40 years and counting!

 I woke up this morning, stretched and began thinking.  I have been in this house at this address for 40 years.  That is half of my life!  How sad that we live our lives one day at a time and then one day realize that what we see in the rear view mirror is our life slipping away!  

What happened to that little skinny girl on Strong Street who wanted to be a missionary?  When did the dreams of working with the natives in Africa and teaching them about taking care of each other and learning about Jesus Christ turn into having a baby every year?  How did I become a mother and grandmother in the twinkling of an eye?  When did I actually set my course on Colorado and watch Kansas recede in my rear view mirror?

There were six of us kids growing up.  Now there is just Donna and I.  I think back to family dinners with aunts and uncles and cousins.  I used to have grandmas and all that.  Sadly even my friend list is dwindling.  Slowly, slowly and one by one, my friends are slipping from sight.  Family?  What is family and where is family?  I have 2 kids in Pueblo, 1 in Texas and 3 in Kansas.  Friends?  Probably the friends I had back in Kansas are mostly pushing up daisies!  Evelyn is still there.  Vi moved to Missouri and I never hear from her any more so who knows.  Last time we talked she waved the trump banner in front of my liberal face and laughed.  Fatal mistake.

Where was I going with this?  Oh, the fact that I have spent more years in this house then anywhere else in the whole world!  When mother was alive she used to send me the obituaries of people I had known.  I dutifully dropped them into a desk drawer.  Then I bundled them up and moved them to a bigger drawer.  Then the drawer was emptied into a cardboard box and put on a shelf in the closet.  The pile continues to grow and my memory is beginning to fade.  Names that were at one time so very important to me are now just words on a piece of yellowed paper.  The heart that used to hurt when I thought of my losses is now numb.

Soon I will take Kenneth to Imperial and have him interred under his stone.  Anthony and Annie are resting on my dresser.  Soon I will take them to their new home.  Then I will wait for my turn.  To everything there is a season, a time to plant and a time to pluck up.  A time to laugh and a time to cry.  A time to live and a time to die.  

Right now it is time to let the geese out.  The sun comes up and the sun goes down and I will put one foot in front of the other because that is what we as humans are designed to do.  Sometimes some of God's children get impatient and try to rewrite the rules.  That never would work for me.

Guess I am just old school.

2 Blue Stars

Kathleen M. Goodrich

SGT U.S. Army Veteran

You all know that I sell on ebay.  A couple months back I grabbed a handful of lapel pins and put them on as a lot.  The one little bar with a red band, white background, and two blue stars was the one that ended up as my display picture. 

I have had the best luck in the world with my customers on eBay.  If I list something and it is not right, someone will call it to my attention.  If I do not know what something is, someone will email me and tell me what it is and where it came from and what it should bring.  And so it was with this little pin.

In this day of the "me" generation it is refreshing to meet some one who still holds to the value and honor that our Armed Services represents.  This young woman was kind enough to start a dialogue with me and teach me just what this little lapel pin represents.  The following is our correspondence:

Dear loumercer3,
The 2 "Blue Star" Pin is typically worn by a Mother who has two Sons or Daughters serving in the Armed Forces Overseas. In the unfortunate event that one or both of her Children are Killed in Action the Blue Star Would be changed to Red. This pin at one time belonged to a very proud Mother. I thought you might like to know what this pin means.
Kathleen M. Goodrich
U.S. Army Veteran
- kathyvfw

Dear kathyvfw,
Thank you for that information! I am going to take that ad down and relist with this information if that is alright with you? I may not relist it. Seems rather derogatory to sell something that important on ebay along with a pile of other worthless stuff.
thanks again.
Lou Mercer
- loumercer3

Dear loumercer3,
On behalf of myself and all Vetereans, Thank You for giving this most precious symbol of a Mother's Love and Pride the Dignaty and Honor that it deserves. If you must sell it please sell it separately. I am a bit doubtful that someone will bid on it as it most assuredly has been worn by By a Mother and is quite sacred for that reason. I am a U.S. Army Veteran but I am also A Mother of a U.S. Army Veteran and I Proudly wore a Blue Star Pin.
You may think you have a pile of wothless stuff but please remember your Heart is priceless.
Thank You
Kathleen M. Goodrich
SGT U.S. Army Veteran

- kathyvfw

Dear kathyvfw,
I will call the local VFW tomorrow and see if they would like to have it. Or the heritage museum.
First I am going to do a short blog on it.
Thanks again,
Lou

-loumercer3

Dear loumercer3,
Thanks again for caring. My apology for spelling Veteran incorrectly I had spelled it Vetereans possibly a tear or two got in the way. The pin belongs where it is known as much more than a peice of metal. Many Thanks for taking it on it's final Journey.
Kathy

-kathyvfw

And there you have it; what the little pin with blue stars represents.  It is no longer in the bag along with the other pins.  It is now in my jewelry box and when Frank and Kay get back from Texas I will give it to them and they will find a nice home for it where people will know what it represents.  At that point in time it will be accorded the honor it deserves after spending several years in a box of junk jewelry that I picked up for $15 at a garage sale.

I do want to thank Kathleen M. Goodrich for finding my listing and for sharing her knowledge with me.  I am sure her mother also wore a pin like this. 

And my words of wisdom for today ring very true....There are some things that even money can not buy.