Online Candle Lighting

 

I light this candle in memory of:

Luke Covey

Kimmi Burnett

Tommy Bennett

Tammy Williams

Compassionate Friends Candle Lighting

Tomorrow night, at 7:00pm local time (Local time to YOU), please light a candle in remembrance of all those who died in childhood, regardless of the cause. From the Compassionate Friends website:

Worldwide Candle Lighting

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting®, held annually the second Sunday in December, this year December 14, unites family and friends around the globe as they light candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memories of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift from TCF to the bereavement community, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.

I may be on the road at 7:00pm tomorrow night while returning from work, so I will light my virtual candle at 7:00pm on this site. I light my candle for:

• Luke Covey (The son of my friends, Steve and Nicole Covey)
  
• Kimmi Burnett (My cousin)
  
• Tommy Hunter (The son of Alicia and John Bennett)
• Tammy Williams (My daughter's friend from junior high school)
  

If you can make it to a ceremony near you, I invite you to. Check out the Compassionate Friends website at the link above for information about a ceremony where you live (Worldwide, folks!).

For My Paramedic Friends Who Have Passed On

The medic stood and faced God.

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his uniform was clean,

He'd gotten dressed kind of fast.

"Step forward now, paramedic.

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To my church have you been true?"

The medic squared his shoulders and said,

"No Lord I guess I ain't,

cause those of us who wade in blood,

can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

and at times my talk was tough.

And at times I've been violent,

cause the streets are awful rough.

But I never took a penny

that wasn't mine to keep...

although I worked a lot of overtime,

when the bills got far too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place

among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

except to calm their fears.

If you have a place for me, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't I understand."

There was silence all around the throne,

where saints had often trod.

As there medic waited quietly

for the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, paramedic.

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on heavens streets.

You've done your time in hell."

I have posted this to honor those paramedic and EMT friends of mine who have passed away, including my original mentor, Jesse Abrams, and most recently, Ozro Henderson, Team Commander of DMAT TX-4, who passed away yesterday:

Please say a prayer for his family, friends, and for his team.

Note: I did not write this. I would love to know who the author is, to give this incredible person appropriate credit. If you know, please email me.

A Dying Child Teaches More About Humanity...

Brendan Foster is an 11-year old boy who was dying from leukemia. He had a dying wish: To feed the homeless. Volunteers up in Washington helped his dream come true. Watch this video:

If that didn't move you to tears...

I was especially hit by his wisdom. His comment, "I had a great time and until my time has come, I'm gonna keep having a good time." His death was expected within a week or so, folk, when that video was taken. Brenden has one more wish for the afterlife: become an angel who accomplishes even more in heaven than he did on Earth.

Brenden died last Wednesday.

Loma Prieta Earthquake - Oct 17, 1989

19 years ago, the Loma Prieta earthquake hit with a magnitude 7.0. It left most of us who were living in the San Francisco Bay area at the time more than a little shaken. I remember going two days without power (and two weeks of unpredictable outages), learning to cook EVERYTHING on a barbeque (I can bake bread on a barbeque!), viewing the untold damage, and feeling ever-so-blessed that my family was not hurt at all. Here are some pics from that time:

 

The Cypress Freeway in Oakland

The Bay Bridge (Only 1 person died on the bridge, trying to "jump" that chasm).

Rory, the kids and I were walking along this sidewalk the Sunday before the earthquake. I still think that in the blink of an eye, we could have been wiped off the face of this Earth had the quake happened when we were walking there.

 

Support columns protrude through the top of Highway 1 near Watsonville.

 

The infamous "red tags" on buildings, bridges, and freeways all over the Bay area. 

(Note: There are still buildings and freeway overpasses red tagged to this day there)

For those of you outside California who are looking at these photos and wondering why I and millions of others would choose to live here, we have THE BEST WEATHER IN THE WORLD! We have the 5th largest economy in the world! We have one big quake every 15-20 years. And due to the size of California, we aren't all feeling the shaking when it happens. I will take an earthquake once in a great while over tornadoes, hurricanes, horrendous lightning storms, and ice storms ANY DAY.

Please pray for the 68 people who lost their lives that day, and for their families who are grieving for their loss to this day.

A Sad Day for Firefighters... and all of us

Last night, up to 9 firefighters were killed in a helicopter crash here in Northern California. This occurred up near the "Buckhorn" fire, in the Shasta/Trinity area. A Sikorsky helicopter was transporting the 11 firefighters (2 crew members were on board as well), when it went down. It crashed and burned.

4 survived. Three have critical burns, and one is in serious condition also with burns.

These firefighters gave their lives protecting others and property. Please pray for these heroes, and for their families.

UPDATE: Two of the firefighters may not survive. The news just reported that their conditions were getting worse. William Coultas and Jonathan Frohreich remained in critical condition in the UCD Burn Unit Wednesday. The other victim, Michael Brown was listed in fair condition in the hospital's surgical intensive care area.

Firestorms

As I write this, I am preparing for possible deployment to Southern CA. I have already been contacted, and am awaiting a call saying I am going. Our mission: Provide medical care to the firefighters. There may also be other missions, as a hospital and skilled nursing facilities are also being evacuated with the other 250,000 people evac'd, but that is the primary one.

The firestorms in Southern CA provide sharp memories to a lot of us of 2003, when San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Bernadino counties had major firestorms. Our DMAT was on a deployment exercise with other CA teams, when our exercise became a "realtime" emergency. We got caught in fireborne winds that damaged equipment, and reminded us what nature can do. Team members deployed from the exercise to the fires.

The picture is a satellite image of the fires. The smoke is seen trailing off over the ocean.

Anyhow, I am tired and rambling and need to get a few hours sleep. Please pray for those affected by the fires, and for those fighting them.

(UPDATE: I was deployed at 11:45PM. I am reporting this morning, and will be gone for 3-5 days (possibly longer). So, as a result, I probably won't be updating here until I return.)

Angora Fire - Lake Tahoe

Unless you have been hiding under a rock lately, you have probably heard about the fire in the Lake Tahoe region. Up here, it is known as the Angora Fire. While they had it 40% controlled earlier in the day and were allowing people back to see what might be left of their homes (over 200 burned so far), winds picked up and the fire jumped the fireline. This is BAD. Now, more and more people are being evacuated from other areas, known as Tallac Village and Tahoe Keys.This is all homes (your tract-type area).

Anyone remember the Oakland Hills fire in 1991? Nearly 3000 homes were destroyed in that wildfire. I remember seeing the fire when we were returning from Las Vegas. We could see it hundreds of miles away.

I mention it, because this fire has the potential to cause damage on a larger scale than that fire, with winds expected to be over 20 miles an hour tomorrow. I hope to God not. Please pray that the firefighters get this under control, with God's help.

If I am asked to deploy there to provide medical to CalFire (CDF), yes, I will go.

To see an ever growing slideshow about the Angora Fire, click here

9 Firefighters Die In Collapse of Burning Store

Last night, 9 firefighters were caught in a collapse of a burning furniture store in Charleston, SC, and lost their lives. They are:

• Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson
  • Age: 48
  • Years with department: 30
• Capt. Mike Benke
  • Age: 49
  • Years with department: 29 years
• Capt. Louis Mulkey
  • Age: 34
  • Years with department: 11 1/2 years
• Engineer Mark Kelsey
  • Age: 40
  • Years with department: 12 1/2 years
• Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity, Nine years
  • Age: 37
  • Years with department: 9
• Assistant Engineer Michael French
  • Age: 27
  • Years with department: 1 1/2 years
• Firefighter James "Earl" Drayton
  • Age: 56
  • Years with department: 32 years
• Firefighter Brandon Thompson
  • Age: 27
  • Years with department: Four years
• Firefighter Melven Champaign
  • Age: 46
  • Years with department: Two years

Please pray for their families. These men lost their lives as heroes. They went BACK IN to look for other trapped in the burning store.

Memorial Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Each year, I reflect on those who served and died in order to keep us safe. They sacrificed their lives so that mine and everyone else's lives can go on.

There seems to be confusion among some people (particularly those in their 20's and younger) regarding Memorial Day. This is a day of remembrance for those who died in service, not for everyone in service. That day is Armed Forces Day, as well as Veteran's Day.

There is a website, http://www.remember.gov , that I invite all of you to visit.

I found this poem over there, and the song that follows:

“ Last Monday in May”©

By

John T. Bird

We pause to remember those who died

With so much courage, so much pride

They’ll never come back, yet memories endure

To remind us of freedom: fragile, pure

We’re worthy of their sacrifice if we pause each day

Not just on the last Monday in May

This is an incredible song, if you have never heard it before, it can elicit strong emotion. It still does in me today:

http://www.remember.gov/moment/documents/OnThisDay-SaraEvans.mp3

Please remember to pray for those who fell protecting us and others. And for their families. With the war in Iraq, those families affected by the death of a servicemember need your prayers and thoughts.

Updates

OK... Its been a while since I posted. I have been sooooo busy, you would not believe it! Let's see, where do I start?

On April 19th, David and I went out and brought Diana and Jonny back to California. Things were getting worse and worse every day for them. Jon was acting increasingly more bizarre, also refusing to see Jonny (except for the day before we came back, ironically enough). I strongly suspect he is using meth or coke right now. His color was horrible (yellow, including his sclera - the whites of his eyes). He damn near ran over my feet when leaving Diana's apartment. We were all becoming more concerned that he would be physically violent (as if mental and emotional wasn't enough). We were so relieved when we got back here!

Diana and Jonny are doing well. Jonny is walking EVERYWHERE! He turns 1 on May 22nd! Diana is working, and looking for better work, while getting back in school to earn her degree. I know all of this is so hard on her, but she is doing the right things for her and Jonny.

I started bike riding to and from work. I can't ride anywhere near all the way (yet), but I am working on it! I ride at least 5 TRUE MILES per day (over hill and dale, so-to-speak). Some days, it is as much as 20 miles (whew!). The cost of gas is just too much, and I need the exercise. I was a little bummed at my WW Weigh-in last Saturday, as I had gained weight. But my pants are looser, and muscle weighs more than fat. I am hopeful that I will see a loss this week at the scale.

Financially, things are not good. It cost quite a bit to get Diana and Jonny back here, and honestly, it was money I can't afford. And diapers, etc add to the cost. Diana is working, but it isn't much right now (Which is why she is looking for better). I am trying to figure this all out, but frankly, I need more money or less expenses. All my reserves are gone. For those of you I have helped in the past, please considering returning the favor. We really need the help. I don't often ask for help, but this is rough right now. Many of you know I work more than one job (I have 4, actually. All but one are VERY part-time, and intermittent), so you know I try to do things myself.

Mila

If you haven't learned the story of Mila yet, I am about to introduce you. Mila is a little 2-year old who is dying from brain cancer. A growing movement is learning about Mila, and helping her mom, who is struggling in all the ways that a mom can struggle when dealing with a dying child. You need learn more about Mila. Her story, and her videos will tug at your heart in so many ways. My wonderful daughter Diana provided me the link at first.

Please pray for this little girl and her mom. They need all the prayers they can get.

First, watch this video: http://www.helpmila.com/aboutmila.html (It is the one titled "Gavin Michael Booth's Blog - Feb. 14, 2007 #2").

Now, go to: http://www.helpmila.com (The main page). There is a link to a MySpace page also (It is a clean page, so all you parents don't need to worry).

There are many more videos over there, and at the MySpace account listed on the site.

I can't imagine my kids dying. I don't know what I would do. It was hard enough to lose my husband.

Mila, you have a lot of people praying for you, honey. I just joined the ranks.

Andi, I will let everyone I know learn about your wonderful little angel. You keep doing what you need to do. You are a wonderful mom to Mila, and you are giving her what she needs the most: Love. Total Absolute Love.