Trip Report

We hit the road on a rainy California morning, heading to Texas for a reunion of Mr. D's Army unit.  Over one hundred of them had trained together at Fort Irwin, California, and shipped out from Long Beach in 1968 to Vietnam.  

 

By the time we passed Palm Springs, we had blue skies and smooth sailin'

 

Not long after they arrived in Vietnam, my husband was re-assigned to work as an artillery adviser to the Vietnamese.   He really didn't remember the others at the reunion, but some of them knew his name from  being on the other end of the radio when he called in the firing coordinates for the heavy artillery.

  Apparently those things are not easily forgotten.

  I took one look at the pictures they had in albums and started to cry.

 We were newlyweds at the time he was deployed,

 and it's still hard to think about all they went through.

The reunion was hosted by a retired Officer, at his country road ranch.

He and his beautiful and talented wife were very gracious

 and treated us all to a day of down-home food and music.  

She's an artist, and her wood-burning art can be seen here 

  (these photos are from her website)

The color is added with pencils or pastels

I was taken with the property and all the rustic elements

and wandered off and went a-shootin, while hubby reminisced

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

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  Spiritual Sundays

Vintage Inspiration Friday 

A Starfish Named Samuel

You've probably heard the story of the little boy on the beach tossing starfish back into the ocean.

The Starfish Story

Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The youth replied, "throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out.  If I don't throw them back, they'll die."

"Son, the man said, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?

You can't make a difference!"

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.

Then, smiling at the man, he said,  "I made a difference for that one."

 

I met a starfish once ~ his name was Samuel.

Three of us had gone down to the beach to pray for our city.  We were standing at the edge of the water, and a young man came up and asked what we were doing. After we explained, he asked if we would pray for him.  He was down and out, looking for work, and more importantly, direction.  And of course, we did.

 As I was about to walk away, I asked, "may I give you a little money".  We had actually locked our purses in the car and I was thinking I'd have to go back and get it.  But instead, as I asked the question, my hand went into my pocket and pulled out a $20 dollar bill.  Someone had given it to me earlier in the day and I'd completely forgotten about it.  But it wasn't forgotten.  I handed it to Samuel and gave him a final hug and we left him sitting on the beach.

As we walked away I looked back over my shoulder, and could see Samuel wiping away tears.  We really hadn't done much ~ we were just in the right place at the right time ~ but it was meaningful to Samuel.

  Thankfully, we were able to say, "we made a difference for that one."

Counting My Blessings,  xo Susy

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