Memorial Day 2010 For Dad

I knew growing up that while Dad was in the Air Force that he went lots of different places flying on board at KC-97. I knew that not because I could remember the times and places he was gone - after all he started doing his TDY's when I was only a year old and who can remember things when they are that young?! I knew that because of pictures taken while he was gone. I knew that because of mementos he brought back. I knew that because I do remember waiting for him to return on occasions beside an airfield or in a holding room.

I spoke with him today to get a rundown on the years and places he used to be deployed:

1952 and 1954: Morocco


1953: He was stationed in Mildenhall Air Base, England. While there he would make other trips where he would fly to Libya, then Cyprus, then Germany and then on to Norway before returning again to England.

1958: His last TDY was to Thule, Greenland

One of the few pictures with Dad smoking a cigar...

Other places he went: The Azores and Bermuda and Gander, Newfoundland which were stopovers to and from Europe.

Look how much Jimmy and Corey look like Dad in this picture!

Look! It's Mom in the paper. (She's the short one).

The Trip Home to Wyoming

Although Joe and I had a non-stop flight from Atlanta to Denver, it didn't go well again this year. It was as they said "fraught" with problems. Our flight left late from Atlanta, then halfway through the flight, we were diverted to a northern route (an extra hour on our travel time) due to possible tornadoes and bad weather in the Denver area. Then we had to circle the Denver airport for almost another half hour before we could land. We were about to use the last of our fuel. Then when we landed, we were not allowed to pull up to our gate because the ground crew could not park us due to the frequent lightning around the airport. So, we sat in our plane for another two hours until the weather passed with no lightning.

These are some of the pictures I took while sitting on the plane...

Once we deplaned then we were stuck in the terminal for another 3 1/2 hours along with these wonderful people. We had to wait for earlier scheduled flights to take off and then ours since no planes had been allowed to land or depart. The young lady behind Joe was heading to Casper to see her boyfriend who is one of our newscasters here in Casper. The couple on the right were from England and were heading to Kaycee (about 75 miles north of Casper) to see their daughter Carole who is the vicar. Another lady sitting to the right of Joe (can't see her) was on her way back from Afghanistan to see her family for the next two weeks. She trains police officers in the Mideast).

Finally at around 12:30 a.m., we were able to board our plane. When we finally arrived in Casper, it was raining and I finally went to bed and got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep before getting up to go to work. What a long day!

LeavingMom and Dad

Last year when we left Georgia, I had my picture taken with them that last day. This year I couldn't do that for some reason. So, I took pictures of their house knowing that they were there.

It was nice seeing the Wyoming flag flying in the compound yard. It was my way of making people remember me everytime they saw it.

Lunch At The Wall

Monday afternoon, Mom and Dad, took Joe, Corey, Nikki and Derek to lunch at The Wall. It seemed so strange walking in there after a year and everything being exactly the same. It was as though time had stood still.

(Did I mention that Derek LOVES Lo Mein noodles)?

Old and Dear Friends

While in Georgia, I had the opportunity to spend some time with some old friends I'd not sen since last year - some even longer. Unfortunately time didn't allow the chance to see many others this time.

But, I did get to have lunch with Jerry, Shirley and Amy which gave us all the opportunity to catch up with one another. In fact, Amy drove down from Atlanta and spent the night with Jerry. What a special time that was for me.

Dear friend, Tami...

Known forever friends Vickie and Darrell Spikes and Emily and Gary Flanders...

For dinner, we met with several of our friends at the Ole Time Country Buffet. We had posted an announcement on Facebook that anyone who wanted to see us needed to meet us there as our trip was much shorter this time.

So, there was the Clements family, along with Jasmine and her new hubby, Matthew, as well as Ann and we even brought Mom along...

And then there were some of my "children" that I've watched grow up since they were three years old who now have children of their own...

Karla, Levi and Carla...

And then, on the last morning, it was time to say goodbye to Ann with whom we'd stayed with again this year...

Her lovely home and gardens...

There were many more who either called or sent messages saying they were sorry they couldn't see us for one reason or another. There were the ones whose pictures weren't taken to record the visit. But, I am grateful for those I saw and once again feel blessed for the friends in my life.

The Old Home...

...looks very, very sad these days as no one still lives in it. In fact, there is no sign in the front that says "For Rent" or "For Sale" so it's just sitting there deteriorating. It's very sad hard for me to look at something that once was my home - a home filled with lots of memories. Though some of those memories may not all be good, I spent almost 30 years living there. This is the home bought as a newlywed, I brought my baby home from the hospital, I ran my childcare business for 13 years with numerous amounts of adults and children coming in and out and this is where my marriage ended and another one began.

I miss that old house because of the character of the tongue-in-groove walls, the hardwood flooring, the rooms, the big back yard. I miss it mainly because of my neighbors, the neighborhood and the gardenia bushes. How I miss those bushes. I miss the beauty, but most of all the scent. It's worth waiting for a whole year just to see and smell those flowers.

So, it hurts to see the old home just following apart and no one to appreciate the flowers which should be blooming right now. It hurts that no one is making new memories in that home full of my memories.