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!!
F-35 Lightning, Blue Angels, Red Arrows!!!!
Turn your volume to 10 & enjoy the supersonic sounds of jet engines roaring to this super-amazing song, LEGEND by THE SCORE!!!! (Copyright Owners: UMG on behalf of Universal Records, Album: Atlas by The Score). Video from our cell phones, one of my all-time videos to edit especially to this fabulous song!! Enlarge & turn it up!!!
We joined 50,000 people over the weekend at the New York International Air Show 2019, Stewart Int’l Airport, New Windsor near West Point for the debut of the $100 Million Mighty F-35 Lightning II Supersonic Fighter Jet, helmet $400,000, 3-mile vertical climb in 3 seconds – YES, A MILE A SECOND!!!! So heart-poundingly loud – can break the sound barrier!!! The rumble in our bodies as the Lightning II thundered by is indescribable!!!!
Plus, the US Navy’s phenomenal BLUE ANGELS & the Royal Air Force’s RED ARROWS precision aerobatics!!! Red Arrows touring the US after 11 years. And when our new mighty F-35 Lightning II flew with the World War II P-51 Fighter Bomber plane (see end of video above), it was such an unforgettable moment of new technology & old faithfuls, wow!!!!
Royal Air Force Red Arrows ~ 11 pilots, 100+ crew, 5,000 aerobatic performances in 57 countries since launching 1965! Our daughter received all the aviators’ autographs here:
(Credit: Royal Air Force Red Arrows & The Blues)
The entire show was breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, this pic from our cell phone!)
(Credit: US Navy’s Blue Angels logo)
(Credit: Royal Air Force Red Arrows banner)
The Bright Spot – A bucket list moment for my dear husband! (Click: Phillip) After 12 hours, we came home & watched TOP GUN ON FULL VOLUME – OF COURSE!!!! Dad’s favorite movie!!!
Our Soldier: 82nd Airborne
20th Anniversary
Happy 20th Anniversary!
These photos are of our weddings in England & America.
They were 4 weeks apart both under a full moon.
In the last group of photos, there’s a picture of us today.
For more on the English wedding, click here: Castles & Vows
Since my beloved father had passed away suddenly the previous year, my husband’s wonderful father walked me down the aisle in England and my father’s best friend, Prince Abdul Ali Seraj, walked me down the aisle in America. My sweet dog, Moussie, with his huge white bow led the way down the aisle!! And I love how Moussie’s standing next to me in the above picture!
For the story on this amazing dog, click here: Moussie
I had wonderful bridesmaids at the English wedding & the American wedding and, of course, the best maid-of-honor, my sister! Most bridesmaids flew back and forth. Look closely and you’ll see my sweet furbaby, Moussie, sitting on the grass with his big white bow in front of the blue dress!!!
Then & now….photo from today. *Poof* ~ 20 years flew by!
I had my bouquet designed after my mother’s bouquet. I’ve gazed upon my mother’s wedding portrait since I was a baby. It was something to love and cherish and admire. She had natural stems and a huge red bow, biggest I’d ever seen. She cradled the bouquet in one arm. I brought a copy of her portrait to the florists in England & the States for both weddings.
The Bright Spot – Love. I love how my mother looks at my father devotedly. She adored him. He was her one and only and she’s lived these 21 years alone since he died but she keeps his memory alive always talking about him when we’re together. It’s sad and beautiful at the same time.
My husband and I have been through a lot these 20 years. Of course, I appreciate all the blessings of our wonderful family, especially my children, and the life Phillip and I have created together.
But there have been many tragedies – 5 miscarriages, Phillip’s aggressive Stage 4 cancer (click: The Good, The Bad & The Spicy), loss of our company in the deep recession, other complete miseries throughout the years, and now the weird lightning bolt that took out our well pump the day before our 20th Anniversary costing us $3,700 wiping out our summer vacation fund for the vital rest Phillip needed since he missed vacation last year because of more cancer treatments.
So you can imagine how thoroughly touched I was when a friend through Facebook whom I’ve never met but mutually feel kinship toward for an assortment of reasons including the fact that she loves animals and is just simply amazingly kind, wrote this:
Wow! Truly, Liz captured the essence of these two decades. Thank you, Liz, for your kindness toward us, animals and all whom you serve.
Stroke at 47!
An interesting turn of events 26 years ago would wind & wiggle and eventually lead me to my dream man. I lived in England with a woman who would not only become one of my very best friends in the world…like a sister, but who would introduce me to my husband. I am the Godmother of her sweet daughter (seen here in her arms which also happens to be her 1st birthday) and my sister is Godmother to one of her sons. I’m indebted to her forever for my amazing husband & darling children.
So when I received the phone call that she had had sudden hemorrhaging in her brain and was in the hospital’s acute stroke ward, we immediately booked a flight to England. As I stared out the window, I felt a rush of emotions & memories flood my mind.
I thought about the day we met under bizarre circumstances that led me to live in her house for 6 weeks; even though she had just gotten married.
It was supposed to be an overnight. Both she and her husband said I could stay as long as I’d like.
So I did.
   
I remember them taking me sightseeing around England (above: York) and 
I took them apple picking in Vermont (left), trips to the City, and tours through the colonial towns of Connecticut.
I remember blasting their stereo to my Madonna cassettes I toted to England in my plastic pink cassette case – it was the 80s, you know. They worked by day & I danced in long t-shirts around their house to Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and the Talking Heads.
I’d jog around their little village and chit chat with the neighbors, shop owners and the folks gardening along my way. By evening, I was all abuzz with the latest goings on.
Then back in the States, I remember the train ride to New York City to see a George Michael concert – gotta love those glasses!
And I was so happy my friend & her husband were there the night I earned the Miss Connecticut title heading to the Miss America competition & at the party for my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary.
I remember the excited but weary phone call from England the moment her 1st son was born…he’s now 22 and lived with us for 7 weeks this past year. I was thrilled when she requested I be there for the birth of her daughter. Long story for another day…
And after my dear friend suffered several miscarriages &
 was experiencing a very high-risk pregnancy, she still boarded a plane 
immediately to be by my side the day my beloved father died (click this link for pictorial: Daddy).
So there was no way I was not going to get on a plane as soon possible so I could hug a woman I admire and love so much.
………….Home with us relaxing             My friend, Goddaughter, sister & me in England
The Bright SpotTM  – Cherish those you love. Give all of your heart to those who love you. Don’t waste time with people who aren’t sincere. There’s an expiration date on life, don’t miss any opportunities to hug those you love.
Doctors say they cannot operate on my dear friend because the bleeding is too close to the stem and one wrong move would end her life. Later today she undergoes another MRI. Prayers needed. With 3 children and a great husband, she’s taking life one day at a time. Doctors say the best thing she can do now is slow down. Perhaps a lesson for us all…to slow down…look around & give thanks for who you have in your life. I am grateful to have such wonderful friends. xo~b
Little Notes~~~Lasting Memories
  
                         Daddy left me this note decades ago.
 Phillip left this surprise note for our little one yesterday before he headed away for a business trip.
Small gestures, time well spent together, little notes…they all go a long way.
  
                   These notes mean something when we find them.                        They mean a whole lot more when we lose those we love so dearly.
 Daddy, I miss you!!!!  
Â
                 I see so much of my father’s tenderness & care in my husband.               I don’t take any of these moments for granted.
   
  
   
   
   
The Bright SpotTM Â – Write your kids a little note today. It may be something they cherish for the next 40 years.
Daddy
My Daddy was my hero.
Kind and loving, generous and hardworking, he loved his family and we adored him.
Below is a photo tribute for my father. Happy Father’s Day, I miss you so.
The quote, “A Happy Childhood Lasts Forever,” sums up my father’s parenting style – an amazing storyteller, an excellent Santa, a funny Daddy who was bigger than a mountain and softer than a teddybear.
My father held us up and made us believe in ourselves. (Me in the 60s, my sister in the 70s):
One of 7 children, 
(2nd in pic), he left his country and came to the USA in his early 20s, 
with no family, no friends, just a few dollars in his pocket, and worked tirelessly to put himself through college, met my mom, got his MBA, 
and they built & earned a life together living the American Dream.
(1st Christmas with mom)
He worked day & night to give my mom, sister & me an incredible life, for which we are forever grateful, 
but even with life’s ups & downs, there he was with a huge & brilliant smile – the most optimistic person I’ve 
ever known! My strength in “Mission: Bright Spot” (read above) comes directly from Daddy.
He founded 6 companies, and as busy as he was, he was never too busy for us. Daddy dropped everything if my sister or I phoned him or popped by the office. He would stop conferences mid-meeting and get up to kiss us & give us a great, big hug.
(Good eye if you recognized my favorite little blue daisy dress above in the picture from 23 years ago – it’s the same dress I wore last year for the photo in the above header of this website – I’ll never get rid of it! 🙂
Inventor of several patents, Daddy was a math genius and was there anytime we needed help with school work. Education was of the utmost importance to my father! Education and persistence.
He always made it a point to pick us up at the airport. When we were little, he read to us at night, took us skiing, ice skating, sledding, horseback riding, boating, and every summer filled his car with neighborhood kids for a trip to Dairy Queen.
Daddy loved to dance…
(gala in the 80s)
…but God needed him, so I never had the chance to dance with him at my wedding.
I met my incredible husband on FATHER’S DAY and Phillip & my Dad share the SAME BIRTHDAY! Signs everywhere!
At our wedding in England, Phillip’s wonderful father walked me down the aisle. Too weak to travel due to illness, my sweet father-in-law did not attend the wedding in the States.
God has called my dear father-in-law as well. Now both Dads watch over us.
My father’s best friend, Ali, escorted me in the States.
(Daddy and Ali goofing around in the 70s)
Many years have passed since my beloved father died suddenly and unexpectedly.
He was laid to rest on Valentine’s Day…appropriate for a man with such a big heart.
He was smart.
He was strong.
He was cool.
He was kind.
He was goofy.
And he was my hero.
My father loved children, it is clear.
He lives on in our family & our memories
and I thank you for sharing this beautiful & poignant holiday with me.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Daddies in the world – no matter how busy you are, nothing can take the place of your quality time with your children. Nothing.
This note sits atop my computer screen. My father was an inspiration to me and to many whom he mentored. Charismatic, fearless, a visionary, entrepreneur, motivator, a true patriot, he was larger than life and is deeply missed by all who knew him.
The Bright SpotTM 
– 
