In Honor of Chris Kyle

An email has been circulating about Chris Kyle, the Navy Seal who was horribly murdered, and the details of his funeral. When I read it, I was touched -- and outraged at our White House -- by what I read.  All the more reason why I must see American Sniper. 

We didn't get to go last night -- out to dinner with friends instead, great fun, glad we did -- but I'm hoping to get to the box office in the next week or so for this movie that tells his story.

The email, though, deserves more stage.  So here goes:

Chris Kyle's funeral .......................

You've probably heard of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, may have read his fascinating autobiography "American Sniper" and / or have seen the just released movie by the same title (starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle). Attached is the bitter sweet "end of the story", which regrettably, but typically, has had precious little media attention.

Some interesting info about SEAL Chris Kyle's funeral last 
year----makes you proud of Texas folks

Our president & attorney general call about Trayvon Martin and 
Ferguson Missouri , but don’t call SEALs or NY policeman families …What in the ******** is going on in “our country”???

This is why America will remain strong. We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

Chris Kyle was Derek's teammate through 10 years of training and battle. They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it. 2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.  They lost many friends. Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time. Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book "The American Sniper." 100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

That was the kind of guy Chris was. He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations. He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD. Chris was a giver not a taker.  He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings. Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into..free of charge.  The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.   The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room. I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs. Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few 
rental cars (donated). The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

At the Kyle house, the Texas DPS parked a large motor home in front to block the view from reporters. It remained there the entire five days for the SEALs to congregate in and all to use the restroom so as not to have to go in the house. Taya, their two small children and both sets of parents were staying in the home.

Only a hand full of SEALs went into the home as they had different duties and meetings were held sometimes on a hourly basis. It was a huge coordination of many different events and security. Derek was assigned to be a Pall Bearer, to escort Chris' body when it was transferred from the Midlothian Funeral Home to the Arlington Funeral Home, and to be with Taya. A tough job.  Taya seldom came out of her bedroom. The house was full with people from the church and other family members that would come each day to help. I spent one morning in a bedroom with Chris’ mom and the next morning with 

Chad Littlefield's parents (the other man murdered with Chris). A tough job.

George W Bush and his wife Laura met and talked to everyone on the Seal Team one on one. They went behind closed doors with Taya for quite a while. They had prayer with us all. You can tell when people were sincere and caring.  Nolan Ryan sent his cooking team, a huge grill and lots of steaks, 

chicken and hamburgers. They set up in the front yard and fed people all day long including the 200 SEALs and their families. The next day a local BBQ restaurant set up a buffet in front of the house and fed all once again. Food was plentiful and all were taken care of. The family's church kept those inside the house well fed.

Jerry Jones, the man everyone loves to hate, was a rock star. He made sure that we all were taken care of. His wife and he were just making sure everyone was taken care of….Class... He donated the use of Cowboy Stadium for the services as it was determined that so many wanted to attend.The charter buses transported us to the stadium on Monday at 10:30 am. Every car, bus, motorcycle was searched with bomb dogs and police. I am not sure if kooks were making threats trying to make a name for themselves or if so many SEALs in one place was a security risk, I don't know. We willingly obliged. No purses went into the stadium!

We were taken to The Legends room high up and a large buffet was available. That was for about 300 people. We were growing.A Medal of Honor recipient was there, lots of secret service and 

police and Sarah Palin and her husband. She looked nice, this was a very formal military service.  The service started at 1:00 pm and when we were escorted onto the field I was shocked. We heard that about 10,000 people had come to attend also. They were seated in the stadium seats behind us. It was a beautiful and emotional service.The Bagpipe and drum corps were wonderful and the Texas A&M men's choir stood through the entire service and sang right at the end. We were all in tears.

The next day was the 200-mile procession from Midlothian, TX to Austin for burial. It was a cold, drizzly, windy day, but the people were out. We had dozens of police motorcycles riders, freedom riders, five chartered buses and lots of cars. You had to have a pass to be in the procession and still it was huge. Two helicopters circled the procession with snipers sitting out the side door for protection. It was the longest funeral procession ever in the state of Texas. People were everywhere. The entireroute was shut down ahead of us, the people were lined up on the side of the road the entire way. Firemen were down on one knee, police officers were holding their hats over their hearts, children waving flags, veterans saluting as we went by. Every bridge had fire trucks with large flags displayed from their tall ladders, people all along the entire 200 miles were standing in the cold weather. It was so heartwarming.

Taya rode in the hearse with Chris' body so Derek rode the route with us. I was so grateful to have that time with him.

The service was at Texas National Cemetery. Very few are buried there and you have to apply to get in. It is like people from the Civil War, Medal of Honor winners, a few from the Alamo and all the historical people of Texas. It was a nice service and the Freedom Riders surrounded the outside of the entire cemetery to keep the crazy church people from Kansas that protest at military funerals away from us.

Each SEAL put his Trident (metal SEAL badge) on the top of Chris' casket, one at a time. A lot hit it in with one blow. Derek was the only one to take four taps to put his in and it was almost like he was caressing it as he did it. Another tearful moment.

After the service Governor Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, invited us to the governor's mansion. She stood at the door, greeted each of us individually, and gave each of the SEALs a coin of Texas. She was a sincere, compassionate, and gracious hostess.We were able to tour the ground floor and then went into the garden for beverages and BBQ. So many of the Seal team guys said that after they 

get out they are moving to Texas. They remarked that they had never felt so much love and hospitality. The charter buses then took the guys to the airport to catch their returning flights. Derek just now called and after a 20 hours flight he is back in his spot, in a dangerous land on the other side of the world, protecting America.
We just wanted to share with you, the events of a quite emotional, but 

blessed week.

Punch-line: To this day, no one in the White House has ever acknowledged Chris Kyle!

However, the President can call some sport person and congratulate him 
on announcing to the world that he is gay??

What is happening to our society, our honor and our pride??

Who Needs Google When You Have a Teenager Who Knows It All?

After two shots at raising teenagers 

-- make that TWO TEENAGE SONS --

one would think the third one would be easier.

I have so much to more to learn.

So many unanswered questions.

I thought I had this mom thing down.

But I definitely do not.

Why does everyone make such a big deal

about the terrible two's?

That stage was NOTHING in comparison

to the teenage years of 15+.

Having worked in the court system for 30 years,

I have heard it all pretty much,

the horror stories and heartaches of raising teens.

Some learn.  Some never do.

Whose fault is it?

Why can't they understand that we do what we do

BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM?

Sometimes the frustration

of feeling so inadequate as a parent 

is more than I can bear.

My lifeline in times like this is my 

Eternal Compass.

I'm thankful that He 

KNOWS EVEN MORE THAN GOOGLE.

And that he loves me enough

to never leave my side.

HE DID IT!

MY GAVIN'S FIRST BODYBUILDING COMPETITION

AND

"NATURALLY"

HE

KILLED

IT

FIRST PLACE NOVICE TALL

FIRST PLACE MEN'S OPEN HEAVYWEIGHT

I’M SO PROUD!

HE'S MY HERO!

It Has To Come From Within

Man loses 40 pounds, 

gains a six-pack and $50,000

Yep.

This got my attention first thing this morning

over my morning coffee via Yahoo

before heading out to the gym.

This guy's success was driven by health issues,

having had a few scares and a family history of heart problems.

And now look at him.

He's 45.

I’m way impressed

This proves it can be done.

Of course, a Bodybuilding.com contest offering $50,000
would be nice incentive, no?
(How long since I've logged on to that site?  Too long)

And how nice that he's treating his wife with his winnings!?!

(Well, bless.her.heart.  She gets twice rewarded)

Regardless of the reason, the point is, he did it.

HE DID IT.

AND LOOK AT HIM!

His advice?

It Has to come from within

You have to have that want-to

it has to be internally driven

And he's right.

"from within"

He's absolutely right.

Fer Lo and Behold!

My youngest son has been struggling these past few weeks in his language class as a sophomore.  I'm not exactly surprised at his shortcomings in spelling and basic grammar.  I knew this would eventually happen.  I've been begging him for years to read.  Just READ!  Read anything, everything -- SOMETHING.  Doesn't matter the type of book or content particularly, just find something that interests you and READ.  Not interested.  

When my sons were babies, I read to them constantly, hoping it would instill a love for reading.  In his earlier years, Zach wasn't as voracious of a reader as I was when I was young, but it began to grow on him as years passed, and as a college student, his appreciation for reading blossomed and eventually exploded.  He reads constantly now.  Gavin eventually began reading more as well, but not nearly as expansively.  I'm hoping Colton will cultivate a deeper respect for the eternal and limitless benefit of reading as he begins preparing for college.  

C'mon, son.  Don't let your momma down!  Read!  Read!  Read!

Misspelling of the Year for 2013

according to

Dictionary.com

furlough

It appears the most popular spellings from most of the misguided souls

furlo

furlow

ferlow

Really?

A piece of advice.

Igniting My Happy

It's Monday evening.  I wake up from a long, luxurious nap.  I'm chilled.  I grab a hoodie to snuggle.  I'm groggy, but rested.  I look out the window.   It's dark outside.  Of course it is.  It's dark outside.  It's cold.  And it's winter.

Find the light, T.  Ignite your happy.

I head downstairs to begin dinner.  I've planned spaghetti for my family, roasted chicken in hot sauce for me.  It doesn't make sense that I'm craving all of this hot n spicy food when I'm fighting hot flashes. What's that about?  Oh, yeah, I'd definitely appreciate a big ol' bowl of ice cream far more.  But so would my growing ass.  Nah -- stop.  I'll save that whine session for another time.

Waiting for the noodles to boil, I switch on the evening news.  Why?  It's always depressing, and I mostly try to avoid it.  Trouble on Wall Street.......Philip Seymour Hoffman dies of a heroine overdose; I remember his role in Patch Adams.  Talented but cocky.......and more winter storms on the way; they mention that Minnesota was hit with -32 temps.  SERIOUSLY!

Turn it off, T.  Find the light, T.  Ignite your happy.

I light a candle.  I watch it flicker and dance, the creamy amber hues of the flame casting shadows of the iron candle holder on the wall.  It smells good.  It calms me almost instantly..... Like listening to a fiddler, my thoughts turn from dark to light, doldrums to content.  Face it, who can listen to a fiddle and feel depressed?  

Bring your fiddles.  Light your candles.
Ignite your happies.

I close my eyes.  I dream that it's summer again...

I pour a cup of decaf green tea and choose a cottage cheese "blizzard" for my dinner in place of the chicken.  It hit my happy spot.

It's Tuesday.  I stop by the bank at the mall to make a deposit and then slowly make my way to Macy's.  Nothing particular on my mind.  I wander.  Minutes later I find myself in the jewelry section.  CLEARANCE.  That'll do it.  Let me dig.  After a few minutes of digging -- I'm a digger - love to dig - makes me happy -- I can't help but notice this voice , another digger beside me.  She sounds exactly like Bernadette from The Big Bang Theory.  She's going on and on and on ..... I sneak a peek to confirm she's real.  Yep.  I suppress a very big giggle.

I need new eye shadow.  Eye shadow.  Such a tiny thing for so big an impact to a woman's mood.  A beeline to Sephora.  The clerk kindly guides me through some pretty options. I want it all.  Every.Single.Thing.I.See.  Choosing a pretty plum and champagne duo, I leave there a little happier.

I next head to Bath & Body Works.  While browsing, the clerk shares with me a new scent of their summer candle selection that has already sold out.  She just happened to have a diffuser of the same scent.  Oh.My.Goodness. Unable to suppress a huge smile, it consumes me, teasing and taunting -- the most fabulous smell of summer!  I must have it.  I must, I must.  "Summer Boardwalk."  I assure her that I would be back when their new shipment arrives, and I leave the store obsessed...that scent on my brain...a daydream of summer in my heart... a permanent smile on my face.

Revisit memories of the best summer

spent at the beach with caramel glazed popcorn,

warm taffy apples

and salted sweet cream.  

Perfect.  

This will certainly do.

You've found your light, T.

Ignite your happy.

Evil Strikes Again

365promises.com

Father God,

Our hearts are once again broken, our fears increased, our courage shaken.

We lift up to You those who are hurting from this horrible act of terrorism in Boston.  Be near to those who are hurting, who are injured, who are grieving.  Replace their brokenness and sadness and fear with Your perfect love and strength.  Restore our courage and hope.  As our leaders and investigators seek to find the answers, may Your all-powerful and unceasing Light shine brilliantly and purposefully onto the Darkness of Evil and their depraved, senseless acts, uncovering them from their hiding places into the full light of Your Justice.

When darkness comes to our lives, Father, we can remember the darkest night in history, and the love that You showed to us through Your own pain and suffering, when You were never more human than at that hour, and never nearer to us than when you hurt, suffered and died FOR US.  You well know our pain and suffering.

Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, in adoration we thank you for the love that made you willing to suffer and die on the cross for us.  Your cross and your love for us brings us to our knees in humble gratitude. 

Be our Comforter and Healer at this hour.  Be our light of love and hope, restoring our trust and faith in You, whatever our circumstances.

In Jesus Name I give you praise –

Amen

loveofjesusministry.org

Face Value?



Just read this headline on Yahoo:

Dad Pays Kid $200 To Quit Facebook

 

Broken News Daily

 

 "14-year-old Rachel Baier of Massachusetts has found a way to make money off quitting Facebook. Rachel’s dad Paul, posted a legally binding Facebook deactivation agreement to his blog this week. In it, Rachel agrees to quit Facebook for five months in exchange for two hundred dollars. The contract also states that Rachel plans to use the money to buy "stuff". So...good deal or bad deal?"

 

Darn.  Wish I could find someone to pay ME for deactivating my Wastebook  Facebook account.  I could use the extra cash AND extra time. 

And I'd even bargain for less than $200.

 

 

Heartache and Healing

 

 

I cannot imagine the grief of the parents, family and friends mourning the loss of recent events in Connecticut. 

Upon learning of this tragedy and over the course of the following days, I instinctively listened only long enough to get an accurate summary account of the facts.  That was all I needed to hear.  And then the volume controls, both literally and figuratively, would be muted.   I would intentionally walk away... or switch channels.  I had to let it go.  I closed my eyes and my ears and simply shut it out. 

It is not with an insensitivity that I close my ears and eyes to this horror.  To the contrary, my heart lies wide open, bleeding for all the hurt and sadness that this massacre has caused. 

My response to these events has been simply one of constant prayer…and introspection…. just enough to allow me to grasp what has happened, to allow myself to feel their loss.

Dwelling on the barrage of media coverage serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever – not for myself, not for anyone.  If anything, it’s like pouring salt into an open wound, prodding and deepening and enlarging the gaping hole of pain.   And especially at this time of year.

 

The scarring of my own heart, an aching emptiness from past loss and longing, remains a daily challenge that I struggle to deal with as I continue to heal and accept and move forward. The reality is that each of us must find productive ways of coping, accepting, and healing when we suffer loss.  The media's fixation, the constant rehash of events, over and over and over again fueling energy into the horrors of this tragedy seems pointless to me.  How does one find strength in this overexposoure?

 

We can’t change what has happened.  We can’t bring those we’ve lost back. 

I lift up in prayer those who are left behind.

I pray that they will find comfort and healing and strength in the days ahead through God’s tender mercies and from the togetherness of friends, family, co-workers, neighbors. 

May this season's celebration of the Birth of Love through Christ our Savior fill each and every home and heart with peace, joy, strength and love in the days ahead.  

Indeed the Gift of the Holy Spirit is and always will be sufficient for every need. 





Are We Keeping You Awake?

I've been burning the candle at both ends for several days now, trying to get caught up on things before leaving on vacation.  I'm still getting up at Dark O'clock for my workouts (it takes 30 mins for my brain and my body to communicate, with the help of mega doses of caffeine), but I'm not getting in bed at my usual time -- 10:00 p.m.  It's always something, and it's later and later each night.

Yesterday we had a rather important court hearing, high profile type thing, and there were TV cameras in the courtroom, all the hoopla for an interesting day in the courts of justice.  Of all times for me to get sleepy -- like the kind of sleepy that gets rather embarrassing, no hiding it, ready-to-fall-out-of-my-seat-and-crash sleepy?  Yeah, that.

At the onset, I panicked a little and gave myself a quick self-talk:

"T!  Psssst, T!  Wake up.  Look alive.  You'll draw attention to yourself.  You'll have people staring!"


Yeah.  Right.  Yes.  Awake.  Hello?  Inhale deeply, look focused and in control.  Got it.


Minutes later...

"T!  Snap out of it!  You're in court.  There are TV cameras!  People are starting to stare at you.  Wake the hell up!  Disconnect from what you're writing and hearing (--yes, I can do that, write it down word for word and be thinking of something totally unrelated--) and think of something that will shock you into consciousness -- like good sex or something?  Anything!  Just open your eyes and keep them open.  Look alive.  Look in control!


"I know!  I know!  I've got this.  I'm all right.  Got it.  I'm awake.  Inhale.  Ahhhh.  Yes.  Good sex.  Eye candy.  Yep.  I can see it.  Yeah, lookin' good.  Talk to me.  Yep.  I'm on top of this..."


It is the most unnerving thing for a court reporter to become overwhelmed with the sleepies.  OMG. It's horrifying.  Hanging on is so elusive at times!  You want so badly to snap out of it, be in control, at least LOOK like you're paying attention.  It's a desperation that affects all of us from time to time, unfortunately.

I remember a court reporter friend of mine telling me once that she was at a deposition, and this happened to her, and suddenly everyone got quiet and one of the lawyers turned to her and said,
"J----, are we keeping you awake?"

This little cutey knows the feeling all too well!  Hopefully I'll never end up the way he did the next time I get the sleepies.  That would REALLY give the media something to televise...

"COURT REPORTER LAPSES INTO COMA IN COURTROOM"

Wake up, America! Our Country's Tater Tots Are At It Again

Hey,
Mr. Potatohead
-- er, uh,
Mr. Holmes...!!!

Wake up and smell those
candy roses, will ya? 

And make sure all your
Ivory-Tower Tater Tots
in Washington
get a good whiff
while you're at it, K?

In response to the statement by Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors, claiming:  "The Economy Can Handle Higher Oil and Gas Prices" -----


(Texas Citizen):  "Hey, Frank Holmes, can I borrow $60 to fill up my compact economy car?  Because apparently
you live where there are always rainbows in the sky,
flowers are made of candy, and you shit sherbet out your ass!"