April Michele

A lot of people are saying that they no longer like to read newspapers or watch the late night news. They say that all the news is bad. It is about crime, tragedies and politics. But I feel it is important to stay informed. You don’t have to react to these stories in a negative way. There are two sides – or more – to every story. Maybe it is a flag that we should heed that means someone needs attention to fix or change!

Today we thank our soldiers for serving their country. It is a somber holiday for people who have lost a loved one to war or accidental death while in the service. We lost our father many years ago to Cancer, but he served our country in the war and I think of him fondly on every Memorial Day.

Back to school time will be here before we know it and as usual, we are running our ‘back to school’ special which is that if they bring a book bag full of the supplies a child would need, they get one night half price.  We have to look out for the children with all of the cutbacks in the school system.

It has become a tradition here that we collect school supplies and even people from the community will stop by to donate a few items here and there.  They ask nothing in return either.  It’s all done just out of the goodness of their hearts.  This is a great community and I just love it here.

I have an older brother……………well he’s my foster brother that moved in with my family when I was 12 and he was 15.  I used to want a big brother so very bad until I got one.  They can be a real pain, ya know!!  But I loved him anyway and consider him my brother and not just a foster brother.

Well today he turns 55 years old.  That means it’s been 40 years since he became my big brother too.  I am so proud to let you know that he is a Catholic Priest too even though our family isn’t Catholic.  He does wonderful things for his ‘flock’ too.  The only thing I hate is that we have not seen him in about 15 years or more.  That’s okay, he’s doing Gods work so ‘Happy Birthday’ to you brother of mine!!!!  Love and miss you lots!

I love the 4th of July!!  We really go all out to decorate, well we do that for every holiday but there’s just something about Independence Day that I love!!  We always have a huge community picnic type party with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixin’s and of course potato salad, baked beans and we can’t forget the banana pudding and homemade ice cream.

Then there’s the fireworks display.  I love all of the laughter, ooohhh’s and aaahhh’s from the children when the fireworks start.  It’s just a wonderful time for all!!!   I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful 4th of July and remember what the celebration is all about, our independence!!!