During the time of the funeral for Jared Southworth that was killed in action, our streets were lined with american flags. Blocks after blocks of flags, which we thought were put there by some group like the VFW. In our last weeks newspaper, there was an article about the flags and that one man was responsible for all of it and he didn't even live here close. He is from Little York, Il, and he does that for all fallen soldiers that he can. He asks permission to do this and if he is allowed, he pays for all his expenses himself and stays in a motel close by. It takes him about 8 hours to set up these flags if local people don't help out.
As I was writing him a thank you letter yesterday- he called me. Me. He had read a poem that I had written and the newspaper here in town had used it last week. He liked the poem and was calling me to ask my permission to use it. He wants to put it on plaques and hand them out to the children of fallen soldiers as he continues his flag mission. To me, its an honor that this man who does all this for the families wanted to use my poem, and I told him he could do whatever he wanted with it.

My Daddy Is A Hero

My daddy is a Hero, he fought in the war.
He‘s with the angels above now, you just can’t see him anymore.

My daddy is a Hero, he decided to make a stand,
He used to write me letters to help me understand.

My daddy is a Hero, he believed in peace and liberty,
Mommy says he’s the kind of person she wants me to grow up to be.

My daddy is a Hero, and even though I’m just a kid,
I’m so very proud of him and everything he did.

My daddy is a Hero, but we’ll never be apart,
He’s not gone forever, he lives inside my heart.

Teresa Stairs-Dennis 19Feb2009

Here it is all put together. It took awhile and had many parts and screws, but we got it done. It came together and we created a nice work area with shelving to the right to hold all my genealogy notebooks and research plus all the scrapbooking items. The printer sits to the left and everything is within arms reach. We really like it.

Ruth went to doctor this afternoon and she has bronchitis. Hopefully she will be back to normal by next week.

A boy from here in Oakland had the same thing and he passed away from pnuemonia either last night or early this morning. A lot of the kids have been sick with this flu bug. The boy was a junior and played sports. You just never know.

Well, we got a lot done over the weekend and I am so sore I can hardly move now. Still more sorting and pitching to go, but it is a start.
Got a call from my sister in law today- they made a major move from Virginia to South Carolina in the past month and they survived.
Craig got better and headed back to school and Ruthie finally got back to it today, too.
The weather is so cold now but no snow on the ground. It we can wait 2 more days it will be 60 out again. And we wonder why we are all getting sick around here.
There is nothing on tv tonight so I'm off for my shower and maybe even an early bedtime. Night, Johnboy.

The day started out with Craig throwing up and not going to work. But Steve got the faucet on just fine and even made a trip to the lumber yard for parts and fixed the drain, too. Looks great. Then he made a trip to pick up the desk, brought it home and Steve, Ruth and I got it together while Craig lounged on the couch. Looks great and we would be all done except I wanted to rearrange the kitchen and move everything around. The big pieces are in place, but will take me most of next week to do all the tweeking and pitching. Pics when I get done!

Some days are better than others and this is one of the others. The car is in the shop getting brakes fixed, and tires on the back end- just put 2 new ones on the front.

Steve heads off for work this morning and dropped the front end of the muffler down, so he came back home. I called work for him as he headed back out the door to access the damage and they offered to come and get him. So, he did get to work.

So................now the shop has both the car and the van and all I have left is a bicycle sitting out here and a couple pair of ice skates.

Went to bed with thunderstorms last night and woke up to snow.

The desk came in but can't go get it until they get the van fixed.

Craig starts working at the greenhouse Saturday, and he just might need a pair of the ice skates to get there.

I am so grateful for guardian angels. Its hard telling what would have happened this morning without them!