The Journey Home

Greg's grandfather passed away today. Our hearts are so heavy. And yet we know. We know. He's home. He's healed. He's whole.

I've treasured an article written about Clarence, and his life-long sweetheart Anita. I want to share it with you . . .

Clarence Burkett still remembers the words of his Navy buddy, Bruno: "I'll introduce you to a nice girl, provided you'll be good to her."

Fair enough, Clarence thought. But the introduction would have to wait. It was 1943, World War II was raging and both men were sailors aboard the USS Pennsylvania, a battleship that had survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The "nice girl" that Bruno had in mind was a young woman from his hometown of Renton, Wash. Anita Qualiotto was her name, and she was also friends with Bruno's girlfriend, Cleo.

Bruno provided an address. And sometime in late summer of 1943, Clarence, a country boy from Paintsville, KY, began writing to Anita, whom he had never met and knew little about.

She answered each letter.

The correspondence continued for months as he saw duty in Hawaii, on the West Coast and in the Aleutian Islands.

"We just kept writing," Anita says. "Evidently, something clicked."

Details of those thoughts have been lost to time. The letters are gone.

Clarence left the battleship after a bout of appendicitis. In January 1944, he found himself stationed in Bremerton, Washington, just across Puget Sound from Renton.

So he hopped aboard a ferry boat to visit Anita for the first time.

"It felt like we knew each other," she says, then adds with a chuckle: "Naturally he fell in love with me immediately."

"She chased me till she caught me," Clarence says. Then he admits he never went steady with anyone else.

They married in April 1944, just three months after meeting.

--Written by John Johnston for the Cincinnati Enquirer in November, 2006.

Tonight he's with my angel-baby, my first, who was due this very day, December 23, five years ago.

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

Christmas Card {Blogger Style}

If I had my act together, and I do not, but if I did . . . I might use this picture for a 2010 card. I love that he has his arm around her. I am, however, a perfectionist. It would drive me crazy that her arm is blurry.


Second contender. I love how she's looking up at him. I love this moment. Might have to re-crop it a bit. Lose the sidewalk. Perfectionist at work here!


This one gets it right. She's a pint-sized drama-queen. He's holding his little sister's hand, looking at her the same way her daddy does . . .

Truth be told, no card this year. I am just too broke busy. But more than any of the previous excuses, I am soaking up these precious few holiday moments. So Merry Christmas to each of you!!

"I bring you good news of great joy to all people. The Savior--yes, the Messiah, the Lord--has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Luke 2:10-12

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy kids. Happy Thanksgiving.

Blessed . . . and thankful!

Ben-meister

All Dressed Up

Meow-meow and her hero-of-the-night, Ironman are sound asleep. The candy high wore off quickly, thank heavens.

Sadie & Tessie Two

We've been busily scampering after these two . . .

Sadie is the Tricolor, and Tess is the little Blenheim. As sweet as they are pretty, both spent countless hours in our (mine & Greg's) laps during the last few days.

Both are young, and both are escape artists. These two traits combined are indeed trouble. I won't elaborate, but will instead conclude with gratitude for their safe return on both occasions.

i heart cameron

Squeaky Clean

Funky Town's newest residents

They're not armed, but they're serious.

Monkey

My Ben is a monkey, through and through.

And his mommy is a mess.

But we like it that way!!


First day of pre-school for Ben was today. I was so proud of myself for bringing a fully charged camera. About three seconds after I pulled it out and started clicking away, the lens fogged up. This the best picture I got!

He calls his sweet teachers "The Yellow One" and "The Pink One". Their brightly colored polos are surely to blame. I think instead of working on his coloring homework, we'll work on name-memorization.

Happy School Days!

Hiatus

Blogging has taken a major backseat in my book . . . Summer activities are full force. Vacation Bible School, swimming lessons with Papa, a quick trip to Dallas, and more . . .

I feel like time spent here in blog-world is wasted, and the to-do list just gets longer and longer. Maybe when the fall weather hits I'll be inspired to stalk my kids from behind the camera {I know, that's the end of October in Houston}. Either way, stick around, I'll be back at it before you know it!

In the mean time, a picture of my funny girl. She is funny. Quirky, spirited, spunky. She reminds me so much of my grandmother, Bessie Mae. Big things come in small packages.

Happy Mother's Day!

news in ninety seconds

i didn't take pictures of my little darling on her second birthday. i will make it up. somehow. someday.

greg fell down the stairs {for the umpteenth time, as he's too macho to hang on to the hand rail}. he suffered the most horrific injury i've ever seen. his left {ahem} cheek has a black/purple/royal blue bruise the size of a ruby-red grapefruit. not even kidding. he asked me if i thought he could get a blood clot from it. if that thang starts to move he's going to have a massive stroke. i've begged to get a picture, but he knows me well enough to know that my mother, sister, girlfriends would receive text images within minutes . . .

both kiddos are great. they make my heart smile. until it hurts.

no current {fun} projects at chez burkett. we're waiting to see if a new roof is in our immediate future.

i think ellie is nearly deaf. she's still my honey. my little dog, a heart beat at my feet {someone brilliant and famous said that, not me}.

that's all. i'm exhausted.

more soon, i hope . . . if not, know at least i'm living it {not capturing it} to the fullest!

Ben Jammin' Turns 4!

And my mommy forgot to post something.

Just messing with ya. I should preface this by saying this is Ben's dad (Greg) writing and not his mommy. Of course, that is pretty evident considering this is my first time ever to blog and Amanda is already a pro. However, even she is human has been totally swamped with... well, everything so I thought I'd give her a break. With that said, I didn't want Ben's birthday to go by without wishing him one last.... Happy birthday Ben! I love you, buddy, and hope you enjoyed your day!

Love,

Daddy

(One last thing, these pictures are from my cell phone and no where near the quality of what ya'll are used to getting from Amanda. But, they came from me and I think that's part of what blogging is about.)