You want what? It was Christmas Eve 1996, daddy was back from the war in Vietnam. It had been a long year with daddy gone. Everyone was so excited about Christmas. We all bundled up and everyone jumped into the car to go and see all the Christmas lights. We were having such a great time and suddenly our five year old son excitedly said, “I can't stand it. I want it to be Christmas morning.” I made the comment that he must...

It's amazing how you go through life every day not really putting any thought into your day, just doing one thing right after the other. I had been married three months prior. I decided one day that my girlfriend and I should keep my husband's car every once in awhile. This way we would have transportation to go places during the day and find fun things to do. When Mike came in from work, I casually asked him, Hon, “Do yo...

I think I have came upon the answer that not only historians, but the women of the world have asked since the beginning of time. From the second that parents find out they are going to have a daughter, it immediately starts. She has such a wonderful future facing her. I just know she will grow up to be a beautiful mommy. She will make someone a wonderful wife. A marvelous mom to her own children. I can visualize her keepi...

Looking back over my life of all the accomplishments and the failures, I wonder what I could have done, if anything, to better my life. Most likely not, as I feel life is what it is, so don't worry about things you can't change. Of course, my greatest accomplishments were my two sons and my marriage of almost 54 years to my husband Mike. I must say along the way there have been many failures. I knew they were learning exp...

Life After Retirement You wake up one morning, the sun is shining and it looks like a beautiful day. What could possibly go wrong, your children are grown and your husband is retiring from the United States Army after 33 years. You're actually looking forward to living what's known as a normal life and boom, it just falls all around you like a pile of rocks. Those first couple weeks of the hubby under foot, you say to you...

French Food It's totally amazing to me that we pass up so many wonderful things with the explanation of, “I don't like that,” when truth be told we have no idea as we'd never gave ourselves a chance to experience it, especially when food is the subject and we have never even try the smallest bites. I look back now, and I think of all of the wonderful tastes, the marvelous dishes and the most fabulous memories that I misse...

I am not totally sure, but I'm guessing that most young wives are not connoisseurs or chefs when they get married, I certainly wasn't, a pot of beans and fried potatoes was a big accomplishment for me. I had been married about three months and both my husband and I were tired of eating every meal out. We lived in a very large apartment house and smells of wonderful dinners being prepared made me want to just knock on thei...

I love people, seeing new sights, just traveling in general. A few years back, I was helping out a very good friend of mine who was a manager at a Holiday Inn. She was in quite a predicament, she had a big inspection coming up to see if they could keep their franchise. After a couple months of really intense work and cleaning everything except the bathrooms, (I drew the line at that) the inspection day arrived and with al...

Where does one start to look? Since you're not really sure exactly what you're looking for, how do you distinguish exactly who you are now. I remember being called a brat during my growing up years and into my pre-teens. I remember being called names that I don't even like to think, much less repeat. I was married when I was 15. Some people referred to me as a young person, others referred to me as a child. Then there wer...

Off to France My husband and I were stationed in Germany in the late sixties. It has some beautiful countryside where I loved to go on day trips, not only to see the beautiful little towns with their charming churches, but to enjoy the wonderful food as well. My wives club was planning a trip to France, and I truly wanted to go. It was going to be for five days, two days spent on a bus going and coming and the other three...

My Worldly Travels My adventure starts here Ohio, here I come.... My friends from our Army days were going to Ohio to visit family. Roger and Sandy went home several times a year and asked if I would like to make the trip with them as my hubby was overseas. I love traveling so of course I jumped at the idea. Off we went in their station wagon, loaded down with snacks and sodas, since Roger would only stop for gas and pott...