God Bless Small Town America…God Bless Their Native Son!

Last weekend, we traveled to a small community to attend the funeral of a young man who died too young.

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The graveside service was packed with all ages of the community where he was born and raised…

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They came to pay their respects and to remember this bright young man, who touched their lives with his can do spirit, his fight and determination to live and his heart of gold.

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He was an intense part of their lives, as he belonged to the community and they claimed him as theirs, with open hearts of love and compassion for his family and for those of us who knew him.

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In a time when America is struggling with civility, honor and respect for their fellow-man, we stood together as a community, remembering and sharing our thoughts while we celebrated his young life.

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America whispered hope to me that somber day…there’s still places in America where people are united with honor, truth, civility and respect with Almighty God involved in their lives!

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We are one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

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I saw it first hand in the heart of a small community burying its young and I saw it in the eyes of my fellow Americans, as we struggled to understand why his young life was cut short.

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As we came together that day, no one said anything about republicans or democrats or Obama or Trump or war or retaliation. Instead we stood together, like Americans do, when we’re faced with something we do not understand.

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I pray and hope this young man’s family knows how much they’re loved and their son, grandson, brother, uncle, brother in-law, best friend and friend was very much loved…as we grieve with them.

God Bless Small Town America…God Bless Their Native Son!

Song Of Summer

Song of summer where have you been? Song of summer please come again…I remember you, I do and I hope that you will return to my soul and heart soon as “Song of Summer” I miss you…

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Time is moving faster…whoa slow down clock…take a breath and breathe…tick-tock shut up clock!

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Loosing a very good friend and neighbor the end of May, took my breath away… it was a shock for all of us who live in the area as it was not expected. With grief comes that sort of void in your spirit, where you just exist. My song of summer has been silenced the last few weeks…I am looking for it again as I know my friend would say “now get your buns in gear, go on and live your life to the fullest”…so here I am.

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Like all losses, it takes time to sort through your emotions, feelings and figuring out how to live without the one that you grieve for. My friend was an incredible lady to know, as she had that infectious positive can do attitude and loved living life with gusto…all the way to the very top of her bucket list! She was a beautiful person with a good heart…a true gift to know and I miss seeing her big smile, the almost daily silly funny emails she sent to me for laughs and the times we giggled over absolutely nothing…we loved finding the funny in various life situations we participated in!

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With a heavy heart, I know that life can change quickly…in a nano second. Each day is a precious gift and we need to be aware of that. I remember a song from years ago called “The End Of Innocence” by Don Henley…it was true to me then and it is again today as I write. When I first heard this song I thought of myself as that little girl growing up here where I live today…we have a hill behind our house where my Dad planted trees when I was maybe 3-4 years old…I would take him ice water on my trusty steed Prince…growing up I would climb the hill to look down on our ranch or look off down the canyon or towards the mountains…taking in the incredible, always changing view, while dreaming and thinking.

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And I still do, as it is peaceful and so beautiful up there…one of many beautiful views of the moon rising last fall from the hill. Growing up here, life in America was filled with a simple innocence…lots of happy endings to fairy tales in America then…I would climb the hill and lay my head back down on the ground, watching clouds drift by all day long…it was summer in my soul all year long. Looking back, America has changed so much since I was in High School in the late 60’s and early 70’s…in hearing Don Henley’s song in the late 1980’s, a chord was hit in my heart as I knew…life was changing quickly and our innocence would be lost if society did not reverse itself back to days of old…when life was good and a word of honor with a handshake was all you needed for a man’s word.

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Song of summers past…memories of different times…the innocence of true heart…song of summers past, come back again…song of summer we all need you…bring back your innocence to the land of the brave.

_MG_5796God Bless America…For Which It Stands…One Nation Under God With Freedom, Liberty And Justice For All.

As I hop off this post…I leave you with “The End Of Innocence” and also my version of “God Bless America.”

      “The End Of Innocence”  By Don Henley

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
But “happily ever after” fails
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly

But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by men
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

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O’ beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They’re beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie

But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin
We’ll sit and watch the clouds toll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair spill all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

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Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say goodbye

Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

Flag-and-horseGod Bless America!  (Edited by HRCG)

While the storm clouds gather
Far across the land of America
Let us swear allegiance
To a land that’s free
Let us all be grateful
For a land so fair
Let us raise our voices
In a solemn prayer

God bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her,
Through the night with the light from above.

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From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.
God bless America,
My home sweet home.

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.

God bless America,
My home sweet home.