Sean has completed another semester at Crafton Hills College. Brianna is busy with school and work. Ryan has finished a year at a junior college!!!!! Opal (woof) is our dog. And Jerry is keeping busy and out of trouble by blogging *gulp* and posting on the internet *big gulp*.
Pam passed away suddenly at the beginning of July 2007. Pam we all love you and miss you.
Arcadia Costales - October 8, 1914 to August 2, 2009 - RIP
Early Sunday afternoon, my sister called to inform us that our Mother had passed. My mother was 94 years old and lived a long and full life. She leaves four children - Grace, Emmanuel, Gerald, and Raphael. Six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She will be buried with my father at Riverside National Veterans Cemetery. There are not set plans as of yet.
If you want further information please contact me. God Bless.
. .And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
. .Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
. . . "Glory to God in the highest,
. . . . . and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
. .When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
. .So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Pamela Lynn Costales - June18, 1960 to July 1, 2007 - RIP
The simple thing to say is that after a year that my heart is still broken. But, I can't.
The Corrs - Heart Like A Wheel
The worst time was the night after Pam died. That was when it felt that my heart had shattered and could never be mended. But, there were the kids and they kept me from feeling that all wasn't lost and that there would be more time. That there would be a time to heal. The year has gone too quickly.
One would have expected to have experienced at least onecatharticmoment during the past year. But, that catharsishas not occurred. I believe that I am a victim of the current times. That I expect the quick and neat solutions that are common and much present in the literature, movies, and television of today. But, real life is too intricate for such trite conclusions.
Sarah McLachlan - In the Arms of an Angel
The Whole World is different not because of Pam’s death. The Whole World changed for me when Pam and I became a couple. That union, that event pre-dated any formal engagement or even the wedding ceremony. Both the engagement and wedding are but the public acknowledgement of the private and even sacred commitment that two loving people share when they love one another. That I love Pam there is no doubt. (And there is a part of me that will always yearn for her. As the song says "I don’t know much. . . but I Know I Love You ".)
This writing is not a remembrance of lost love. That love continues. This is a commitment to renewed Hope and a prayer for strength in the challenges that lay ahead. Pray for the kids and myself as we solider on and enter a new year.
Pam would be so proud of all her Children. (And I hope she would be proud of me as well. Pam was the better parent and in many things Pam did her jobs and duties as Mother far better then I am doing now as the Kids’ Father.)
Solstices occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most oriented toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, its apparent movement north or south comes to a standstill.
The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage happens.
Summer begins on June 20th in 2008 in the Northern Hemisphere. The seasons are considered by some Western countries to start at the equinoxes and solstices, based on astronomical reckoning.
