IN MEMORY

We attended a memorial service today for Mitch, son of our dear friend Jane.

MASTER SERGEANT MITCHELL "MITCH" YOUNG, 39, was killed July 13 while conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol in Afghanistan, in support of combat operations while serving with the Special Forces Group (Airborne).

In May 2008, Mitch deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom as a member of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force--Afghanistan. This was his fourth deployment in support of the Global War on Terror and third deployment to Afghanistan. He was a Special Forces Operation Detachment-Alpha team sergeant.

Mitch, a native of our local community, volunteered for military service and entered the Army in 1991 as an infantryman. He served at Ft. Ord, CA, Ft. Campbell, KY, Germany and Ft. Bragg, NC. He earned the coveted "Green Beret" in 1999.

Mitch is survived by his wife, Robin, his mother Jane (our dear friend), his sister Cheryl and brother Brent.

The service was awesome, his childhood pastor and friends spoke along with his military friends and family to include his brother. It was a great service of honoring a man that loved his family and country and gave his life for all of us. I was okay until the military called his company roll, all his fellow soldiers answered, then when they called his name, they called it four time, each time adding to his name, Sgt. Young, no answer, Sgt. Mitchell Young, no answer, Sgt. Mitchell W. Young, no answer, SGT. MITCHELL W. YOUNG, no answer. Then they played taps. Everyone lost it. There wasn't a dry eye in the huge church that was overflowing with friends and family that came to honor him today.

He told his childhood friend he wasn't real excited about going back to Afghanistan, but his response was, "better there than here."

IS THIS A DOG OR A PONY?

This great dane belongs to my niece. He is the biggest dog I've ever seen, but he's always a big chicken (Sorry Lizzie). He thinks he's a lap dog, and is in my sister-in-law's lap, for crying in the cream. He can beat you to death with his tail and his bark is HUGE! He eats like a horse, no pun intended, but Lizzie loves him. He's the biggest fur baby in the world. However, her cats rule the roost, this dog is on the bottom of the food chain in this household. Poor baby. This is one of the kitties that makes the great dane mind. She's about eight pounds, the dog weighs 150 lbs.

THE OLD HOME PLACE

Hubby's cousin and her husband, on their way from Florida to North Carolina, visited for a couple of days. We decided to take a ride to East Point where he grew up and to check out the old home place.

The house still looks the same, except for the color. It was always white. The swing is still in the backyard, as is the garage. Hubby went to the door with a hand full of old photos and the young man LET US IN to look around. All the carpet has been taken up to expose the beautiful hardwood floors. The kitchen has new cabinets, in fact, down two wall, the door to the sleeping porch has been closed up, but for the most part the house is the same. Hubby pointed out the closet in the bedroom that he set on fire with sparklers. He wanted to see them before dark. His mother was an absolute HERO when she grabbed all the burning clothes and threw them out the window and his brother poured the dog's water on them. He did get a spanking for that stunt! All the rooms were small. I don't recall them being that small. Funny how things change in our minds. This is the place Hubby lived from the time he was five years old until we married. It was certainly a walk down memory lane. The young man couldn't believe we had photos, in fact, there was one of Hubby sitting in front of the TV in the corner of the living room. Would you believe the screen on the TV was round! That was probably about 1953.

Now on our home front--the road project continues. Last night at 8:00 p.m. the paving crew starts in front of the house. We were told they were working until 5:00 a.m. this morning. The noise and vibration of all the equipment drives me crazy. I've had to put rubber bands across the shelves of the shelf in the den so the items don't "dance" off into the floor. We will be SO GLAD when all this construction is finished. It's been almost three years since this project started, so we have about had it with the Georgia DOT. We are looking forward to getting our fence and gate back up. We are so sad that we have lost our once country road. We did manage to keep our driveway entrance where it has always been. Now that is a REAL victory. We have been fighting with the state about that issue since the project started.

ANNE FRANK

Hubby went with a friend to the old Decatur courthouse to look at a Confederate Army uniform coat. When he came home he was excited, not about the uniform coat, but about the Anne Frank exhibit that was on display.

We went back on Tuesday. It was an amazing exhibit! There was a 28 minute video, in addition to an art exhibit from some local schools. Some of those art exhibits just ripped out my heart. There was one in particular, a wooden Star of David with barbed wire around it and all kind of baby items that was extremely sad, and then there was the scrapbook of two Holocaust survivors. Photos weren't allowed in the exhibit. I have placed "The Diary of Anne Frank" on my must read list.

We have no idea what the Jewish people experienced during the Holocaust. We must pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Caught in the middle

This is not a tattoo, it's the result of getting caught between my cat, Oscar Snuggles, King of Tidewater, attempting to go outside and our neighbor's d.o.g. trying to come inside. Oscar was only protecting his territory, but I was the one injured. I think Mud Flap, the d.o.g. got smacked, because she let out a yelp. Actually, the d.o.g.'s name is Muffin, but we call her Mud Flap, because she is covered in red mud from our red Georgia clay. Our neighbor's son, who has been away three weeks attending a special camp for gifted children, came to visit and he brought Mud Flap with him. We saw him approaching the back door so I went to answer to door, but Oscar thought I was going to open the door to let him outside, only to come face to face with a d.o.g. It wasn't fun, believe me.