Our Soldier Surprises His Sister at School!
Our son is a Soldier in the Elite 82nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade.
Our B-e-s-t CHRISTMAS ever as he comes home unexpectedly & surprises his sister at school after being away for a year!
Starts off with a few kids, then hundreds gather to form a huge semicircle to witness the surprise! The Principal says he saw a horseshoe form with nearly 600 kids!
Thank you to all of the students who came up afterwards & thanked our son for his service!
Credit: Buddy Brown, Lyrics: Daniel Brown, Album: Deep South ~ Stop When You See a Uniform
Click this video below:
The Bright Spot – Celebrating the holidays together!!
Reunited After 23 Years
Long before Facebook, Twitter, email, Smartphones & Androids, there was the regular land line.
I made a phone call to my Uncle in London that I was in Lancashire for the summer. “You must come and visit, we’ll pick you up.” He and my Auntie drove 4 hours north to get me. They had 5 girls and the summer was one I’ll never forget!
But, eventually, Autumn came and I headed back to the States and into my routine. Days turned into months and months into years. 
Before I knew it, 23 years had flown by.
In that time, my 5 cousins had married and everyone had moved, even their parents; some to other parts of London, others to California & Florida. 
I was reminiscing one evening about that summer and my son asked why I didn’t get in touch with them.
“How? We lost touch more than 20 years ago.” He asked me their names and worked his Facebook magic. I didn’t use Facebook at the time and was skeptical.
Within 24 hours, one of my cousins who had moved out West responded and we were on the phone for ages!
A short while later, our family was reunited in London with 2 of the sisters who had stayed in England. I was just bursting with joy! An event to remember forever!
The Bright SpotTM Â – Â I am so thankful to my Uncle & Auntie for making that visit one of the most treasured summers of my life. Interestingly, that summer would cause a chain of events that would lead me to my husband more than a decade later. Amazing how our lives are so intertwined then, now and always.
The girls now with their parents & one of my favorites of them when they were little. I love you all, my dear family!! xoxo
(Below) With my Uncle 23 years ago and Uncle’s portrait over my Cousin’s & my shoulder
“We Have Found Your Mother”
                     
     
                                 Mother – Ceil in 1983                         Daughter – Linda in 2010
“We have found your mother.”
Those were the words Linda heard after searching months for her birth mother.
Ceil had never held her baby, had never even seen her baby – EVER!
As she walked the halls of the maternity ward and saw the window to the nursery, she knew if she looked through the glass, she would not be able to go through with it – but in the 60s, it was difficult for a woman with a child to find a job, she said women didn’t have credit cards and they could not take out a loan on their own. Ceil wanted her baby to have a mom, a dad and a home.
She turned around in the hallway and went back to her room and sobbed her heart out.
Ceil never had any other children.
44 years later, her daughter found her!
Phillip and I documented the reunion that happened just 6 days ago – you’re invited to share this beautiful moment in the short video below in the next post, just scroll down – but to acutally hear their story, click on the Radio Show flower tab above in the navigation bar above to listen to their heart-wrenching story.
The Bright Spot 
 is clearly family – old and new - love, hope and celebration!
