blessings on memorial day weekend

We had a pretty sparse group here at church,
but maybe the sermon title -
"The Choreographer, the Dance Partner, and the Music"-
didn't speak to them as it had to me.
(smile)
I really liked the reference to dihydrogen oxide -
water, ice, and steam -
that Billy worked in there, too!
And what do we have here? The graduating/graduated students of Asbury Memorial, including my niece, Molly!
That's her on the far left!
She's going to join her sister at Kennesaw and pursue a dual degree in... wait for it... accounting (like my stepdad) and theatre!!!
She's going to do so well, I just know it!
She made sure to thank me for the graduation gift! I know she'll put that $100 to good use.
(smile!)

Here's family trinity photo with her.
That's my niece, on the right,
talking about her plans with her dad's
Aunt Joan (who is her Great-Aunt and
Reverend Billy's mom).
Between them is my stepsister, Jean,
also known as Molly's mom.
I'll have to be sure to get that to her!

After our hobnobbing
had run its course,
I rode on out to
Greenwich Cemetery
to visit Mama.
I like to do that
every year as part of
my personal
birthday celebration.
(I was thrilled to
be able to squat down
for this photo!)
When the drizzle started
again, I sat in my car to
share the photo with others.

Then I spotted a couple standing on the family plot!
What were they doing?
Should I know them?
I walked over and asked if they had known the Barry group.
No, they had not.
They were looking for graves of those killed in combat, then leaving a pot of begonias and a flag at them
The two had spotted the Air Force signage and placed their memorial by the grave.
"That was William Roberts," I said. "He was the brother of my stepdad's first wife, Zaida. I had known her as the librarian at Jenkins High School when I was going there. My stepdad - Frank - is on the same plot as my mother. Mama was the reason he made the changes."
"After my stepdad decided to change around the burial space to have two markers on each plot, he had the marker for Billy added there. The brother-in-law he never knew had been shot down during an aerial battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign of WWII. He was not yet 25 when that happened and his body was never found."
I then told them about Frank having been a POW for almost two years during WWII, that my stepbrother George had been a Navy man, and that I had been in the Navy, too.
The husband and wife, both native Savannahians, were quite touched at being able to have the story behind this group of gravestones.
I was quite touched to have this story of a random act of kindness.
We all hugged before parting ways.
(smile)

Then I came home... and found that two of my brothers had cut my grass!
Not only had Smitty and Tony mowed the jungle in the front, they had also cut the growth in the huge back yard back down to size!
They even edged the sidewalk for me!
Sure, I'll gladly accept that as a birthday gift!
What a blessed day this has been, no matter the rainy skies.
i thank You, God, the Choreographer, as I try to follow the lead of Jesus, the Dance Partner, while listening to the Spirit's Music of Life!