A Normal Weekend

Glad to be here, Saturday in Jax with great spring weather. Not too hot, sunny with a bit of rolling cloud to help keep the ultra violet rays in sorta check. Another reason to enjoy Florida, and by the way; Great beach weather for those who congregate on sand near salt water.

Today, we will be running a few errands, followed by dinner with Mom at a local eatery. I never celebrate holidays on the day set aside for such celebrations. I hate crowds and amateur partiers.

Monday, we have three visitors coming down from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, one of whom is a freshly graduated college student. This means the pool and the kegerator will be getting a good workout, and maybe we can take a short trip on the Barco just to see if it still runs. After a couple days, the young'uns will return to Michigan hauling our Little Red Boat.

How cool is it to be about 21 and get to own a working motorboat? I think that there will be water skiing on small lakes in the near future. Stay safe out on the water, ok?

Have a great weekend, everybody!

P.S.

Anybody see a resemblance?

1945

1992

 Uncanny.

Ok, now the Rest of the Story...

The young gent in the Marine uniform is my Uncle Edward, whom I never had the pleasure of meeting. I grew up hearing stories of Eddie (who had been injured in the invasion of Saipan) from my Mom, and naturally, I always wondered what kind of person he was, what he looked like and all the questions that a young kid would wonder about... Mom had moved away from her family when she got married and they never regained contact. Sometimes it just works out that way, right?

Snooping around the internet, I discovered this photo on somebody's f- book page. The photo was tagged with the right name, the uniform is correct and the eyebrows match to a tee. This is the first view I have had of my Mom's brother, as he appeared in 1945. I think we all look great in our uniforms, when we are in the peak of health and exuberance. It looks like that photo was taken by one of those roving photographers that would take your picture with your friends for a buck, or two. What fun!

Before posting this, I set this to my Mom and she says that I really take after her other brother, looks wise. George was a Soldier, though. (Not that there's anything wrong with that;-) ).

Look closely at that eighteen or nineteen year old Private-- He has Two Battle Stars on his Pacific Theater medal and a Purple Heart. And still a Private, having not reached twenty... Just like so many of our youth today!

There is another photo I cropped out from Edward's picture. It is of his Granddaughter who is currently serving in the Army. Out of privacy concerns (And I have not been introduced to any of these folks!) I cropped her out out. But I am sure their family is quite proud of the service of Grandfather and Granddaughter!

The internet; Gotta love it. Eventually, everything will be on the internet...