A friend

Tonight a dear friend was called home, she and her husband mean a great deal to me and my family.  She was a lovely, kind and sweet lady.  Strong in her faith in our Lord. She will be missed but she is in a better place, no more pain, no more sorrow.  She is in the loving presence of our Lord.  May her soul and the souls of all the departed rest in peace.

Amore

Per i miei amici italiani e la famiglia.

L'amore è la risposta a tutte le domande.

57 years

This July 7th marks 57 years since I married the love of my life, my sweet Lorraine.  She has been gone now eight years and I find myself living one day at a time.  I know she is in a better place, no cares, no pain and I am selfish wanting her to be here with me.  I miss her so, I am so alone right now.  Lord, I pray that You strengthen me, make me stronger.  Lead me Lord show me the way.

Memorial Day

Monday, May 26, 2014, was Memorial Day.  The day we in the United States of America set aside to honor and remember those women and men who have served or died in the service of our country.  I enlisted in the United States Army in August of 1960.  Why did I volunteer?  That is the question.  I volunteered because I firmly believed that I owed my country and the women and men who had served before me.  I was repaying a debt that I had occurred because of what these women and men had done to secure my freedoms.  Our Constitution would just be beautiful words written on paper if it had not been won by the blood of the generations of Americans before me.  I was no hero, I performed do extraordinary acts of valor.  I was a radar operator in an air defense battery.  So do not thank me for my service, instead thank those  who served and are serving today for the peace you enjoy, for all the freedoms we have in this great country, for you have these freedoms and peace because women and men have served in our armed forces and have bled and suffered to secure them and continue to bleed and suffer today.  So, I ask one thing, when the picnics, parades and ceremonies are over remember and say a prayer for those individuals who have served and are serving our country today.

Dear Lord, please keep those who serve in our armed forces in Your loving arms, watch over them and their families.  Amen

Getting Old

Dear Lord I thank you for all the blessing you have given me.  The older I get the more I appreciate what you have done for me.  But, the older I get the more people whom I love are called home, my Nonna, my dad, my mom , my sweet Lorraine and now it seems you are calling my brother Joe home.  I pray for a peaceful transition for him.  Please wrap his family in Your loving arms, comfort them as only You can.  In Jesus the Christ name I pray.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve has been a special time in my life.  Why? On New Years Eve 1961 I proposed to Lorraine Anne Gailey, I had only met her in October but I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.  I proposed and she accepted; we were married July 7, 1962.  What a life we had together; there were ups and downs but mostly ups.  We had and raised a child together.
We saw 49 New Years Eves together, always kissing at midnight.
 December 31, 2010 was the last New Years Eve we spent together, God called my sweet Lorraine home March 15, 2011, the saddest day of my life.  Since then I have lived one day at a time, missing her every minute.

A Message from Pope Francis to the Americas.

MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAS
FOR THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. I would like to greet all my brothers and sisters on that continent, and I do so thinking of the Virgin of Tepeyac.
When Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego, her face was that of a woman of mixed blood, a mestiza, and her garments bore many symbols of the native culture. Like Jesus, Mary is close to all her sons and daughters; as a concerned mother, she accompanies them on their way through life. She shares all the joys and hopes, the sorrows and troubles of God’s People, which is made up of men and women of every race and nation.
When the image of the Virgin appeared on the tilma of Juan Diego, it was the prophecy of an embrace: Mary’s embrace of all the peoples of the vast expanses of America – the peoples who already lived there, and those who were yet to come. Mary’s embrace showed what America – North and South – is called to be: a land where different peoples come together; a land prepared to accept human life at every stage, from the mother’s womb to old age; a land which welcomes immigrants, and the poor and the marginalized, in every age. A land of generosity.
That is the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and it is also my message, the message of the Church. I ask all the people of the Americas to open wide their arms, like the Virgin, with love and tenderness.
I pray for all of you, dear brothers and sisters, and I ask you to pray for me! May the joy of the Gospel always abide in your hearts. May the Lord bless you, and may Our Lady be ever at your side.