SWEET MEMORIES!

Last week was "OLDER" brother, Robbie's birthday and this week is "Younger" brother Noel's. Sandwiched between them was Daddy's birthday. A life cut much too short by the ravages of lung cancer. Before the days of true awareness of what it was doing, both my parents smoked. My Daddy smoked Camels & Piousness (Not for the faint of heart) like they were going out of style. If I remember correctly up to 3 packs a day. At the young age of 45, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died within 2 months. There was not much they could do for you in those days and the illness was a hideous way to leave this earth. Slow suffocation is a long and drawn out process that will make the strongest beg for mercy.

Daddy had his human faults as we all do, but he was ever the charmer when in good health. He and Momma suffered through many very difficult years with his addiction to alcohol. This left Momma with a permanent and unforgiving memory of all the trials and tribulations during these years. Some things in life are too painful to write about and although I would like to be able to put on a page what those years were like, I find myself unable to go there. I chose to remember the Daddy that I loved and adored instead. The "Good Years" far out weigh those bad ones in my mind's eye.

One HARD & FAST RULE I always told BC is that "Little Girls" need a strong Daddy. If their Daddy is unwilling or unable to meet that expectation, then they will go looking somewhere else for that "Father Figure". BC was an excellent Father and I believe "His Little Girl" adores him to this day. She has another strong male influence in her life now, but that is at it should be.

I believe Daddy would have been 91 if he were still with us on Thursday. He now has been gone as many years as he was here. I still love him and remember with warmth his warm hugs and steadfast love. In many ways I married a man with a very similar personality, but thankfully without the addictive personality. As always, I AM BLESSED!

You will note that the poll is over- HURRAH! I see the women are by far proclaimed as the most OCD. It is my personal belief that this is a genetic trait. I come from a family full of OCD. I know Momma, Robbie & I all have those traits. I am not sure about Noel. All of the runners seem to be OCD, but after all it does come with the territory. I run around with this group, so I will look "Normal". Compared to some of them-I AM REALLY QUITE SANE!

This morning we walked 4 to 5 miles and then went to Aerobics. We did a "Step Class". After more than 20 years since my last Step Class, I was delighted to learn that it is just like riding a bike-once you learn it is easy-no matter how long in between.

You will notice that "BlogHerAds" has advertisement on my blog now. If you hit on these ads, I will get an income stream from that. If I indeed, do get any income from this, I plan to donate ALL of it to some VERY WORTH causes.

WATCH- COMING FRIDAY - A NEW CONTEST!!!!!!!!