To My Family

This is a letter I wrote to my family, please take time to hug your own family members and tell them that you love them, you never know when it will be your last time.



Over the past 6 months I have been to a funeral for a 3-year old, watched a 16 year-old young man waste away and had to attend his funeral as well, and now, spent much of the past week in prayer for a brother of someone who works here. The car he was in was struck by a drunk driver driving approximately 25 mph over the speed limit.

Today is very crucial for him, and things do not look all that good, but please pray for a miracle.


This made me think and realize more that each day is not to be taken for granted. That we get tomorrow only because God has deemed it best, and at any moment one of us could be taken home. I was talking to someone at work who had lost her mother at a young age as well and I was remarking how I had no regrets since she always knew that I loved her, and I knew that she loved me. There are not unsaid things I wish I would have said, because we, as a family, always told each other though our words and actions that we genuinely love each other.

Let me just take this moment to say to you all that I love you all, and no one has been more blessed than I to have such a great family. I wouldn't trade any of our moments together for anything. Quick walk down memory lane:

Brother #1: Sword fighting with yellow wiffle bats.

Sister #1: Cutting the hair off of your Rainbow Brite fuzzy creature

Sister #2: umm....Any memories that don't end with us getting in trouble? How about using the sofa cushion to sled down the stairs!

Sister #3: You grabbing a broomstick, me lifting you up and smacking you into the refrigerator while you laughed gleefully the whole time.

Dad: While I enjoy our golf outings, what I will always cherish are the times when you would play football with us...except for the time Brother #1 broke his collarbone I guess. You always made time for us, thanks.

I do not believe that any family could be better than the one I'm in.

I love you all and look forward to our gathering 4th of July weekend.

Fritz

Mother's Day - Part 2

There are quite a few holidays that I don’t feel sad about my Mother not being there. Last Mother’s Day even I don’t think I was too distraught. This year though, for some reason, I really miss her. It isn’t a debilitating sadness that makes you unable to do much of anything, it is more just the constant reminder and pain that she isn’t here anymore.

I recently re-read a series that she used to read to us when we were younger, I could hear her doing the various voices for the characters in my head.

July 19^th, 2003 was such a long day. I don’t remember all of it even, but there are things engraved into my mind.

My grandmother saying, “I don’t want to lose another daughter!”

“Well, that’s it then,” my father said before he collapsed in tears.

I remember squeezing my mother’s cold hand, hoping that if I could warm it up she would somehow wake up again.

“It is never a good time to lose a parent,” stated the note my mother had written my uncle, but hadn’t had a chance to mail yet.

My second youngest sister and her family coming back into the hospital tears streaming down her face asking, “What happened?”

At that moment I realized that none of us had wanted to believe that she was actually leaving us.

One of the strange things was that the last time I saw her alive was actually in New Jersey of all places. We were celebrating my aunt’s wedding so the whole family was out there. We were swimming in my grandfather’s pool and Mom joined us, just like she had for all those years when we were growing up.

My parents were always involved in our lives, that is what made them such great parents.

I remember being in the pool, my mother had gotten out and she and Dad came back out to say good night. We were all heading back to Pennsylvania the next day so we all wanted to make sure to say our “Love Yous” and “Have a safe trips.”

How is that for your last memory of your mother, in a swimming pool in New Jersey. Proof that there is a God and He has a sense of humor.

I miss you, Mom.

Mother's Day - Part 1

Cure My Tragedy

Cold

Every little thing that I ever did,

You would stand by me.

Every time you cried it would take my wind,

My heart would break.

If I could be strong like you were for me,

You are my faith.

Won’t you cure my tragedy,

Won’t you cure my tragedy.

Don’t take her smile away from me,

She’s broken and I’m far away.

If you made the world a stage for me,

Then I hope that you can hear me scream.

Can you hear me scream?

Can you hear me scream?

The Baby

(Harley Allen/Michael White)



My brother said that I

was rotten to the core.

I was the youngest child,

so I got by with more.



I guess she was tired by

the time I came along.

She'd laugh until she cried,

I could do no wrong.

She would always save me,

because I was her baby.



I worked a factory in Ohio,

a shrimp boat in the Bayou,

I drove a truck in Birmingham.

Turned 21 in Cincinnati,

I called home to mom and daddy,

I said "Your boy is now a man."

She said "I don't care if you're 80,

you'll always be my baby."



She loved that photograph,

of our whole family.

She'd always point us out,

for all her friends to see.



That's Greg he's doing great,

he really loves his job.

And Ronnie with his 2 kids,

how 'bout that wife he's got.

And that one's kinda crazy,

but that one is my baby.



I got a call in Alabama,

said come on home to Louisianna

and come as fast as you can fly.

Cause your momma really needs you,

and says she's got to see you,

she might not make it through the night.

The whole way I drove 80

so she could see her baby.



She looked like she was sleepin'

and my family had been weepin'

by the time that I got to her side.

And I knew that she'd been taken,

and my heart it was breakin',

I never got to say goodbye.



I softly kissed that lady

and cried just like a baby.

Full Color

P.O.D.

I guess, you always knew what was best

Believed in your God, til the very last breath

You showed me how strong you can be

If Jesus saved your life, could he do it for me?

I'll lay down my life for you and for Him

Believe God's promise, I'm gonna see you again

Dear me, dear me.....what have I done?

Hail Mary, full of words, blessed above other bloggers art thou.

It has been nearly a month since my last blog post....I know I should have been here sooner, but not all that much exciting happened.....

No really, nothing did...well, if you insist.

I did manage to hit my first chip-in on a golf course. Hmm? Any details? It's a little foggy, but let's see.

11th hole at Parkview, Par 5, and I chipped it in from the rough to the right of the green....oh and it was for birdie.

Well, I guess that was exciting...anything else?

Want to hear why I hate Lowe's?

Good.

In the basement of my house there are 3 rooms. The main big room that the computer is in along with a cubby that I have the TV and three chairs resting at. There is also the utility room that the garage door leads into and holds my washer, dryer, hot water tank, etc.

And there is the storm room. This room has no windows and is in the basement, perfect for hiding from those nasty tornados that enjoy hopping over my house. Although I do prefer them hopping me than running through the little town I call home.

Anyway, the storm room had no door, even though I have lived in the house for several months and had put a door up for the utility room, and even bought one for the storm room, it had no door.

"Why is that?" you might ask.

Well, a huge, steel support beam cuts through the center of the house making the doorway 77" tall, which is 3" shorter than standard doorways. This makes getting a door a real pain. My choices were to remove the support beam, or get a shorter door.

Lowe's does custom doors, so I headed there. My father-in-law and myself measured the doorway four times to ensure the proper measurements.

I read the measurements to the meth head behind the desk at Lowe's and he punched them into the computer.

"We will have your door in 17 days," he told me.

17 days! I wanted this thing made out of wood, not stone. But that was the best he could do, and since I could tell he was needing a crack break I agreed.

(At this point, go listen to a song that you like)

- - - - - Musical Interlude - - - - - -


19 Days Later......

I look at the clock on my phone.....20 minutes have passed since I first was put on hold by the Wal-Mart reject at the front desk.

Finally someone picks up the phone and informs me that my door should be in on next week's truck. The person sounded a little math deficient so I refrained from informing him that 24 days is longer than 17 days.....

My father came out to visit us, rather exciting! We played golf, and on Friday took Brother #1's van to pick up my door.

I marched to the front desk and informed the lady that I was there to pick up my door, I filled out the necessary papers and was told to pull my vehicle up to the front of the store and someone would bring my door out shortly.

14 minutes later.....

I marched to the front desk and informed the lady that I was there waiting for one of the stock clerks to bring my door to me. Just then an 80-year old gentleman wearing a Lowe's flotation device hobbled to the front desk and asked what door he was supposed to bring forward.

Reassured that the old-geezer would soon have my door to me I went back outside to wait....

11 minutes later.....

I marched to the front desk and informed the gentleman that I had been waiting for 25 minutes for my door to be brought to me outside the store. He asked the lady what was going and she replied (and I quote) "I sent Ron back for it..." she then tried to turn away and go back to whatever solitaire game she was playing.

Burn in the fire of Home Depot lady!!!!

The guy was much more professional than the Wal-MArt reject lady and he promised to go get Ron and have my door brought out immediately.

Which is was. Would have been nice if that had been done 30 MINUTES EARLIER!

I take the door home and the next day, since it was raining and we couldn't go golfing anyway, my father and I put the door in....

It fit very easily since it was 3" narrower than we needed it....

Lowe's wasted 20 minutes of my time on the phone, made me wait 24 days for the door to get in, wasted 30 minutes of my life standing outside the store, all for a door that didn't fit the doorway.

I hate Lowe's....