Friends « Life Signatures

Strong Men

May 11, 2009 at 5:29 am (Friends, Signatures)

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Mr. Paul is a favorite of our family. I love that he treats the boy like a son every time he sees him.

I’m celebrating men this week. The good, the bad and the ugly. Or at least for today and tomorrow.

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When I say “Strong men”, I don’t mean physically strong. I work at a gym, I see muscles all the time. The muscle that makes men strong in my eyes is the heart muscle. There’s a lot of celebration of strong women. And hey, I’m all for that. After all, I’m a woman.

I don’t think there’s enough celebration of strong men, the spiritually strong men. The kind of men that mentors children, that sets examples of leadership and strength, mixed with kindness and vulnerability. The kind of men that open doors for women and fight for our country. The kind who aren’t ashamed to be the bread winners and protectors of their families.

Where are these men? I’m married to one. Mr. Paul is one. And I hope that the boy will someday be that kind of man.

1 Comment

A Change In Guard

May 6, 2009 at 7:03 am (Friends, Photography, Signatures)
Tags: Photography

This young man is running for County Commissioner. He is bright, passionate, and hard-working. He’s in the opposite party. I may consider voting for him anyway. I love to see new blood in government. A re-energizing of our community.

And I like him.

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This is his politician, “Let me pinch your babies’ cheeks.” look.

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He calls this pose “Infrastructure”. I think it fits.

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I know him as the boy’s guitar teacher, the gentleman who calls me ma’am, and the hard-working business owner.

Infrastructure.

I’m so honored and thrilled to have been asked to photograph him.

4 Comments

Wordless Wednesday, The Bunco Bed

May 6, 2009 at 5:00 am (Friends, Signatures)

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9 Comments

Happy Birthday Tim & Gavin

April 25, 2009 at 7:40 pm (Friends, Signatures)

These are two very important men in my life. Happy birthday guys.

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You give your time, your energy, your intellect and you give it freely and joyfully. Why are they dressed up like Hans Solo and Obi One Kanobe? They’re the good guys.

But then again, I’m not a nerd so I hope I have the characters right. I don’t have Captain Kirk on my wall, unlike someone I know.

8 Comments

Kiji Update 2

April 10, 2009 at 6:08 am (Friends, Signatures)

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Isn’t this sad? We really try to treat our guests better than this.

I should clean this window.

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Well as it turns out…Kiji finished hers in two minutes.

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And gets the prime spot on the couch while the dog gets the floor.

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And Big Daddy hasn’t been able to sit on his chair for about a week.

I hope Neighbor Suzanne is having a good time in Disney for spring break. We’ll try to treat Kiji better next time.

6 Comments

Cherry Blossoms And Teenagers

April 9, 2009 at 5:00 am (Family, Friends, Holidays, Signatures, travel)

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Cherry blossom time in DC is one of the most gorgeous times of year here. It brings people from all over the world to sit and have an intimate picnic lunch with their family and three million of their closest friends.

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It is also the start of spring break - and the girl and Christine; they had plans. Big plans – sleep overs, shopping, manicures…

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But Miss Shannon wanted to go see the cherry blossoms and so did I. This is the most flattering picture I had of myself, the wind was brutal that day. Miss Shannon on the other hand looked cool and beautiful.

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It started out innocently enough, after the cherry blossoms we were going to shop! At least that was the promised plan. So the girls relented to my pleas and agreed to go with Miss Shannon and me downtown.

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I think they sort of had fun. But the mall was calling…yes the mall…

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But first, the Jefferson Memorial. It was a wind tunnel there. I didn’t notice this guy was staring until I edited this photo. Back off buster.

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Miss Shannon and I wanted to take a bus tour around Hains Island because we hadn’t seen it before. It’s getting late and the girls thought we were taking the bus to go back to the metro stop. When they found out we weren’t, the girls started to protest and editorialize.

“Why are we looking at more flowers?”
“It’s getting late, we won’t have time to shop.”
“What was the point of that?”

This little puppy loved the bus tour.

I then decided that if there was to be any peace, we would have to ditch Miss Shannon somewhere in downtown DC because she wanted to see more flowers. And we wanted to shop.

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We were weaving through hundreds of people. I said “Look at that cute bus girls!”

Uh huh.

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“Look! The Bureau of Printing and Engraving!”

Uh huh.

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“The Smithsonian! How beautiful!”

Not even an acknowledgment from the girls. They were on a mission to find the metro stop.

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When we got the metro stop, we see this…a thousand people trying to get into the metro…yikes. I turned to the girls and said, “Hang on. Stay with me.” I wanted to sound confident and competent because they can smell fear. I then proceeded to cut in front of 1000 people. The girls were small and fast. And they wanted their manicures. We got through the metro and to our final stop in twenty minutes.

I think those people are still standing in line.

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Whew.

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And we finally got our manicures.

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And after a new pair of shoes, a couple of shirts, and some bracelets later…our fondue. So glad to oblige.

Too bad the boy was in Texas last weekend. I know he would have loved to look at the cherry blossoms with Miss Shannon and me.

Remembering Cools

April 7, 2009 at 5:00 am (Friends, Musings)

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The husband and the boy were telling me all about their trip to Texas last night. They had gone to a gathering of the husband’s old squadron mates to pay respects to Dave Cooley, also known as Cools, who died two weeks ago in an F-22 crash.

The husband re-connected with old friends and recalled the old days. The boy made new friends and learned a few things about his dad that he didn’t know before.

I saw this picture of Cools and I thought, wow, he’s so handsome. The best that America has to offer. He was a test pilot for Lockheed Martin who makes the F-22. He continued to follow his heart’s desire, to fly, even after leaving the Air Force. Those who fly can relate to this passion.

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The boy played photographer last weekend. Here’s some more of the best that America has to offer. Most of them fly for one airline or another. They are a bunch of great looking guys aren’t they? Especially the one in the front row on the right.

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Slightly different 23 years ago…

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Three of these guys were there in spirit.

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There was an empty chair where Cools would have been. They reserved it for him, as if he would partake in the dinner.

Life is hard, especially for Cool’s widow but he died doing what he loved. I want to die this way, knowing that I was doing what God had planned for my life and knowing Him in life means knowing Him in death.

Peace to you Cools. Rest in peace.

Update: To see Cools and others in a toga, click here.

Best to all,
Puna

3 Comments

A Lifetime To Remember

April 6, 2009 at 5:00 am (Friends, Musings, Signatures)

Almost two weeks ago, an F-22 fighter jet crashed in California, killing the pilot. The pilot’s name was Dave Cooley, someone’s husband, someone’s father, someone’s son and a friend of the husband’s.

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Long ago, they were stationed together in England, flying the F-111.

After the news of the crash, the husband and I went through old pictures and found several of Dave from over 25 years ago.

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I’m sure he would have loved to have lived long enough to see this one of himself in a toga. I wonder if the husband ever showed it to him.

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I don’t know what the occasion was but it was pre-Puna so I’m not all that concerned. And I’m sure it hurt the next morning which would have served them right.

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Unless you have lived it, the camaraderie in a fighter squadron is one that is inexplicable. Young men who rely on each other for friendship and for their lives.

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They work hard…

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And they play hard…I’m never jealous of it. As as matter of fact, I’m awed by it. They are bound together in a way that most of us will never understand.

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This is one of the saddest pictures I’ve ever seen. Because the story is this: of the six rugged young men shown here, only three are alive. Two died in F-111 crashes and the third, Dave Cooley, died two weeks ago in an F-22 crash.

The husband and the boy are coming home today after spending the weekend in Texas with several old squadron mates of the husband’s gathered together to pay their respects to Dave.

I can’t wait until they get home.

Thanks to Gayle over at Planet M Files for letting me share my memories on her blog each Monday.

Update: To see pictures of the gathering to remember Cools in Texas, click here.

Best to all,
Puna

25 Comments

Remember The Time…?

April 1, 2009 at 10:00 pm (Friends)

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Don’t ask…

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We spent most of our time in our hotel rooms catching up.

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The prom queen’s brother went out with…

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the artist for four years. I said “Really?” How come I don’t remember?

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The party all weekend was mostly confined to our rooms.

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After all, we were in Harrisburg.

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Not a lot to do in Harrisburg in March.

And then we compared engagement stories. Boy, there’s a lot I didn’t know.

Meet The Girls

March 30, 2009 at 10:00 pm (Friends)

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It was so great to see old friends again, some of which I had not seen for a few years. Whenever we get together, I think about the old days and the passing of time. And I almost always think “I’m so fat.”

Here we were last weekend,

The pretty popular one,
The prom queen,
The brain,
The artistic one,
The athletic one,
And the fat one.

I’ll let you figure out who is who.

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