Thanks, Dad...

...for your military service to our country during WWII.

Thank you for fearlessly

flying long tedious hours "old school" style...

anxiously awaiting

the next circling signal ship stationed below

to help set your course

through the vast and lonely airspace of the Pacific theater.

Thank you

for selflessly risking life and limb and aircraft...

on a seemingly endless basis. 

Thank you for safely completing

repeated

take offs and landings on exotic foreign shores.

Thank you, too,

for skillfully and accurately negotiating those newly made

threadlike coral runways of

distant, unknown, microscopic atolls...

the names of which would soon become emblazoned

in the pages of history.

Thank you for all these things

which brought you home safely...to mom

and,

eventually, in short order to me.

Your service

not only

evacuated the sick and wounded,

returned loved ones home.

and

provided supplies needed for the war effort...

it also 

helped make our world a safer place...and my future brighter.

The freedoms I enjoy today

come from your unselfishness and love of country. 

Special thanks to you, too, mom,

as a young wife,

for supporting your true love...and keeping the

home fires burning here stateside.

I love you both.
 



"As we express our gratitude,

we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,

but to live by them."

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy 90th Birthday, Dad!

90 years!

What a treat and a privilege for me...

to have you hold my hand as I walked by your side

down life's pathways...

for most of them!

Happy, Happy Day, Dad...with love to you from me. :)

"If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.

Angels whisper to a man

when he

goes for a walk."

~Raymond Inmon

"To Our One and Only..."

Happiest of birthdays to you...

"Johnny", "Dad", "Grandpa", "Papa", "Great Grandpa"

"JW" and "Big Brown Bear"!

We wish

you a wonderful year of clear skies...smooth flying...

and soft landings.

Sent with oodles of love...from

your loving co-pilot

Mom,

and your ever grateful ground crew:

Susan, David, Joya & Jillian...

Jack, Sharon, Vanessa, Lauren, Steve & Myles...

Mark, Katie, Christopher, Courtney & Corey...

and...Peg and Scott! :)

Thanks for showing us how to navigate life

with a happy heart

and a twinkle in our eye.

Soar high above the clouds as you celebrate

the first day of your 90th

flight around the sun!

You are now cleared for "take off"...:)

"It is not the cry,

but the flight of the wild duck

that leads the flock to fly and follow.”
~Chinese Proverb

"The very existence of aviation is proof that man,

given the will,

has the capacity to accomplish deeds

that seem impossible."

~Eddie Rickenbacker

"Lots of Loving Wishes..."

...from the bottom of my heart

all wrapped up in

lots of summertime joy and

crowned with a couple of cactus flower blooms

to wish my dad

a super Happy Birthday #88!

"To laugh often and much,

to win the respect of intelligent people

and

the affection of children...

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and

endure the betrayal of false friends...

To appreciate beauty...

To find the best in others...

To leave the world a bit better-

whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch,

or a redeemed social condition...

To know even one life has breathed easier

because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded!"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks dad, for showing me the way... ♥

"Happy Father's Day, Dad..."

...With love, from the four of us!

"Blessed indeed is the man

who hears many gentle voices call him father!"

~Lydia M. Child, 1836

"An (Almost) Wordless (Veteran's Day) Wednesday...(#18)..."

Dad...United States Navy...WW II Aviator...Pacific Theater

(Psst...click image to enlarge...)

(Psst...Dad is 2nd from left...)


(Dad with one of the planes he flew in WW II...)

Dad...Thanks for your service to our country...

We Love you!

(Psst...click HERE for more photos...)

"A Happy Birthday Cactus..."

...arriving from my

brand new "Desert Jewels" ATC series

all blinged out and ready to party

...is presented here as

an artistic little "somethin' somethin' "

made with lots of love for my Dad

who just happens to be celebrating birthday #87 today!

Now...

"Close your eyes and make a wish...LOL:)"

Join in on the party and have a Happy Cactus Monday all!

"Enjoy the little things,

for one day you may look back

and realize they were the big things."

~Robert Brault

"The Artistic Touch of JW..."

...has influenced my life

and my spirit from the minute I was born to this very day.

Happy Father's Day

to the most wonderful, imaginative, and loving dad

a daughter could ever have.

I love you...:)XO

"It's A Brand New Day..."

...and

I wanted each of you to know

my heart simply swells from the thoughts, hugs, comments, and prayers

you so kindly left on yesterday's post.

My Dad's cardiac procedure proved extremely informative

and

even though it was not able to provide

the"easy fix"

we were all hoping for...the future looks

to be positive and hopeful.

My sincerest thanks to each of you...from my whole family.

"Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.”

~Anonymous

Photo Credit: "Soaring Spirit" by Margaret Storer-Roche

Photographed in Clark, Colorado...Fall 2006