The assurance of things hoped for...

Today I was reminded that all parents, at one time or another, struggle w/ a common theme: Is what I'm doing for my children making an impact? Is what I do for them going to benefit them in the long run? Have I made the right choices for them, for our family? Never are these struggles any more piercing than when our child (or we ourselves) are in some kind of crisis. We question ourselves & second guess every move made (or at least I do).

But even in the day to day, these parent-struggles can plague our lives, sucking the joy out of our ordinary. Because after all, life is lived & true joy is found in the ordinary. Our lives are not meant to be Disney all the time. We human beings are not built for that. We can't take it - would that we could ask Michael Jackson; he'd likely agree. God rest his poor, tortured soul.

No, life is to be savored in the plain-old. That's the biggest thing I've had to learn (& the thing our society values least) from being a stay @ home mom. I've also learned that maybe it's wise to rest knowing that if we've made clear conscience decisions with all the wisdom we can muster, & given the rest to God, all will be well, eventually.

Several years ago I chose to give up my career to be that SAHM. Mind you, I'm a Master's Level educated, fully licensed professional (my ego still requires I tell you that), so this was not an easy decision: am I doing the right thing for my children? for myself? What about my education? What about our family's best interests? I've second-guessed it several times, especially when the challenges of rearing 3 very active, bright, busy children, & 'building' our home were a bit too much to carry. When we were still such a young family, shortly after the big decision, I was privileged to catch a glimpse of the Big Picture. I'll share it with you:

7-30-03 "Big boy is @ my parents. Husband, little boy & baby are all asleep upstairs. The house is quiet. It's early, but not that early. That's just it. It's not all that early, & yet I can come down in my PJ's, leave my babies sleeping comfortably in their beds. No rush to get out the door; no urgency to meet a schedule which is unnatural to our family's rhythm. Just a quiet, restful family rhythm. I love days like this.

It has been raining, which is why they're sleeping a little later than usual. ...And so it begins - Husband asks for slacks to be ironed. He has a schedule - and I help him, of course. But no such schedule imposed on my little sleepy heads. They'll have a lifetime of schedules that the world will impose, and they can choose which ones they'll abide. But not now, not as babies, not when the world is so new, not when it's my job to let them just be who they are, & grow into who they're supposed to be.

There will be times when I'll spend money more freely, move about more freely doing my own thing. But that's not these days. These days are for them; and me. These days are to be sure they're solid, secure, healthy & balanced. These days are for babies snuggled in their beds, still sleeping at 7:30 on a rainy weekday morning. I love days like this."

...because, there is a Big Picture, friends. And what JOY is found there - in the ordinary-ness of it, the plain-oldness of it! We forget so easily that JOY, because we so seldom are out from ourselves long enough to catch those glimpses.

Many times since that piece was written, I questioned - again - my decisions. I believe that's normal. And I also believe that's where faith comes in.

Faith: the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith: a gift from God, not of ourselves. Not sure we have enough? Pray. Ask for more. And let's be assured that the things (& people) who hold our hopes are in the hands of the One who holds us all.

~~~

Ann Coulter: Dr. George Tiller & the 'Culture of Death'

So. How's this for reframing the context of murder?

Memo to Pro-Abortion Liberals: Sometimes a DOSE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE is painful, but really - it is for your own good.

(minute 3:28-4:15, 4:40 to end)


Go get 'em, Annie...

~~~

In Which Soraya M Awakens Me.

Why am I so bothered by President Obama’s non-reaction to Iran’s election turmoil?

One might say, “Leave it alone. It’s not our business.” Some have said, “Who are we to tell them how to run their own government business?” There’s a point to that, when a people are fully engaged in electing their own leaders, when their voices are expressed freely & heard easily by the world. Even our President said so, in his statement about Iran’s election, “When I see violence directed @ peaceful protesters, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is of concern to me & it is of concern to the Am. People…”

So what’s worrying the tucked-away-place in the back of my brain? Not two breaths before the above he’d said, “…I have deep concerns about the election, & I think that the world has deep concerns about the election. You’ve seen in Iran some initial reaction from the Supreme Leader that indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election.” How can one man use so many words, trying to act like he’s saying so much, only to say so painfully little?

Maybe my disquiet relates to how the “Supreme Leader” of this 'peaceful religion' treats the most defenseless of his own people. Maybe it’s something about my country’s President referring to a theocratic despot as “the Supreme Leader”, as if he must approach said lofty potentate with reverence, or suffer some secret consequence. Maybe it’s that despite Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “firm line against any threats to the regime, warning Iranians to unite behind the country's Islamic system (as authorities imposed severe restrictions on independent media),” that these oppressed & desperate people began to get their voices heard.

Does cutting off internet access, cell phone connections, & information access to foreign & domestic Iranian media not qualify to our President as “peaceful dissent being suppressed”?

I don’t believe Mr. Obama is really as stupid as these statements make him seem. And this is partly why I’m bothered, because he isn’t stupid. His final statement on the matter, “It’s not productive, given the history of US/Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling – the US Pres – meddling in Iranian elections…” sent me on important errands of research. It begged my question, “Why not? Why shouldn’t the strong & powerful stand up for the voice of the oppressed?" (Shouldn’t the Community Organizer schtick come in handy here?) These questions sneaked to the back of my brain & settled themselves quietly under my consciousness…

Until this morning, when I read Andrew Klavan’s “Iran and the Tragedy of Bad Ideas”. Mr. Klavan was wrestling with some of the same thoughts I was, from the angle of “The Stoning of Soraya M” a true story of an Iranian woman falsely accused, convicted & stoned to death for adultery that she did not commit.

There is SOMETHING DESPERATELY WRONG with a society that throws its accused -- helpless, defenseless & stripped of her humanity -- into the blood-thirsty, drooling, yawning jaws of Theocratic Tyranny. There is something desperately wrong with that. The people who fall victim to it must be given voice. Who better than the American President to give them stamina?

Mr. Klavan describes the tragedy of Obama’s weakness this way:
“Tragedies of bad ideas are the most common, pervasive and destructive man-made mass disasters. Yet our thinking class has become powerless to oppose them or even recognize them for what they are….too many of our intellectuals are themselves ensnared in a bad idea: the notion that no system or government is inherently better than any other... Thus there are no enduring human truths…

This bad idea has all but silenced our nation at a moment when the world most needs our voice. Thousands of people in Iran are marching in the streets, protesting a sham election, heroically risking life and limb to try to tear some little breathing space in the smothering shroud of theocracy. Yet President Barack Obama, the leader of the most powerful free nation on earth, responds with mealy-mouthed strategic dithering. ..There comes a time in the affairs of men when bad ideas can be -- and therefore must be -- powerfully opposed by good ones.

Compare, if you can bear it, President Ronald Reagan's response to the 1982 crackdown on the Polish union Solidarity by the Soviet Union: "The struggle in the world today for the hearts and minds of mankind is based on one simple question: Is man born to be free, or slave? In country after country, people have long known the answer to that question. We are free by divine right." In less than a decade, in startlingly large measure because this one idea found so mighty a voice, the Soviet Union was gone…”

Thus, the niggling of my consciousness awakened to new & more sinister questions, ones I really do hate to admit. (Doesn’t he get that this society, this 'peaceful religion' oppresses its people, especially its women?) This man has a wife, young daughters…

I get it. I’m a woman who has the right to speak, so I’ll voice the lingering, nagging questions about my President:

Why will he not put the full power of the American President’s voice behind those who’re fighting, literally, for free & fair elections?

Why will he not, as his predecessors have done, support freedom “wherever it takes place”?

What is he doing here?

And whose side is he on, anyway?

When a people’s freedom is squelched by the iron grip of tyranny,
the strong & powerful should stand up for the oppressed…

Would that someone had done it for Soraya M.

~~~

Favorite time in the Garden!

Day lilies: my favorite! All of these, except the last one, were given to me by my Grandmother(see #5 in I Was Tagged). I have several others - not pictured - that came from my Aunt's garden, but had originally been worked by my Grandmother's hands also. Very special plants, indeed.

"Siloam Double Classic"

"Brocaded Gown"

"Priscilla's Rainbow"

"Mabel Sharpe" created & named for my Grandmother, by one of her flower Judge friends.

"Big Apple"

"Forbidden Fantasy"

I wait for this all year! And the bloom season has just begun!

~~~

Norman M. Thomas: We were warned!

Norman Mattoon Thomas (Nov. 20, 1884 - Dec. 19, 1968)

was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential

candidate for the Socialist Party of America. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1911. He was also active in setting up the American Civil Liberties Union.

As a candidate for President of the U. S. , Norman Thomas said, in a 1944 epoch speech:

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism', they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."

He went on to say: "I no longer need to run as a Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform."

Friends, we were warned. We're now watching it happen. We MUST stop this self-fulfilling prophecy. Speak, write, email, call your elected representatives. NOW!

~~~

Contessa Brewer & John Zeigler: Smackdown

I wasn't gonna do it...But after reading & commenting on Bob's blog today, I realized it had to be done:


(Hat tip to Bluepit for the video.)

Some on the blogwaves doubt if discussions about the Letterman 'controversy' are politically honest or socially productive. I find this video entirely politically honest & unquestionably socially productive! Finally.

~~~

A Guy, A Bartender & Charles Krauthammer

Just because I’m in a mood…

You’ll see, this all ties together:

So a guy walks into a bar & asks the bartender, “What’s the difference between God & Obama?”
Bartender: “I don’t know, what?”
Guy: “God doesn’t think he’s Obama.”

And…

Charles Krauthammer is one of my journalistic heroes. This piece says everything that’s been on the tip of our tongues, but we couldn’t quite wrap words around it. Krauthammer: brilliant.

Hovering on High: Obama Surveys the World
Charles Krauthammer
Friday, June 12, 2009

WASHINGTON -- When President Obama returned from his first European trip, I observed that while over there he had been "acting the philosopher-king who hovers above the fray mediating" between America and the world. Now that Obama has returned from his "Muslim world" pilgrimage, even the left agrees. "Obama's standing above the country, above -- above the world. He's sort of God," Newsweek's Evan Thomas said to a concurring Chris Matthews, reflecting on Obama's lofty perception of himself as the great transcender.

Not that Obama considers himself divine. (He sees himself as merely messianic, or, at worst, apostolic.) But he does position himself as hovering above mere mortals, mere country, to gaze benignly upon the darkling plain beneath him where ignorant armies clash by night, blind to the common humanity that only he can see. Traveling the world, he brings the gospel of understanding and godly forbearance. We have all sinned against each other. We must now look beyond that and walk together to the sunny uplands of comity and understanding. He shall guide you. Thus:

(A) He told Iran that, on the one hand, America once helped overthrow an Iranian government, while on the other hand "Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians." (Played a role?!) We have both sinned; let us bury the past and begin anew.

(B) On religious tolerance, he gently referenced the Christians of Lebanon and Egypt, then lamented that the "divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence" (note the use of the passive voice). He then criticized (in the active voice) Western religious intolerance for regulating the wearing of the hijab -- after citing America for making it difficult for Muslims to give to charity.

(C) Obama offered Muslims a careful admonition about women's rights , noting how denying women education impoverishes a country -- balanced, of course, with "meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life."

Well, yes. On the one hand, there certainly is some American university where the women's softball team has received insufficient Title IX funds -- while, on the other hand, Saudi women showing ankle are beaten in the street, Afghan school girls have acid thrown in their faces, and Iranian women are publicly stoned to death for adultery. (Gays, as well -- but then again we have Prop 8.) We all have our shortcomings, our national foibles. Who's to judge?

That's the problem with Obama's transcultural evenhandedness. It gives the veneer of professorial sophistication to the most simple-minded observation: Of course there are rights and wrongs in all human affairs. Our species is a fallen one. But that doesn't mean that these rights and wrongs are of equal weight.

A CIA rent-a-mob in a coup 56 years ago does not balance the hostage-takings, throat-slittings, terror bombings and wanton slaughters perpetrated for 30 years by a thug regime in Teheran (and its surrogates) that our own State Department calls the world's "most active state sponsor of terrorism."

True, France prohibits the wearing of the hijab in certain public places, in part to allow the force of law to protect Muslim women who might be coerced into wearing it by neighborhood fundamentalist gangs. But it borders on the obscene to compare this mild preference for secularization (seen in Muslim Turkey as well) to the violence that has been visited upon Copts, Maronites, Baha'i, Druze and other minorities in Muslim lands, and to the unspeakable cruelties perpetrated by Shiites and Sunnis upon each other.

Even on freedom of religion, Obama could not resist the compulsion to find fault with his own country: "For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation" -- disgracefully giving the impression to a foreign audience not versed in our laws that there is active discrimination against Muslims, when the only restriction, applied to all donors regardless of religion, is on funding charities that serve as fronts for terror.

Hallelujah! THIS is what I was talking about, in part, when I made my case (comments) that Obama was incredibly manipulative, injecting racism into his speech, using it against his own country. I can hear angels singing!

Obama undoubtedly thinks he is demonstrating historical magnanimity with all these moral equivalencies and self-flagellating apologetics. On the contrary. He's showing cheap condescension, an unseemly hunger for applause and a willingness to distort history for political effect.

Distorting history is not truth-telling, but the telling of soft lies. Creating false equivalencies is not moral leadership, but moral abdication. And hovering above it all, above country and history, is a sign not of transcendence but of a disturbing ambivalence toward one's own country.

Brilliant.

Meanwhile, back @ the bar:
Bartender: "Nah, Obama's not God. He just plays one on TV..."

~~~

Miranda said it: The War's Over!

Congratulations everybody! No more security worries, no more hyper-vigilance. Start waving your flags; let’s have a huge ticker-tape parade!! THE WAR ON TERROR IS OVER!!!

Mr. Obama has declared it, so it must happen! What…you didn’t hear? On Wed. June 10th, Mr. Obama’s Justice Department “quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan.”

Mr. Terrorist,who just planted a roadside bomb that killed 12 soldiers, who has just planned a massive plot on American power grid systems, who just abducted an Israeli journalist & beheaded him for Al Qaeda’s next video…

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense."

What? You don’t understand? It’s not a war anymore – for us anyway. You’ll be housed, fed, clothed until your tri-lingual attorney gets his US Govt. $$ & travels to see you. You’re no longer our enemy…

What? I’m still YOUR enemy? Now, now, settle down…We like to say you were misguided into a life of crime. You’re a product of your environment, see?

No. We’re not going to extract information from you to save millions of American lives. We’re not gonna “take you out!” We’re not gonna even detain you! Don’t let what you’ve heard scare you…

Oh, you mean this? At minute 1:58 when Obama smirked @ Gov. Palin’s accusation, “Mr. Obama is less interested in protecting you from terrorists than reading them their rights.”
Ha! Ha! Joke, joke…that sure was funny…

…and then @ minute 2:58, “My position has always been clear. If you’ve got a terrorist, take ‘em out; take ‘em out. Anybody who was involved in 9-11, take ‘em out..” Just forget all that.

Oh. I know he said it again two months after his inauguration, “Now, do these folks deserve miranda rights? Do they deserve to be treated like a shoplifter down the block? Of course not.”

I know…Mr. Bush “considered counter-terrorism operations an intelligence or military issue, not a law enforcement one…But, under Obama's new ‘global justice’ plan, the goal is to ensure that all suspected terrorists can be tried in a U.S. or foreign court of law.”

Does anybody else know about this? Not yet. They sure will think it’s terrific, though. The “Obama administration has never informed Congress of the Miranda policy.”

So, just sit back & relax. No waterboarding for you, no telling us your secret hideouts.

What? You’d like to call you friends & give the signal for your next attack? I guess so…Everybody is entitled to one phone call. I’ll be right back. Want me to get you some coffee, too?

~~

Friends, Mr. Obama made a big joke of Mrs. Palin’s warning that US Miranda rights would be offered to our enemy, that his priority would be mirandizing ‘criminals’ rather than securing our nation from TERRORISTS! He scoffed, smirked & drank in the adoring crowd as he joked @ Mrs. Palin’s expense.

Now, no less than 10 months later, after scoffing at the suggestion again in February, he secretly gives the order to FBI & CIA, "Read them their rights…"

Their rights? Rights conveyed upon citizens of our country under the US Constitution? Rights to TERRORISTS, with whom we are at WAR?? Who’d rather blow us ALL up than see the sunrise again?

We were in a war for the survival of our Nation. We were in the fight for our very lives. Now it’s just another episode of CSI.

It's all such a joke, friends. This time, it seems, the joke is on us.

~~~

Sunday faith: For such a time as this.

Hi friends~

Recent events have me falling back on poetry today. My precious friend said just yesterday, "I could get so down thinking of the peril of these times & our poor children's future. But if the going gets tough, we'll go it together."

I can't tell you what it means to have her friendship in times like these. It is so very comforting to know others who share my concerns, are there to help shoulder the burden of it, & are willing to stand & fight when it's time for such.

My friend's words & a phone call w/ my sweet Lisa brought this piece to my mind. It is original; coming to me in differing drafts over the years. But please know I am not a poet. It just seems appropriate for such a time as this.

Psalter Song

Gracious Lord, you are my God.
In the midst of tumult,
You impart stillness.
In the face of staggering, pernicious testimony of evil
You are Righteousness.

When the scythe of grief rakes your children’s flesh,
You are the emollient assuaging the slashed and torn places.

Holy, merciful God, I stand in need of deliverance.
My soul craves Your liberty.

My arid spirit longs for deep and sure relief;
Your refreshment slakes my thirst.
I trudge through self-poured mire, and
Your Grace lifts.
Your mercy cleanses.
You restore your humble creation.

You are my reward, the depth and source of my joy.

You are Provider.
Redemption.
Holy, mighty God, you are consummate Authority.
You, merciful Lord, are perfect Peace.
You, oh God,
are my all and only
Hope.

~~~

Beyonce Wannabe & Obama Pandering?

From the sublime to the ridiculous. I’m just not sure which is which…




Obama's speech in Cairo: apparently it’s about pandering to Islam now.

“I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.” Here we go.

“Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalisation led many Muslims to view the west as hostile to the traditions of Islam.” Because so many of their people are living amongst the rubble of war & in caves. They will not stop warring w/ each other long enough to make progress.

“Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.” And they cut the heads off Jews & Christians. What about gender equality? Or do their women like wearing body-blankets in the dessert?

“when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, took the oath to defend our constitution using the same Holy Koran” He should have used the Bible, as is our historic tradition. Oh forgot, they want us to warm to Sharia Law under the banner of inclusion.

“Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected president.” Oops! Should he have said that? I thought nobody was allowed to even know his middle name.

“that includes nearly 7 million American Muslims in our country today…” Highly debatable.

“Iraq was a war of choice…” Dumb a$#. I'm sorry; apologizing for America's heroism --by OUR OWN PRESIDENT-- just makes me really angry.

“That is why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. That is why we will honour our agreement with Iraq's democratically elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July, and to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012.” Great. You wanna show 'em the battle plans, too?

“But we will support a secure and united Iraq as a partner, and never as a patron.” Why should we NOT seek some form of payment – we freed their country…

“For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation.” For CENTURIES? Really. Centuries? We haven’t even been a country but for 233 years.

“rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfil zakat.” So, let’s change tax laws to accommodate Muslim law – sounds like Sharia Law to me!!

“That is why the US government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab,” Again… The naive, duped Obama voter says, “Sharia Law? It’ll never happen here…” as she puts on her hijab.

Sublime to ridiculous?

You decide.

~~~

Blessed be Long-Lost friends, Grandpas & Ties that Bind.

Everybody ought to have a friend like Lisa. We met as freshman college roommates – sight unseen, & were as different as night & day. She was the “Jersey Girl” & I the “Southern Belle” (in her mind, anyway). We were foreigners: she from just outside New York City, & I from semi-rural North Carolina. Her side of our dorm room boasted posters of wide-mouthed Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, to my gently gazing Amy Grant.

Lisa knew that weekends started on Thursday & how to tap a keg. I knew the maze of stacks in the Library, like so many lab rats down in the science building. We were vastly different: our backgrounds, accents, sense of ‘style’, friends, study habits…yet, we roomed together all 4 years, & she was ultimately one of the best friends I’ve ever had.

How do you explain something like that? How do you explain that even now, after we’ve not seen each other in something like 9 years, we could pick up the phone & still understand each other? Still know where each of us is coming from?

First, God’s hand was/is in the relationship. God knew EXACTLY what kind of influences I (dare I say 'we') needed in my life, & who would be best one(s) to help me grow...

Second, there was a mutual respect in the sharing of differences. We learned, stretched, & grew through & because of each other.

Third, once we got through the multiple layers of differences, we understood that we were standing on common ground. We each cared deeply about “traditional, foundational values, virtue & spiritual things”. Underneath diverging exteriors, we both "got it". We both understood what & Who was important. (See my final comment from 5-29 post.)

A few days ago, she sent me an email. Maybe she was checking to see if we’re both still on that same common ground. Maybe she needed some encouragement, fearing that our country may be unrecognizable in the near future. Nonetheless, the following is what she sent (edited for length & clarity). It was too good not to share:

“Emails to Grandpa”
John is a 63 year old business owner whose dream of retiring @ 65 is vanishing. The stock market crash & new taxes on the horizon, have told him he’ll be working for several more years.

John’s granddaughter Ashley recently graduated college. She drives a new car, wears stylish clothes, loves restaurant hopping & texting her friends. She campaigned hard for Obama, & gloated broadly to the rest of the (Republican) family after the election. She boasted that the world would be much better now that Obama is President.

Recently, Ashley came up short of cash & her bills were due. As in the past, she e-mailed her Grandfather for help. Here is his reply:

Dear Ashley,

We love you & are sympathetic to your plight. As you know, times have changed. Because of President Obama’s stimulus plan, your Grandmother & I have been forced to a new economic plan of our own…We have always been highly productive, wage-earning, then business-owning tax payers. We’ve lived comfortably as a result of our frugality, having forgone fancy vacations, new cars, etc. We worked hard & were looking forward to retiring soon. Our plan changed.

Ashley, President Obama is drastically raising our personal & business taxes, so he can ‘share’ our money with other people. Do you know what this means? Less income; which means cutbacks on business & personal expenses. We’ve even been forced let our receptionist of 18 years go today. We can't afford her now. That’s just the business side. We’ve had to make personal changes, too. In the past, we were free to give you thousands of dollars for tuition, meals, rent, clothing, etc. With your Obama vote, you’ve chosen to support a stranger’s family with our $$ instead of ours.

Remember you told me I was foolish to vote Republican, that Mr. Obama would be the people's president, & help every American live a better life? Even though your email was to me, I suggest you call 202-456-1111 for the $$ you need now. It’s the direct number for the White House. I’m sure the People’s President will be happy to send you a check, or transfer some money. Tell him to call me for the account numbers; I know them by heart.

What Obama voters don't realize is that the "government" money he wants to 'redistribute' (to illegal aliens & non-taxpaying Americans) is collected from people like your Grandmother & me.

Remember you told me, "Only the richest of the rich will be affected"? Guess what, honey? Your Grandmother & I are the richest of the rich! We didn’t used to be, but with Mr. Obama’s formulas, we’re rich! As you know that’s not the reality we live, but didn’t you say during the campaign “some people will have to carry more of the burden so all can prosper”?

You understand what that means, right? Less money for us, for everything. Including granddaughters. Congratulations on your choice for "change"! Remember we love you. Call us soon!

Love, Grandpa.
PS: How was your trip to Jamaica? We’d love to go some day.

Rich, isn’t it? Yes, Lisa & I are both still on the same wavelength…It’s a great reminder that though we don’t talk much, our principles & priorities will always be the tie that binds. We both still “get it”.

Everyone should have a friend like Lisa. Everyone needs to be challenged, to stretch, grow, & see things in a different way. While some would consider a friend like her “long lost” in their life, I don’t. I’m still hearing fresh news from her in far off places. With people like her out there in the world, I have hope we’ll eventually be okay.

~~~