Touching base

Gentlemen, been on the road and busy with work so I will try to catch up:

Bryan - Sorry I missed your Birthday. You have always been small, slow and weak so 40 should make little difference to you.

Dean - Still trying to figure out what a man is...I'll come spend a night with your wife then she'll be able to explain it to you.

Mike - You may not want to listen to an LT, but when you are at the bottom of that dog pile remember who you should have listened too.

Brad - You are such a sexy man, I just can't think of anything else to say to you.

George - You run with a hot chick, so your OK.

Erich - Get a haircut

Bought an airplane last month because I love toys. The wife and I are looking to move to an Airpark outside of Louisville this summer.

Ran the Army Ten-Miler with my son. Yes, he can out run me now and I couldn't be prouder.

That's the update, gentlemen, have at it!

What is a man?

I wish I had something clever to say, I don't. For me, I am still trying to understand and become a man. My definition is not well defined, it is vague and hazy but always lingering in the back of my mind. It is something I can't quite put my finger on, but always there.

A man is not necessarily someone who can sire children, it is much much more.

I think it begins with responsibility, first for your self and your actions. Then for those you love. This isn't just your family, this is what I call you and yours or me and mine. This is the circle of people you have chosen. Chosen to be part of your family, your tribe, your group, however you call it. For men this grows with time.

Next I would say willingness. This may sound odd at first. But willingness to do what needs to be done. Some examples: provide for your family, protect that which you hold dear, change a diaper, lay down your life, make a statement of faith, to change.

Lastly in this little list is love. A man loves with all his heart. This love is not finite. It is not limited in capacity. The more you give, the more you get. I believe not only having love but also showing it. If it is hidden, then those that need it will never see it. The smallest act done with love can have great power to influence others and destiny. Out of love we give freely of ourselves, our time, our money, our commitment. This love is not limited to that of our spouse, it is more, much more. It is love of children, country, God, sunset, the smell of crisp fall mornings, brothers, family, tribe, of me and mine.

My words are not adequate to describe what a man is. I know I am trying to be a man. I know you who read this are men. I know you each have a different definition. I know there is much more to it than these simple words.

dean

Christmas Poem

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,"
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with God we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."


Dennis sent this to me. I thought you guys would appreciate it.

Filling the Shoes

I think we all have a picture buried in a shoebox somewhere of us walking in our Father's boots (some of us in high heels....Brad). Watch out for this local superhero he might snag you in his web.

Marvin the MAN!!!

Now even the great red-haired one must be
impressed with the masculinity demonstrated
with such a specimen.
Mere mortals dare to tread the ground of this toenail-painted hunk of manhood. The face marked on that behemoth chest is heavily distorted due to the protruding pecs and astonishing abs.
That's a MAN!

PS- Deaner, two different shades of nail polish is so daring. You are the man even Dennis desired to be (at least in Hoenfeld with the dancer)!! By the way- how many children must you sire to prove your manhood? 12 sounds like a great number!

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by the waiting, or be lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, not talk too wise:

If you can dream- and not make dreams your master,
If you can think- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
An never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling