A weekend with history...

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to San Diego to visit Mrs. Viola, an old friend of my grandparents. She'll be 100 in January, and she has planned for several years to fly me out for her 100th birthday. Since I won't be here in January, I went out a little early.

I spent the weekend listening to her tell stories about the past. She was a nurse anesthetist during WWII and landed on the Utah Beach one day after D-Day (see pic below!). She is a great, detailed story-teller and remembers almost all about her experiences in Europe. She also saves everything, so she has pictures, newspaper clippings, even her old uniforms - very interesting.

Here are a few pictures:

Landing on Utah Beach one day after D-day.

Mrs. Viola and her brother were both in the war. This is the actual flag that hung in her parent's home while they were gone. Because Viola was a commissioned officer, she outranked her brother. Their mother disapproved of this and would tell Viola that the top star was her brother's and hers was the bottom.

Showing off her and her brother's medals and insignia.

Enjoying our short time.

Update...Kind of

While nothing is finalized for my trip in January, things are looking very good for me to go through Fellowship and STILL LEAVE IN JANUARY!!! This is truly a blessing, as there really is no way to get things arranged in such a short amount of time other than relying on the Lord to make it happen.

There are still a lot of things that have to happen and there's a possibility that I'll leave a little later, but so far things have been incredibly smooth. I truly haven't done anything...stuff has just happened! If I go through Fellowship, I will probably go to Uganda, maybe Zimbabwe, and there's a possibility of Tanzania as well. I will continue to post updates as I get more information.


In other news, I'm on my way to San Diego to spend the weekend with Mrs. Viola, my 100-year-old friend. I've only met her one other time, but I am very happy that I am getting the opportunity now and am praying that our conversation will be fruitful. This woman has seen and experienced so much. She was a nurse anesthetist during WWII and was on Utah Beach two days after D-Day. She was also there during the Battle of the Bulge. I am hoping to "interview" her and record some of her experiences!

P.S. I truly am on the way. American Airlines was offering free wireless Internet in-flight and I am totally taking advantage of that!

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. For me, that meant a day in class, just the same as every Tuesday. However, even as I was going through my everyday routine, I was very aware that there are men and women overseas who are fighting so that I can continue to enjoy my freedom. I am forever endebted and grateful for their service to our country.

When I was looking for some type of Veteran's Day story to post, I found this on Steven Curtis Chapman's website (in case you don't already know, I LOVE SCC, especially because he loves ADOPTION!!). It's a neat story and song that he wrote in honor of a soldier who lost part of his leg in Afghanistan. What an awesome tribute!

This video is also a really neat tribute (it includes images from the Passion of the Christ, so if you're bothered by that I wouldn't watch it).



Have a blessed day.