Category Archives: West Point

Do you remember Sunday?

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On a peaceful Sunday night, quietude filled the home and this mama lounged in her pajamas with the Hubs and her mom. The middle OS Aaron and orange haired, freckle face Isaac were asleep; the kitchen was clean, the dehydrator was going strong as usual.

We were watching a television show I refuse to mention for fear that you would think less of me (!) and suddenly there was a major news announcement. I wondered if there was a severe weather warning. A round of deadly tornadoes has swept our state but the interruption wasn’t from our local tv affiliate, it was from the national news network. The President was going to address the country imminently. What was so important that he had to talk to us so close to most people’s bedtime? Why couldn’t it have waited until the morning? Oh Jesus, what are we going to learn?

The three of us remained glued to the flat screen. As we waited, I googled, hoping to get advanced information that would either confirm or deny my worst thoughts. That was to no avail. Were we announcing another war? Did someone super duper important in the administration die? Was there another terrorist attack?

My spirit felt trapped and my feet unsteady. I wondered about the rest of my family. Would I ever see them again? What about my boy? My Soldier? Surely this news was going to effect him! Something was going to change and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then President Obama appeared on our tv screen. He approached the microphone and gave us the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed.

Although I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next in our country, I knew what we could expect. The phone rang.

It was our boy.”Did you hear the news?” Nate inquired. “Everyone’s going crazy over here, celebrating. We’re pretty pumped.” What else should you expect at West Point? Of course they were ecstatic and rightly so! These cadets are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country and safety, they should rejoice! Hearing Nate’s voice reassured me.

Of all the places to be on this Sunday night, Nate was at a place of historic significance, an institution (albeit imperfect) but nonetheless a place where honor, duty and country mean something.Lord willing, one day my OS will be able to tell his children and his grandchildren about this moment.

He will never forget the time when he and his fellow cadets rejoiced over the news that the sickening mastermind of terrorist attacks on US soil was eliminated from existence. While I sat in my cotton pajamas with my family, my precious child Nate was amidst people willing to die to defend  our way of life.

Among the most epic of all places to be when this man was killed would be at a military academy. Osama bin Laden was found just yards away from Pakistan’s equivalent of West Point.

In only one year, Nate will be graduating from West Point and most likely going to a place of international conflict. I’m not ready to go there yet emotionally and he’s not ready to go there geographically but we’ll need to gear up fairly soon. The Lord has not prepared me for this yet, I’m taking it day by day, not trying to borrow trouble.

I’m not naive enough to think that all of our world’s problems ended on Sunday when that man was felled but y’all, I’m glad, really glad he’s gone. 

For my next post, I’m going to share a story I wrote nine years ago about something Isaac asked me after September 11th.

What kind of question was THAT?

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Contemplate your road

Earlier in the week my friend Michele asked my middle OS a question. She did this in front of me and it wasn’t the sort of question most well-behaved women pose…


Not only was the question unusual but so were Aaron’s and my reaction. 

Ok, so this was her question –

“Aaron, did you write your obituary today?”

What would you think if your bestie asked your kid that question?

With nary a hint of awkwardness, Aaron smiled and said that yes, he had indeed written his obituary. It was almost as if she had asked my OS if he was going to play his guitar, nothing shocking entered his response.

And if it’s possible to be an outside observer of yourself, I was surprised by my own reaction to that question. I didn’t smack Michele upside the head nor did I burst into tears, something I can do with the greatest of ease. I just listened to their verbal exchange.

How strange it is that two of my three OS’s have written their obituaries. How peculiar that I am telling you. How not surprising that I am NOW crying as I continue to type this post. 

During their junior years in high school, it has been a standard assignment at our sons’ school. In British Literature class, students  pen their own obituary. Neither of my OS would have set out to do this independently but I’m glad they did. Trust me, you learn a lot about your kids with this type of homework.

So by now, you’re wondering, “Well, what did they write? What did you learn?”

Nate’s senior pic 2008
Nate was 85 and he died on a Thursday after saving his grandson from oncoming traffic. (Ok, I find that part funny, I mean, how old is his grandson???) “Nathan lived an exciting life that was marked by service to his country and service to the Lord.” My OS achieved a measure of political stature in his lifetime and was well respected in his community. He was married and had a quiver of children.

Aaron was a nonogenerian, just three years shy of being 100. He enjoyed a long marriage and was blessed with six kids, 17 grandkids and ten great-grandkids. He had been a pastor for 41 years.

I love that face. I love that boy. 
Oh how I long for these to be their true stories. Long lives, fruitful, productive, reproductive men who loved their families and the Lord. My heart’s cry is for them to breathe their last completely satisfied with what they gave to others, praising God for every page in their book of life. And while the thought of them actually having an obituary is more than this mama can handle right now, I appreciate the exercise of them consciously thinking about how they are living. 



In my next blog post, I am going to share with you my obituary. It is of a different sort and I’ve been waiting for the right time to put it out there. Since I strive to be honest and don’t want to string it along just in the hopes of getting a few more “hits” on my blog, I do not have a terminal disease. 


Have you ever thought about your children’s legacy? How do you think you would react to this assignment? I’d love to hear!

Dehydrating the days away

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I hesitate to even write this post lest some of you become envious of my exciting life.

Going hither and yon as I do, one minute I’m dropping a cylinder of salt on someone’s head at Trader Joe’s, the next I’m waiting for my stepfather to finish his colonoscopy.  Oh, the thrilling pace of my life!

So if you must, depart from this post immediately. I will understand.

But yesterday was a Red Letter, adrenaline pumping day for me because…

I became a food dehydrator owner!

About an hour after establishing a location for my new toy, two bunches of bananas were sliced, spritzed with lemon juice and ready to christen my Excalibur Model 3926T. Btw, the “T” stands for the 26, yes, 26 hour timer, an outstanding feature, if I do say so myself. 🙂

Now my first batch of dried bananas sit in the pantry. They look and sound like wooden nickels but taste much better. My orange hair, freckle face OS isn’t completely enamoured with them but I’m not giving up. I’m going to make this work in my family. My OS and the Hubs will appreciate my efforts at conservation and nutrition or face my wrath.

My new appliance murmurs away the kitchen and today, the trays are loaded with apple slices, strawberries and carrots. The apples were going to spoil soon, it is pleasing to put them to good use and not be wasteful. Don’t you admire people that can put things together simply? They use everything and don’t squander the smallest morsel. They also don’t hoard and that to me, seems to be a challenge. I want to be the kind of woman who is a faithful steward of the things she is given yet I also desire a clutter-free, welcoming home. Striking the right balance requires skill.

As silly as getting a new food dehydrator may sound to some, trivial though it might be to a person who pities the stay-at-home mom for the supposed drudgery of her life, I am thrilled with my new purchase. The thought of caring for my family, feeding them healthy things and learning new homemaking techniques brings me contentment.

According to Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook, why in no time, I will be making Backpacker Tuna a la King and Fancy Tomato Leather Chips. Yes, my OS’s lunch bags will be filled with beet leather and homemade crackers and friends shall crowd around them begging for a mere taste of these delicacies! My West Point OS will plead and beg for boodle loaded with Backpacker Fancy Macaroni and Cheese or pineapple sliced seasoned with cardamom. I can see it now!

While reading the recipes to Ike, I prophesied a future father/son camping trip complete with Backpacker Rice Balls Wrapped in Nori and kayaking adventures energized thanks to Tom’s Red Wine-Marinated Dried Fish. My comments were met with an impish grin and rolling of the eyes.

Ain’t she a beauty?
Um, maybe this isn’t the right technique???
Bananas full of hydration – not for long, you guys!
A not so wonderful reaction to braised daikon radishes
This is the expression I anticipate in the future from my orange hair, freckle face OS!
I’ll be sure to capture their noteworthy reactions as my dehydrating repertoire continues! Let the drying begin!

Cupid goes to West Point

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Chuck Norris hangs with the cadets.

Many important people have come to West Point.

Chuck Norris

and Miss USA although not on the same day…

Someone seems pretty happy to be near Miss USA!

Someone seems pretty happy to be near Miss USA!

Geraldo Rivera has stopped by WP and

so has The Prince of Orange.

"Hey everybody, I'm the Prince of Orange! How you doin?"

“Hey everybody, I’m the Prince of Orange! How you doin?”

Of course Presidents have traveled to WP and

so has Aunt Em all the way from Ohio!img_0918

Yet, I think that if you asked my oldest OS who was the sweetest person to recently stop by USMA, he’d say Cupid.

Cupid brought greetings from El Salvador!img_3498

February 14, 2011 was Nate’s first Valentine’s Day as an official “boyfriend” or as they say in Spanish “novio.”

Nate and Lu began their official dating relationship about seven months ago.

If you haven’t read any of the background story and you like modern-day fairy tales, click here and here.

I respect their relationship because it is based on the right things and they are trusting in the Lord as far as their future together is concerned.

Long distance relationships are difficult but Nate and Lu seem to make it worth. Can you say, “awww”?

From the moment I met this young lady (and I remind my OS that I met her first so he owes me BIG time), I knew she was special. You know your son has a great gf when she asks YOU for Valentine’s Day ideas. We conspired and came up with a plan. Since it is hard to celebrate this day with thousands of miles separating a couple, we enlisted the help of friends at West Point.During the day, Nate got a message that he had a package to pick up. He arrived at Central Guard Room and here’s what he received.As we all know, nothing says “Te amo“ more than a flashy Spanish Valentine’s Day card.  

Interestingly, our WP Cupid connection doesn’t speak a word of Spanish but according to Lu, the sentiments were just perfect. In addition, my oldest OS from the world’s great parents got a gift certificate to Sushi King, a sushi restaurant that also serves deli sandwiches located in bucolic Highland Falls.

If love alone could have flown Lu to West Point, I know she would have delivered her gifts personally. We pray my OS’s gf’s visa is approved in the near future. Nonetheless, we are thankful for good friends who believe in nurturing relationships between two awesome people. Last year for Nate’s 20th birthday, he also went to Central Guard Room. After hearing his name blasted over the loud speakers announcing he had a special package. We sent him this…

He traipsed back to his room with this cheerful bouquet.

I don’t know, which is better, teenybopper balloons of Miley Cyrus or the sweet love and friendship of a beautiful Salvadorena? DUH!

What makes tulips more beautiful? A beautiful girl from El Salvador!

Speaking to my OS and hearing joy in his voice is cause for year-round celebration.Check out the pretty tulips Nate sent Lu!Incidentally the Hubs gave me tulips on Valentine’s Day when we were dating.Good thing Cupid is a world traveler!
Even Nate’s Great Aunt Em stopped by WP!
The look of love? EW!
Happy Valentine’s Day 2011
The Hubs and me with our good friends who are also Cupids in disguise
Last year Nate celebrated his 20th b-day with Miley – HA!

Snuggies and snow

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Thank you Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you that I no longer have to live with this!

Everyone is talking about the Blizzard of 2011. Pictures abound of the frozen tundra in the nation’s heartland. I see my family and friends’ facebook statuses and offer a sympathetic shiver your way. It’s rather fun living vicariously with my windows open and a pleasant breeze wafting through my home. Just sayin.’ So in honor of the blizzard, may this post warm your heart wherever you are. 


Here are a few pics taken during Christmas. My sister Lorri visited from Chicago and when several inches of snow landed in our area, she and I set out to be silly. 

I just realized this is a heart-shaped snowball! Awww
Ok, so I might have forgotten how to make a proper snowball, big wup. 

Snow much fun

My dad isn’t in this picture but I bet he was in a line like this! 

Because of this much heralded storm, I also discovered something. I celebrated my fifth birthday during the Storm of ’67! I can still picture my father trudging out in the freezing snow on my birthday. He trekked through that blizzard to  the grocery store to buy me a birthday cake. It was strawberry and I couldn’t recall how old I was until everyone started talking about this wintry blast. How cool is that? Positively serendipitous. 


When Lorri and I were finished with our snowpeople, we went on a lark. Playing in the snow wasn’t simply fun enough. One night prior to her departure, my younger sister and I decided to strut our stuff on the “catwalk.” Btw, I made the items Lorri and I are wearing. We did not pick them up in New York City or Paris. In fact, if you’d like to duplicate my efforts, here’s the link! 



Here’s Nate posing at home with his new snuggie. 
Dramatic re-enactment of a sleeping cadet

Did you know that snuggies are the rage at West Point too! Nate and I have matching snuggies. That is a sign that we have a very wonderful relationship. We like to wear matching stuff. Kinda creepy but not really. 


Gotta a snuggie story? 









Doesn’t get better than this!

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If I must get a year older to be shown such love, I am glad to be aging. Well, at least I felt that way last week! 
Birthday bliss was overflowing! I didn’t have to wait until the actual day either. On Wednesday, Mavis, one of my Bible Study friends made me a birthday cake. The main ingredients were unusual but thrilling. Are you ready for this? 

Beets – ohhhhhh!
zucchini – shablam!
carrots – wowwww!













Be still my beating heart. If those ingredients sound gross, you must experience these victuals in a cake. With homemade buttercream frosting. Oh my. It was dense, decadent and delish. 

No flavors of the veggies could be detected although I wouldn’t have complained. Here is the recipe. I only hope I can duplicate her efforts. 



Then on Thursday the doorbell rang and guess what arrived? 


tough guy

a bouquet of fresh colorful tulips from my son/Soldier. What a sugar boy. I am the only one that gets to call him sugar boy so don’t even try. Remember he knows how to hurt people. 

cherub-like creature

And few hours later, the doorbell rang again. A most sublime, cherub-like vision was carrying another treasure!


Elizabeth floated into my home holding two pints of a soft, edible fruit formed into clusters of soft dark-purple drupelets also known as blackberries. 

if this person knocks on your door, let her in!

I nearly cried. She had read my post mentioning blackberries and when she learned I didn’t have any yet, she brought them to me. 


So that got me thinking…since it worked with Elizabeth, here are a list of other things I’d really like but don’t have yet. I’m not saying you HAVE to get these for me but if you did, I would gladly post about it! 😉

I want this, please get it for me
A high quality food dehydrator 
You can also get me this
A Kindle 


And of course, then I’d need this

Purple, please

How can you not be blessed when this person stops by? With cake no less! 

The doorbell rang thrice. Could this really be happening? It was Danielle, possibly the sweetest girl from church, dropping off a homemade pound cake. She informed me that she had already made me a cake the night before but the dog ate it! So you know what she did? She made another one! After the meal of shrimp prepared by the Hubs, we lavished on perfectly sweetened pound cake topped with juicy blackberries.

Is this an unattractive picture? Yes! Do I care? Nope. 

I didn’t expect these blessings and yet treasures surrounded me. What great fortune!


Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow!








Cooking in a Restaurant

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a pupuseria in El Salvador, doesn’t that look pretty? 

It was Saturday afternoon and Nate and I were on a mission. Much like the special training missions he goes on at West Point, my OS and I were focused and ready, steely-eyed and single-minded. Our task was significant. Nothing was going to stop us.

Our task – to procure ingredients and learn how to make a traditional Central American dish worthy of the fine country from which it hails. (Proclaimed in a loud, official voice with great gesticulation) A country whose name is on our lips more than I ever expected. A country I visited on a true mission trip from the Lord and while there serendipitously met a beautiful girl with whom my OS is now in love. The girl is Lu. The country is El Salvador, the dish, mi amigos…(cue dramatic music)

a pupusa
a real pupuseria in El Salvador
the adorable couple in El Salvador during Christmas

Nate had announced his desire to make pupusas for the family prior to arriving home for a brief visit. With two trips to San Salvador under his belt, he has embraced both his girlfriend and these thick, hand-made tortillas with gusto. A few months ago, Aaron and I happened upon a local Mexican restaurant that makes pupusas. A coincidence? I think not. Aaron was getting his driver’s permit and this restaurant is literally next door to the DMV! How convenient that it is only ten minutes from our house!

So my Soldier/OS and I drove to Tarascos Restaurant and went inside. 

Good salsa, great pupusas, lovely people!



Without hesitation, we each ordered a pupusa. A casual conversation began between us and the employees. Nate practiced his Spanish per my prodding. I think it’s so important to speak another language! As a French major, I actually understood some of the conversation. These people were warm and friendly especially when Nate explained that his girlfriend was Salvadoran. It appeared that they weren’t used to Americanos coming in and ordering pupusas.


Nate making his first pupusa

We inquired about how to make the perfect pupusa and before we knew it, the cook had invited us back to the kitchen. We had personalized instruction from Lillia who showed us how to make pupusas! Honored that she was taking the time to demonstrate the technique, Lillia invited Nate to try to make a pupusa himself. Pupusas aren’t hard to make at all but seeing her skilled hand prepare them was invaluable.
I predict that one day this guy’s gonna open up his own
pupuseria in the States! 





My little cutie-patooty and his pupusas!

So how did OUR pupusas taste? Aaron and Ike were rather unimpressed. Nate felt as if he was tasting play-dough. I didn’t think they were that bad. They were definitely better than the pupusas the Hubs tried to make a few weeks ago. Can you say “blech!” 

We did everything according to her instructions. I was a keen observer and despite the lack of flavor when we tried to make pupusas at home, we need to not give up. There wasn’t a secret ingredient mixed into the corn flour but maybe it was the seasoned griddle Lillia used, I’m still trying to figure it out.  I’m not giving up on mastering this dish though, I assure you! I just finished the book The Art of Eating In and feel more compelled than ever to master tasty, interesting, economical meals for my family. 

We are praying that one day, Lord willing, Lu and her family will come here for a very special cooking demonstration.  

Even though our pupusas weren’t as good as the ones in El Salvador and at Tarasco’s, we remain blessed and optimistic about the future of cooking and of love. When the world feels so close and people get along, it is cause to rejoice!

Ring, ring!

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If the cliche wasn’t so true, I wouldn’t use it but where has the time gone? Nate is now ring shopping!

Two cuties in El Salvador

If your heart skipped a beat, and you’re like “Wha?????” settle down there! If you imagined our OS searching for a shiny bauble for a Salvadorena beauty, I’m sorry to disappoint you. We’re not there yet.

Nate is ring shopping for himself and deciding about the type of ring he wants as a 2012 graduate of the United States Military Academy.

* June 2008 R-Day, my boy walked by us in the parade and oh how I wanted to run and grab him take him away from all these people yelling! Nate had made his mind up, he was going to West Point and I couldn’t stand in the way.

During an impromptu visit home (which aside from Ike’s flu, made it the best MLK weekend I’ve ever had!) Nate showed us the brochure featuring his ring options.

What a huge ac- complishment for our OS to be on the other side of the 48 month experience known as West Point. I sat beside him on Sunday pondering that the eager, determined teenager who entered West Point on that most notable day is now a competent, strong leader and man.

I like this figurative place as a WP mom.

You see, I’m strategically positioned to be content about all that he has done while not giving too much worry to what he’s going to do AFTER graduation. I can celebrate the cool stuff like my OS getting a ring and block out the “other things” like when and where he will be deployed. Not. going. there.

Let’s just concentrate on jewelry, shall we?

What makes a West Point ring especially significant is the symbolism literally melted in the ring.

Following the death of a West Point grad, some families, upon the bequest of the departed grad or simply to pass on tradition, donate the ring back to West Point. It’s called the Ring Memorial Program.

The ring is then melted and the shavings are used to help create a new ring.

When West Point grads receives their ring, they have a part of the men and women of the Long Gray Line with them.

* This is the march back from Buckner where Beast was held – a momentous event!

The design of the 2012 crest features two swords symbolizing the graduates going from a cadet to an officer. I will stuff my purse with Kleenex as I see this ring on my boy’s finger. Partially because it will be no small feat to get a ring over his  gi-normous knuckle and also because I will be bursting with pride.

Next year, the Hubs and I will attend the Ring Weekend. Nate will be on the receiving end of Ring Poop which thankfully has nothing to do with #2!

I will buy an expensive new dress and possibly several new outfits for the event.

The Hubs and I are attending Financial Peace University so I guess I’ll need to start saving up right now because this girl is gonna bring it! 😉 I won’t be wearing anything like this.

WOW!

Personally I like matching shoes.

But perhaps something like this?

Hmmm…This might be a little over the top but then again, maybe not!

As the mama of three sons, it’s rare for me to talk bling in this household so I’m going to cherish this moment and not hurry to the next!

Morning Glory

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If you gave up on me, I don’t blame you. I nearly gave up too. The long lapse in posts is because I had to prioritize things in my life and finding time to write was nearly impossible. I’m going to limit this post just so I can make sure I publish it. Thanks for coming back and encouraging me!


A brief summary, life is good. The burning question is what’s going on with the “romance”? Answer: as indicated in the picture, Nate’s still in love and Lu’s still very fond of him.  I’ll blog more about this as I get those posts “approved.”

Two people who like each other…a lot



But Thursday morning, I awoke to the sweet bristle of whiskers on my face. Wearing my customary and oh so attractive sleep eye mask and two, yes two bite guards, Sleeping Beauty would have been jealous. With all my nocturnal regalia, I wasn’t sure who was giving me affection but I liked it. Then I heard these words, “Sorry, Mama for talking rudely to you last night. It was disrespectful and I shouldn’t have done it. Will you please forgive me?” Of course, I knew exactly whom it was and my heart smiled as I accepted his apology.

Please don’t be jealous



You see, on Wednesday evening, my orange-haired, freckle face 14 year old OS had committed several “transgressions” just before going to bed. Why does it happen that one minute everything is going swimmingly then it careens into the abyss? With very little warning, our family is prone to go from peace to war in record time! 

One of our family’s fave books of all time

Ike went to bed still angry and completely certain HE was right as usual. William Steig’s adorable book Spinky Sulks is hilarious and pretty much a biography of my boy! This stubborn recalcitrance is not the way we prefer for our OS to enter Dreamland but Ike wasn’t going to budge. I believe the technical words for this condition are SIN and PRIDE! Definitely from the Hubs’ side of the family. The Hubs still tucked him into bed that night and though I shall never grow tired to hearing the cadence of “good nights and I love you’s” nary a peep echoed from his bedroom. I’m certain he bitterly muttered to himself, “Just remember THEY are wrong. YOU are right!” over and over again.

It is mere coincidence that I am holding something with Attitude. I never have an Attitude! Hrmph!


In addition, our oldest OS called from West Point shortly afterward informing us that he was heading to the hospital. The unpleasant and quite gross remnants of his Christmas trip to El Salvador were lingering FARRRRR too long. Thus our night ended with a resounding thud.

But I knew something or rather Someone would speak to Isaac in a way I could not. In the quiet of his room, a still, small voice, one pure and 100% reliable, would nudge my orange-haired, freckle face OS to make it right with those he loved. Ike wanted nothing to do with my reasons why an apology was warranted but I was certain Ike would never win a round arguing with the Lord.  


I also knew the same Source who would chasten Isaac would also be with my oldest OS at the hospital in New York. I prayed with Nate before he left for the hospital, I can’t even imagine how a mom, let alone the mama of a Soldier does this whole mothering thing without Jesus. Seriously. 


When situations are such that a mama can’t be with her children in difficult times, it is comforting to know that God is perfectly equipped to be there. I need to remember this as my OS navigate life…Nate will one day be serving his country elsewhere probably far away, Aaron has a heart for ministry and graduates high school next year, Ike eagerly talks about adopting children one day AND being in the NBA. 

I.am.happy.

Despite our family’s imperfections (and they are numerous!) and our ugliness (simply envision me with the sleeping mask and two, yes two mouth guards!), God cared, healed and repaired. Amen


Thanks for listening! Would love your comments

Charming, very charming

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What a sweet love story!

It was BIG news in our family when Nate fell in love.

The phone lines were abuzz as I talked to my mom at least every day giving her the latest update.

We brainstormed, conferred, analyzed, considered, prayed, worried, imagined and everything else a mom and grandma could do when the oldest OS/grandson is smitten.

Here’s how those conversations often went:

Me: “Mom, Nate REALLY likes Lu.”
My mom: “Wow!”
Me: “Mom, he’s using the ‘L’ word with her!”
My mom: “Wow!”
Me: “What should I do, Mom? I mean, he’s using the ‘L’ word!”
My mom: “Exactly what ‘L’ word is he using?”
Me: “Come on, Mom, really? LOVE!!!”

You get the idea. It was fun musing what was going to happen next and soon my sister Denise joined in on the fun.

She has a close relationship with Nate and when he was home for a visit, he stopped by her house for dinner.

Rachel squeals, “Love is in the air!”

After playing with his cousins around and holding the baby Rachel, Denise had a heart to heart conversation with Nate.

I appreciate my sister speaking truthfully to my OS about sensitive issues and reinforcing the solid Biblical principles we endorse in our family. I can always count on her.

As a bonus this time, Denise’s romantic side offered Nate even more.  She suggested Nate give Lu some jewelry. Is there any girl in the world who doesn’t like jewelry?

Denise didn’t suggest this

A stunning gold retainer necklace!

or anything gross like this.

But if Lu wanted a mouthguard necklace, Ike has a few he could donate!

Nor did Denise recommend a trinket like this.

It’s just wayyyyy too personal, wouldn’t you agree?
A chewed piece of gum necklace = ew.

Denise suggested something pretty and romantic, a gift similar to the one she received from her husband many years ago.

This….


a sliver charm bracelet.

The first one I received when I was 16 years old.

I can look at each charm and tell a story about every one. For example, as a teenager I received a typewriter charm for my love of writing.

I have charms from at least five different countries. While on our 20th anniversary celebration to Maine, the Hubs got me a lobster net charm.

West Point charm

And my OS gave me a West Point charm which I cherish. I don’t wear the bracelets very often but I love to look at them and remember.

Once Nate decided to buy Lu a bracelet, I had the privilege of going with him to shop for the bracelet. He wanted my opinion and I must say I jumped at the chance. We went to a small, locally owned jewelry shop and he found a very sweet bracelet that we agreed would look so pretty on her.

Then, while on a trip to visit family in Greenville, SC, Nate found a mustard seed charm.

Nate and Lu trust in the Lord and believe that if this is going to work, they need to have the faith of a mustard seed and rely completely on His will in their relationship.

The final charm my OS wanted for Lu was a plane which I thought was very romantic.
In an effort to help, Aaron, Ike and I went shopping with him. We went to at least ten different stores to find the right plane charm.

Btw, it is not easy to find an airplane charm. We found cheap airplane charms for a little girl’s bracelet and other travel-related charms but Nate wanted nothing to do with them. He wasn’t going to settle. Finally after dashing around the mall, just as the store was closing, he found it. As patient as Nate was in waiting for the right girl, he was equally resolute in finding the perfect charm, not settling for anything but the best. 

The little charm bracelet traveled to El Salvador tucked safely in his backpack. Lu’s father had given their relationship his approval and it was their second night out as an official bf/gf type thing.

They were sitting outside of a restaurant, a tropical breeze swayed through the air. Nate presented her with a mushy card, the contents written therein have yet to be shared with me (which I totally DON’T understand!) 😉 but I do know how beautiful Nate’s sentiments can be and I’m only his mom. It must have been super mushy. He then handed her the rectangular box and she opened it.

According to my OS, Lu had a “positive reaction” and that’s all I have been told.  I have asked, oh, trust me, if you know me, I have asked. I have a nasty family reputation of asking too many questions. Hey, I have a major in journalism, it’s my nature. Currently “lips are sealed.” Waa. Perhaps a sushi lunch with my OS will pry it out of him. Perhaps not.

The one thing I know is that a lovely young lady in Central America now has a delicate, silver bauble to remind her that she is loved by a really awesome oliveshoot who is thinking of her constantly.

More soon!