Meekie?

Re #23-24: LOL !

[MeekOneGOP]

Please give your living mothers a hug for me...

Likewise, here.

Wow. What an awesome story about your daughter and your Mother. Thanks for sharing that.

[Aeronaut]

Thank you for sharing your story Lady. I too look forward to seing my mom again "on the other side." She left us in 1976 at age 60.

[GailA]

[MeekOneGOP]

My folks would have celebrated their 50th anniversary had Mom lived for another ~3.5 months. They had looked forward to that since their 25th. I got them a silver platter that I had engraved for that one. I still remember around the time of their 25th Mom wondering what I was going to get them for their 50th, lol!

[JustAmy]

Thanks for sharing your Mother's Day memories with us.
This is the first Mother's Day without my Mother. She died last year 2 days before her 89th birthday. So many things have been reminding me of her lately.



Happy Mother's Day, Mother. We miss you, I'll never forget our trip to Texas and Oklahoma.

[dutchess]

I'm sure that tomorrow will be bittersweet Amy. Thanks for posting the picture of your mother.