I Wish You Enough. . .

At an airport I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane's departure and standing near the door, she said to her daughter, "I love you. I wish you enough." The daughter said, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever need. I wish you enough, too." They kissed good-bye and the daughter left. The mother walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy; but, she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my mom had done for me. Recognizing that her days were limited, I took the time to tell her face to face how much she meant to me. So I knew what this woman was experiencing. "Forgive me for asking; but, why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked. "I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral," she said. "When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?" She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, she smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them," she continued and then turning toward me she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory. . . I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Good-bye". . .

I AM Wearing My Big Girl Panties. . .But They're Starting To Bunch, Ok?!

Yeah, I am a big girl.
And when I need to I can rise to any occasion. I put on my "I can do anything" face, jump in over my head, and learn to swim on the way up.

But don't be fooled.
I struggle just as much as anyone. Underneath my "can-do" facade I'm shaking in my boots, and it's really hard to get my sparkling and effervescent personality to twinkle and shine!

So if I get a little testy with you, don't take it personally. And please. . .don't tell me to put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

I am wearing 'em, but they're starting to bunch, OK?!

Why Carry A Gun?

I don't carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am overwhelmed.

I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Police protection is an oxymoron.
Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime, they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

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A LITTLE GUN HISTORY

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'. Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During WW II the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

1. According to the National Safety Council and FBI statistics, Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year -- or about 6,850 times a day. This means that each year, firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives,

2. Of the 2.5 million times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, the overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will kill or wound his/her attacker.

3. As many as 200,000 women use a gun every year to defend themselves against sexual abuse.

4. Armed citizens kill more crooks than do the police. Citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals as police do every year (1,527 to 606).


The purpose of fighting is to win.
There is no possible victory in defense.
The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either.
The final weapon is the brain.
All else is supplemental.

A Military Twas the Night before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this dwelling did live.
As I looked all around, a strange sight to see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking on the mantle, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.
Medals and badges, awards of every kind,
a sobering thought came alive in my mind.
This house was different, it was dark, it was dreary.
I had found the home of a soldier, I could see that most clearly.
The soldier lay sleeping silent, alone.Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

His face was so gentle, room in such disorder,
Not at all how I pictured a U.S. soldier.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up on a poncho, a floor for a bed?
Then I realized the other families that I saw this night
Out there lies the soldiers who are willing to fight.
In the morning around the world, children would play
Grown-ups would celebrate a bright Christmas day
But they all enjoyed freedom, each month through the year,
because of soldiers like the one lying here.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in lands far from home.
The very thought brought a tear to my eye.
and I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.
The soldier awakened, I heard his rough voice,
“Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my family.”
The soldier rolled over, and drifted to sleep.

I couldn’t control it, and I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours, so silent and still.
as both of us shivered from the cold night’s chill.
I didn’t want to leave him on that cold, dark night.
This guardian of honor, so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over with a voice soft and pure.
He whispered, “Carry on Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all secure.”
One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend,
May God bless you this night.

Without A Witness They are Forgotten

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Chris tmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am..

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

God is Busy

If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid
remarks!!!!!!

A United States Marine was attending some
college
courses between assignments. He had completed
missions
in Iraq and Afghanistan ... One of the courses
had a professor
who was an avowed atheist, and a member of the
ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when
he came in.
He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated,
GOD if you are real
then I want you to knock me off this platform.
I'll give you exactly
15 min.' The lecture room fell silent. You
could hear a pin drop.
Ten minutes went by and the professor
proclaimed, 'Here I am
GOD, I'm still waiting.'

It got down to the last couple of minutes when
the Marine got
out of his chair, went up to the professor,
and cold-cocked him;
knocking him off the platform. The professor
was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat
there, silently.

The other students were shocked and stunned,
and sat there
looking on in silence. The professor
eventually came to,
noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and
asked, 'What
in the world is the matter with you? 'Why did
you do that?'

The Marine calmly replied, 'GOD was too busy
today protecting
America 's soldiers who are protecting your
right to say stupid
stuff and act like an idiot. So He sent me.'

The classroom erupted in cheers!

That Girl (I borrowed this because I couldn't have said it better myself)

I am that girl.

I'm the girl standing behind you in line at the grocery store, eyeing the newest Support Our Troops magnet. The look on my face is complacent and my thoughts are miles away on some military base I've only been verbally described over the phone.

I'm the young woman in the next car with the windows rolled up and the glassy visage only on the road ahead. The radio is set to one of the local country stations which is currently playing "Letters From Home". But you can't hear it because you're talking to a family member or friend on your cell phone.

You catch a glance at the US ARMY sticker on the bumper of my car but you don't know when the song reaches "my dearest love it's almost dawn, I've been laying here all night long, wondering where you might be", my heart breaks a thousand times.

I'm the girl who visits the military wives web site at odd hours of the night to find some kind of comfort for that lonesome feeling that has settled in the pit of my stomach.

I'm the woman who has fought an inner battle, trying to accept the path the man I love has chosen. I'm the woman who will willingly sacrifice my family, my home to follow a man clear across the country. I'm the woman who never asked for this but deals with it without complaint.

I'm the young woman who swells with pride everytime I see my soldier standing tall in his uniform. I'm the one who spots a US Military sticker, license plate, or flag and feels a connection with its owner, hoping that maybe I'm not alone in this melancholy, sacrificial situation.

I am the young woman who tries to hide her tears whenever she recieves a call from her soldier. Knowing that no matter what the problem is that he still loves her. Whether or not shes red & blotchy. I am the young woman who holds her breath everytime she recieves an unknown call. Worried that somewhere her heart may be breaking.

I am the young woman who tries her hardest to go about my everyday life.
I am the young woman who tries to concentrate during my classes and do the job I get paid to do.
I am the young woman who hates sleeping alone.
I am the young woman who closes my eyes and pretends that the man I love is laying there next to me, his arms wrapped around me.
I am the young woman who tries not to miss him, who tries not to cry whenever I hear his name or even the mention of a soldier
I am the woman who is terrified that the love of my life will be sent off to war.

I am many things.

A mother

A daughter

A sister

A cousin

A niece

A co-worker

A friend

But most importantly, I am the wife of a United States Servicemember and wouldn't trade that girl's life for anything in the world.