Video From My Reenlistment

Thank you, M*A and J, for taking this video... it's nice to have something to supplement the ole memory...

Thomas' Order of Birth

As I continue to clean and sort through boxes and crates, I found something appropriate as Thomas' third (oh my, how'd he get so old!) Birthday approaches.

The Army can have a wonderful sense of humor sometimes.

(And to you eagle-eyed readers... what's Army paperwork without typos...)

E's Senate Proclamation

In September, 2006, after we'd returned home to Germany and received our devastating news, I contacted Senator Jim DeMint's office to tell E's story and to ask if perhaps his office could do something special for her. The office staff had already become familiar with our family from our summertime visit to Washington, DC.

E & I were certainly impressed, and honored, to receive in our mail a package from the United States Senate later that month.

The Office of Senator Jim DeMint

Proclamation Honoring E S of the City of Summerville

Whereas, the City of Summerville has been home to numerous citizens who have given their lives to the betterment of society; and

Whereas, E S (nee Tyler) was born in Summerville the second day of May, 1967, to Mrs. Gloria Annette Sweat Tyler; and

Whereas, E S spent her formative years in Summerville, attended the College of Charleston, and earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology; and

Whereas, E S pursued a Master's degree in Early Education at the College of Charleston; and,

Whereas, E S wed W R S, Jr; and,

Whereas, E S deserves praise for her role as a devoted Army wife and loving mother to K S (sic), M S, and T S;

Now, Therefore, I, Senator Jim DeMint, am honored to recognize E S as one of Summerville's distinguished natives, who has represented the City of Summerville, South Carolina to the United States of America and the Global community.

Dated this 22nd day of September 20006.

(signed)
Jim DeMint
United States Senator

These documents, especially the personal letter from him to us, will certainly be something for the children to treasure in later years. It meant a lot to E when it arrived, as she never imagined herself as being honored for anything, as she was just doing what she was supposed to do, what she wanted to do.

Thank you, Sen. DeMint.

Dan Fogelberg, RIP

Today, Dan Fogelberg passed away. You may or may not know him by name, but you likely know his music.

I always enjoyed his music as it was very instrumental in its nature, instead of so much contemporary pop music that is relatively lacking in musical creativity and diversity.

His music flowed.

I, for one, will miss the creation of any more new music, and savor the delights he's left us to enjoy.

You can listen to some of my favorites, but by no means all, here below (courtesy of imeem.com):

Rest in peace, Dan, and thank you...

The Tick Tock of Time

It's arrived. Our Grandfather clock. I am... ecstatic and sad at the same time.

Ellicia and I had always wanted a really nice souvenir of our time in Germany. Something more than the standard postcard or beer stein.

Luckily for us, the Black Forest region of Deutschland is renown for it's clock making. Much like the Swiss, I suppose.

We found a family that has been in the clock making business for hundreds of years. I remember visiting their home and seeing clocks older than America, and still ticking.

I also remember visiting their showroom. They had a barn/garage type building in their backyard. The showroom was on the second floor. Narrow stairs. And Ellicia was determined to get up there. And she did!

We spent the next hour and some shopping around. We picked out all of the details that we thought would help summarize our time, and ended up with quite a few details of the Schloss Neuschwanstein.

The clock is handmade, to custom specifications. It's expensive, and in fact, more than we ever thought we'd spend on a souvenir. But, we also knew we'd likely never be back to Germany. Besides, all we needed to do was make a small downpayment (to secure the order), and then over the next years, we could pay whenever we liked - no interest or nonsense. And the clock would be made when the money was final.

That was right before we left.

When Ellicia passed away, I felt a very strong desire to no longer wait for the clock. Years didn't seem to be a right timeframe. So, I dashed the full balance off to him (thank you, Ellicia, for the life insurance). It had to clear customs and of course there were freight charges (all told, another 50% of the original value), and then there was bickering between the shipper and the customs agent on who was to hire the truck to bring it to the house (took 6 weeks, till finally I had enough and told them to just hire the $!@ truck).

It came. Truck delivered it as far as the driveway. It was a huge crate. 500+ pounds. So, I enticed some nice neighbors to help carry it in. I did some crate breaking -- after unscrewing 49 long screws... yes, I counted them. We hauled it in. Stood it up. And then, as we all know from the wee hours before Christmas morning...

Some Assembly Required

Had hang the weights, the pendulum, set the time, and calibrate the workings.

And now, it chimes. It can do three different tunes, and even has a Night option. It's beautiful.

And once it was all set up, I stopped, and sat down in front of it... and just started talking to Ellicia. Told her how nice it looked, and what a good job she did in helping to pick out the details. How beautiful it sounds when it chimes. And the details and the workmanship. Very impressed.

It's the last piece to arrive from Germany. There's nothing more to arrive. And it's the last thing we truly picked out together. What was only to be a memento of our time in Germany has become more a memento of our time.