In Memory

Tomorrow is Memorial Day 2011. There is a lump in my throat as I think of all those who have given their lives for our freedom. There are no words to convey my feelings of sorrow for the families who have lost their precious loved ones. I feel deeply a sense of gratitude.

Mike, you taught us what it means to honor those who have given their lives (and those who gave their identities) by military precision. You, along with your brothers at the Tomb and of The Old Guard, comforted a nation by the precision and attention to detail as you performed your duties at Arlington National Cemetery. You have comforted the families. You comforted those who come to pay respect.

Thank you. May we never forget.

85 Memories - Happy Birthday Mom

In honor of my mom's 85th birthday, this blog celebrates the day with a list of memories that reach back a long ways, as well as ones that are more recent. There is no particular order, but some build on another.

Happy 85th birthday, Mom. This blog adds to your Merry Month of May, here are 85 memories to help you celebrate your birthday - the list will keep growing.

Love,

Jeff

85 Memories - Happy Birthday

Sitting in the leather brown chair while Dan and I brushed your hair

Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan

The last time you spanked me and me laughing

Not letting me watch the Smothers Brothers and sending me to bed instead of spanking me, me not laughing



Macaroni-and-cheese dinners on Fridays – always with Velveeta cheese

Special birthday parties

Decorating for Christmas, especially the living room

Only having a modern Christmas only once in the family room

Clean clothes always ready

Having Mrs. Williamson over for dinner

Home-made tomato soup and egg salad sandwiches on cold winter cattle-working days

Not being all that pleased with hunting season

Driving Grandpa Steiner to church each week



Shopping for school clothes – the newest styles I didn’t know about

Coming to visit us in Corvallis after Daniel was born and saying right away, “Now the Steiner name will go on.”

You giving Jill the nickname, Jillybean

Updating us about the news in Wisconsin

Reading stories before bed time

Hosting a beautiful rehearsal dinner for our wedding

Picking me up after sport practices

You hanging clothes on the clothes line

Family picture with us sitting on the bench around the old walnut tree

Watching countless sport events

Calling to tell you Jan and I are going to have another baby

Going to open houses at school

Driving me to and picking me up from music lessons

Talking on the phone about once a week

Giving me deadlines of noon for mowing the lawn – and me staying in bed until the last minute



Staying away from the computer in Dad's office

Asking about how my kids are doing

Dancing at the USNA Graduation Ball

Sitting in the stadium waiting for Tim’s graduation – in your hat

Hearing how pleased you were with all of the USNA graduation festivities

Watching Mike walk at the Tomb of the Unknowns

Seeing you waiting in the terminal when Jan and I fly into Fresno

Waiving goodbye from your driveway when we leave

Sitting on the patio talking

Handmade Christmas stockings

The smell of the dining room furniture and your china cabinet

You dressed up for a special occasion

Saying good night when we visit

Driving to Gettysburg Battle Field together – helping you up into the backseat of the rented Dodge Durango – a fond experience

Taking tours of the yard back on the farm

Sympathy for Patrick the puppy when just got him and he peed on the office floor

You telling me how you missed Grandma Hauser after she died

Our summer month in Wisconsin in 1964

Visiting relatives – seemed like really old relatives (probably not much older than I am now)

Taking us to Catechism classes once a week after school

Driving you and Dad up to Sequoia Park



Playing your Broadway musical albums on the stereo

You singing in The Messiah at Christmas

You refusing to smoke a cigarette at the rodeo

Taking me to Boy Scout meetings

Surprising me at Boy Scout camp when I got my Eagle badge

Saying yes when I wanted to buy an electric guitar

Signing me up for summer school

You enjoying the grand kids’ fingerprints left behind after visits

Your desk with the painting of the dairy on the wall

Driving the grand kids from Oregon to Grandma’s house

Your cooking – everything is always great

Saying good night prayers every night

You enjoying your gardening – the flowers

You reading my copy of Cowboy Andy to the grand kids

Cooking great meals

You sending me clippings from the Times Delta newspaper

Your handwritten letters

You understanding when I wanted to talk about something

Your voice on the phone when you called about the tornado hitting the barn behind the house

You volunteering for the Young Republicans

When you took your real estate classes

Playing the piano



Thinking you would drive over and pick up dad after his horse fell on his leg

Me marching into your room early one morning and announcing there is no Santa Claus – or Easter Bunny either

Letting me help be Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny

Remembering every birthday

Your beautiful white hair

Grandma’s Break Room to the grandkids

Sitting in church

Your Cadillac CTS – with low mileage

Telling stories about relatives

Always having the house nicely decorated

Going to The Sound of Music movie in Fresno – wide screen

Reading the paper together when visiting at your house

Always looking classy, with each year, you remain classy

Pilot-in-Training

For Mother's Day, Tim sent us these photographs of him in front of the T-34 Trainer that he is flying at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. He has been really busy - flying as many as four days a week. He not only flies, but has to study a lot for briefings every morning. It is for sure hard work, and he has a lot of pressure, but Tim is doing well.


The T-34C aircraft is an unpressurized two-place, tandem cockpit low-wing single-engine monoplane manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft Company (Formally Beech Aircraft), Wichita, Kansas. The aircraft is powered by a Model PT6A-25 turbo-prop engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada. The primary mission of the T-34C is to provide primary flight training for student pilots attached to the Chief of Naval Air Training. As a secondary mission, approximately 10% of the aircraft provide pilot proficiency and other aircraft support services to AIRLANT, AIRPAC, and NAVAIR "satellite sites" operated throughout CONUS.

Students selected to attend joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training [SUPT] with the US Navy attend aviation preflight indoctrination (API) at NAS Pensacola, Fla., for six weeks learning basic preflight topics covered in Air Force's phase I program. Following API, pilot students attend the primary and intermediate phases of flight training at NAS Corpus Christi in Texas, or NAS Whiting Field in Florida. Joint primary training takes approximately 33 weeks and includes 159 hours of ground training, 37 hours in the flight simulator, and 92 flying hours in the T-34.