Below is a letter I found in Grandma Foster’s Scrapbook. It was written in 1940 by Sheldon H. Kinney… the Fosters’ next door neighbor in Pasadena, CA… quite an accomplished young 25 year old. Here is a newspaper article published in the Chicago Tribune about him:
Interesting how they published his parents’ home address, huh? I don’t think we’d see that in today’s press, do you?
While at sea, during World War Two, Sheldon wrote this heartfelt letter to his parents:
How Grandma Foster got ahold of that letter so she could include it in her scrapbook is a mystery. But, it is there… preserved for me to share! I hope you find it as inspiring as I do. Makes me wish I had written something similar to my parents when I was 25! But, did I have the insight at that age to “see my parents as man and woman” the way Sheldon did? I doubt it.
How very precious to read Sheldon’s praise of his parents, and to feel the warmth they must have felt when reading those accolades!
As I continue to sift through the scrapbook’s treasures, I will gladly share others with you. I hope you are enjoying these as much as I am!
Traveling from Ennis to Bozeman along the Madison RiverI happily wait for Bob as he gets a haircutOur “Bonus Daughter,” Laina, has a pretty day in Maryland, too. And DeDe, our daughter in Switzerland, sent a picture of the scene from her balcony this morning. Laina is enjoying time with her grandson…While DeDe is reading to her grandson … so cute!Meantime, Bob’s Diggin’ in to our wonderful lunch at Dave’s SushiDon’t you wish you’d had this delightful Thursday with us?
May you experience such love, too!!Bob’s brother Bill and MargeOur love for each otherMy cousin, Adrian DeAngelis & LauraBob’s 1969 wrestling student, Kevin with wife, KimTime with in-laws, the Paynes Contact with our DollyWolly, DeDe, in Switzerland Visit with Bob’s nephew, Bryan, and his sweet wife, Michelle … in their beautiful home Opportunity to attend church at Harvest – such sweet memories here!Christmas with granddaughter Faith and her hubbySo proud of our son, Ty, and the life he is living Ty’s wife, Monika, the perfect partner!Great food and precious Mable, our great-granddaughter Time in CA wine country: life can’t get much better!Thank you, Ty & Monika May your life be so blessed, too!!
Sermon notes from Brian Conklin‘s message at Madison Valley Presbyterian Church today.
Isaiah painted a picture of people on their way. They arrive atop a mountain Where everyone has their say.
Nations shall not rise up Against other nations anymore. Isaiah promises our future Will hold that peace from shore to shore.
We’re all moving toward God’s judgement. Our hope is rooted to God’s future. Romans 13:11-14 says, “Live like people Who are headed for the dawn.”
God is asking us to wake up And be a people on the move… Moving toward God’s promised peace. Pick God’s goals as The Way you choose.
Don’t stop, my friends. The hike is worth it. The view is stunning from the top. You’re on a journey to the new Kingdom. So, be reminded: keep engaged; don’t stop.
Live in a way that causes you to see There is a beautiful Kingdom to come. Love, pursue peace, and resist darkness. Walk in the light of the Lord. Don’t be dumb!
No, Brian’s sermon didn’t include “Don’t be dumb!” I had to add that cuz it caught my mood – – – And besides, I needed something that rhymed with kingdom!
Happy first day of Advent! Did you go to church today? If so, what message did you take away? What does this Advent season mean to you?
Kill sterotypes! She is young, blond, beautiful AND intelligent!!
In a graduation speech at the New York University back in 2022 where she was awarded a doctorate, Taylor Swift’s message captivated the audience. It was so impactful that I decided to find it on-line, download it, and read it to really digest some of the points she was making. Below is only the last part of it, but it will give you a small picture of why this “blond bombshell” has taken the world by storm. If you have not witnessed one of her concerts, you probably don’t understand “the whole package.” I didn’t… until I watched her concert (see below). I urge you to take some time and log in to her Era tour’s grand finale in Los Angeles. You’ll be amazed at the dancing, the staging, the lighting, the cast of supporters, the whole sheebang!
Here is the last part of her speech to the graduates and their families at New York University:
“Sometimes, everything just feels completely pointless. I know the pressure of living your life through the lens of perfectionism, and I know that I’m talking to a group of perfectionists because you are here today graduating from NYU. So this might be hard for you to hear.
In your life, you will inevitably misspeak, trust the wrong person, underreact, overreact, hurt the people who didn’t deserve it, overthink, not think at all, self-sabotage, create a reality where only your experience exists, ruin perfectly good moments for yourself and others, deny any wrongdoing, not take the steps to make it right, feel very guilty, let the guilt eat at you, hit rock bottom, finally address the pain you caused, try to do better next time, rinse, repeat. And I’m not going to lie. These mistakes will cause you to lose things.
The Silver Lining
I’m trying to tell you that losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things, too. Now you leave the structure and framework of school and chart your own path. Every choice you make leads to the next choice, which leads to the next, and I know it’s hard to know which path to take.
There will be times in life where you need to stand up for yourself, times when the right thing is actually to back down and apologize, times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run, times to hold on with all you have, and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to sit and listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us. How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments?
Embracing Uncertainty
You won’t. How do I give advice to this many people about their life choices? I won’t. The scary news is you’re on your own now.
But the cool news is you’re on your own now. I leave you with this. We are led by our gut instincts, our intuitions, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. And you will screw it up sometimes.
Final Thoughts
So will I. And when I do, you will most likely read about it on the Internet. Anyway, hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it. And as long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. (And you need to have seen her smirk here as she kiddingly said:) And I am a doctor now, so I know how breathing works.
I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re the class of 22. We’re doing this together.”
Cheers, my friends! Yes, young, blond, beautiful, and intelligent… You can be all that and talented, too. Taylor sure is!
The “Six Sentence Story Blog Hop” from GirlieOnTheEdge1.wordpress.com for this week is CROSS.
As a child I obeyed without question whatever my mom or dad told me to do.
Likewise, I did not do what they told me I was not supposed to do.
I was a very obedient child.
But as a teenager who began to exert my independence, I had ideas of my own, and they didn’t always coincide with those of my parents.
Oh boy, do I vividly remember those first verbal clashes when I wanted to go my own way – and we crossed paths and mine wasn’t the direction my parents thought was okay!
I asserted my will and to my increasingly cross parents, I shouted, “It’s not up to you!”
“Don’t be so bold, you sassy thing!” Love, JanBeek
GirlieOnTheEdge invites us every week to “Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less. Use the current week’s prompt word.”
Today’s prompt word is “Trick.” Here goes:
The innocence of young children captivates my heart. Halloween is a time when a test on the innocence might start. When children are introduced to “Trick or Treat,” treats are expected. Some years ago tricks were handed out – no innocence respected. There were apples with a razor inside, or popcorn balls with poison inserted. Many children have had to stop the door-to-door so danger was skirted.
Let’s just love, shall we? Protect the innocence. Love, JanBeek
My youngest grandson has had a long-distance relationship with a girl from Colombia for more than 4 years. With the help of FaceTime and occasional visits to/from Switzerland, they have kept love alive.
Now she’s visiting him in the flesh. Ain’t love grand? God bless ‘em!
When Bob & I were dating and when we were engaged (back in the early 1960’s), he was in the army, stationed in Germany. We went two weeks between communication – one letter at a time.
Ain’t technology grand? Now we have instant communication!
What was your dating experience with your loved one? Was it also way back when? I’d love to hear about your “Grand Love” experience!
One of my blogging friends today wrote this message, “Wrote a tanka today to get into the rhythm of saying more with less. It’s a japanese short form poetry system with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable scheme. Give it a try!”
So I decided to do just that. How about you? You wanna give it a try, too?
I’m an open book Filled with whimsy and color Easy to be read Very hard to be ignored Noisy and provocative
God bless you, my friends. Have a Super Saturday. It’s “No Kings Day” here No, not “Hate America!” Protect our Constitution!
