I received the phone call this morning at 3:34 am ET.

The following is from one of his grandchildren:

Dear Grandpa,

I know you haven’t been feeling well and you might not be able to read this by the time I get it to you. I also know times might be rough and life might not be the easiest right now. You still make it through day but day.Even though it has been a long time ago. I still remember the days you would play trucks and tractors with me when no one else would. Even the time we went camping you would play trucks in the sand on the beach with me.It must be painful to watch us as you lay there. BUT NO NEED to fret we all look at you just the same. I hate to watch you fade away like an innocent sand castle slowly falling apart. There are people that don’t understand what you are saying, but I can. The screams of anger, the helplessness you feel, the words you want to say. Don’t fret I can hear those word.All the times we had together are now memories, But our memories together, are just like diamonds. they last forever and will always be shiny and clear. The words and wisdom from you will run through my head forever. You will always be in my memory.You don’t need to worry about a thing because as I watch you lay there in that bed I think that is your sandbox and I will play with you as you did with me.

RIP

William O. Applegarth

November 18, 1932-January 12, 2009

Wenatchee, Washington

Glad to be Home

Boy am I glad to be home. A week wearing closed toe shoes destroyed my feet!

I may have grown up in the snow, ice, cold wet rain of the Pacific Northwest, but we chose to retire from the military someplace warm. Someplace where I can swim in my pool 10 months our of the year.

I didn't see the sun for 5 days!!!! I wore a sweater over a sweater!!!

It was important that I go visit Washington State. My father is dying from Congestive Heart Failure and Parkinson's Disease and a host of other complications that accompany these diseases. As I mentioned in that post, I didn't think I would see him alive again.

Then my darling sister presented me with a new niece!! Beautiful little girl born October 13. So at trip to the great wet North was in order. To see the little girl and to visit with my father. (pictures of baby shower will be coming soon). We had over 50 people there and this baby shower did not end until after 9 pm!! (yes, we do party a bit)

While I was there, this little miracle was born, 6 weeks early in Ohio.

Meet GK #3 (grandkid #3). All is well, even if she was a little early. 5 lbs, 1 oz, 18 inches.

Tis the Season...Almost

Recently, Sugar Queen Dreams talked about how much she loves Christmas.

With my father's health deteriorating so quickly, I started thinking about different parts of my childhood. And you know the one time of the year that has the most memories? Christmas!

Growing up, we did not have a lot of money. Like most families we struggled at times. As a child, I never realized it. I had a lot of love, respect and caring in my family. I had the best parents in the world. They never went anywhere their children could not go.

Christmas was even better. We always had a wonderful gift under the tree on Christmas morning from Santa Claus. Always in "Santa" paper, direct from the North Pole!

We lived in a small town in the center of Washington State. We would travel to Seattle sometime before Christmas to visit with my grandparents and visit Santa Claus in the Space Needle. Santa always knew my name and my sister's name. He always asked us about either our teacher (by name) our dog (by name), sometimes even fights we had gotten in sometime during the year with our cousins or neighborhood kids. Santa really did "know when we were naughty or nice"

In our small town, we would also visit Santa at the local shopping center. Again, he knew us by name, he knew different things about my parents jobs, he knew about camping trips.

Santa Claus would call my sister and I during the summer and on our birthdays. Or whenever anything major occurred in our lives. Like when my father was laid up with a broken leg and out of work for 3 months. Santa Claus called just to see how we were doing.

Let's not forget the Christmas Eve get togethers that were held at our house with all the cousins. Santa would stop by to visit us special, before he left for his trip around the world!

When other kids would tell me there was no such thing as Santa, I would simply tell them they were wrong.

In Seattle the Santa Claus was my father's uncle.

1966

1968

In my hometown, Santa worked with my mother. He is also the Santa that would stop by the house after he was finished at the shopping center on Christmas Eve.

1972

Those are my favorite memories of childhood and Christmas.

What are yours?

Don't Have Much Today

I am afraid I don't have much for you all today.

My father is back in the hospital with pneumonia.

They want to put in a breathing tube and he is refusing it.

He thinks the breathing tube is life support.

Men!

Soldier in Need--NOT

WTF I got this in my email today. I don't give a flying Fuck what you think about us being over in Iraq. But our American soldiers would never accept this!

This shit has gone beyond emails...people are buying into it..PLEASE STOP IT.


DEAR SIR/ MA'AM,

HOW ARE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? HOPE ALL IS WELL.

MY NAME IS SGT FIRST CLASS DAVID VAN ESS I AM AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, SERVING IN THE MILITARY WITH THE ARMY'S 3RD ID. WITH A VERY DESPERATE NEED FOR ASSISTANCE, I HAVE SUMMED UP COURAGE TO CONTACT YOU.

I FOUND YOUR CONTACT PARTICULARS IN AN ADDRESS JOURNAL. I AM SEEKING YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE TO MOVE THE SUM OF ($8 MILLION U.S.DOLLARS)EIGHT MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS TO YOU IN UNITED STATES,

AS FAR AS I CAN BE ASSURED THAT MY SHARE WILL BE SAFE IN YOUR CARE UNTIL I COMPLETE MY SERVICE HERE

There is a lot more...I am not even going to honor this shithead or the asswipe that started this shit. I am the spouse of a retired military person..niece of a Pearl Harbor attack survivor...daughter of a Korean War Veteran (yeah, it was a war..people died...atrocities occurred...don't get me started, it was still a war), cousin of a Vietnam War Veteran, and I am the cousin, friend, aunt, of our current war participants (Iraq and Afghanistan). I have a lot of family and friends serving all over the damn place.

I can handle the "I am a the second son of the third wife" or "wife of the son of the deposed rightful ruler" asking to rescue the millions...

But when you bring our military into this scam.

When you use the blood of our children to try and make money..scam people..use guilt and American pride..

I will do all in my power to nail you to the whatever piece of shit wood you belive in. Go to Hell.

I know people who have the phone number of Satan and they are not afraid to use it!!!

Acrobatic Acts of My Father

A couple of months ago, I posted about my father and his ability to sleep through being tossed out of his chair.

Well, from what I understand, it has happened 2 more times, within a 2 week time frame.

Now, my father is a very sound sleeper. I can remember when my mother would ask either myself or my sister to help wake him up for work in the mornings.

He had to be at work at 7:00 am, so we would start out at 6:00 am going into the bedroom and saying "daddy, time to get up" (in our highest pitched, little girl voices). Now, you did not walk up to the side of the bed to do that, nor did you get into the bed. Dad tended to become startled when he is asleep, so you might have to dash out of the way of a swinging are. No, you stood at the foot of the bed.

After 15 or 20 minutes, he would get up, eat the full breakfast my mother had fixed and go to work. Then mom would get us up and moving and off to school and she then went to work.

This routine, every morning and now that he is retired, he can't stay in his chair?? Pfftt..

I think we need to get him this:

Buick Electra

Monday I wrote about my beautiful car, 1962 Buick Electra 225 Convertible. Love that baby.

I grew up in a town in Central Washington State. It is well known for being the Apple Capitol of the World. In fact, we buy their apples here in our grocery stores in Florida and I bet most of you do in your local stores. It was a small town. Population 5,000 when I was a child/teenager.
(it has grown considerably since, due to housing prices in California for one thing).

My father was born and raised in that town. As were his 5 brothers and sisters. His father was born and raised in that town. As were his 7 brothers and sisters. Most of everyone still lived there. I had lots of cousins around all the time. They were hell raisers as kids/teenagers/young adults. Hated by local law enforcement. So all the offspring were also hated by default (or so we were told by our parents), even though we never had any run ins with local law enforcement. *cough cough*

When my father turned over the car keys, he told me..."this is the only car like it in town".."people will come up to you and ask you to sell it..." He was right, people did come up to me and want to know if it was for sale.

Remember, I said in the earlier post that the car had been owned by my father's cousin, prior to him buying. So the car was well known as belonging to the family.

I should have been paying attention when dad said "it is the only car like it in town.." Remember me saying my father was born and raised in that town. Remember me saying that local law enforcement hated my father's generation.

My father was a mind reader. He could project himself and see what I was doing at all times. I would come home from wherever and he would report to me everything I had done, everywhere I had been, who I was with, who was in the car with me. If he wasn't waiting up for me when I got home, he would provide all the information in the morning.

It took me about a year to realize what was happening. "it is the only car like it in town" My father and his family have been in this town for 999,999,999,999 years....DUH!!!

Yup, everywhere I went someone, somewhere would either call my father, or tell him at work the next day. Law Enforcement would even stop by the plant where he worked and tell him if I was "cruising the ave" too much. Or being out of control while cruising. They never pulled me over, they just told my dad. (I wish they had pulled me over).

And those trying to buy the car...yeah spies for my father...

I love my dad!!!