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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2007 : 10:06:20 PM
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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, and 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 that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people
as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum , Iraq .
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2007 : 9:21:51 PM
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Welcome to Bawstin (Boston)
>
> For those of you who have never been to "Bawstin", this is a good guideline. I hope you will consider coming to "Beantown" in the near future. For those who call New England home, this is just plain great!
> Information on Boston and the surrounding area:
>
> There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical "oddah": Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, etc. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D, etc. If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets, you're in Wellesley.
> Massachusetts Ave is Mass Ave; Commonwealth Ave is Comm Ave; South Boston is Southie. The South End is the South End.
> East Boston is Eastie. The North End is east of the former West End. The West End and Scollay Square are no more; a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night. Roxbury is The Burry, Jamaica Plain is J.P.
>
> How to say these Massachusetts city names correctly:
> **Say it wrong, be shunned**
> Worcester: Wuhsta (or Wistah)
> Gloucester : Glawsta
> Leicester Lesta
> Woburn: Wooban
> Dedham : Dead-um
> Revere: Re-vee-ah
> Quincy: Quinzee
> Tewksbury : Tooks berry
> Leominster : Lemin-sta
> Peabody: Pee-ba-dee
> Waltham : Walth-ham
> Chatham: Chaddum
> Samoset: Sam-oh-set or Sum-aw-set but nevah Summerset!
>
> Definitions:
> Frappes have ice cream, milkshakes don't.
> If it is fizzy and flavored, it's tonic.
> Soda is CLUB SODA.
> "Pop" is Dad.
> When we want Tonic WATER, we will ask for Tonic WATER.
> The smallest beer is a pint.
> Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish. If you paid more than $6/pound, you got scrod.
> It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
> It's not a trashcan; it's a barrel.
> It's not a spucky, a hero or grinder,... it's a sub.
> It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
> It's not a purse; it's a pockabook.
> They're not franks; they're haht dahgs; Franks are money in Switzahland.
>
> Police don't drive patrol units or black and whites they drive a "crooza". If you take the bus, your on the "looza crooza". It's not a rubber band, it's an elastic. It's not a traffic circle, it's a rotary. "Going to the islands" means Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket.
>
> The Sox = The Red Sox
> The C's = The Celtics
> The B's = The Bruins
>
> Things not to do:
>
> Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd .. they'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Summahville (Somerville).
> Don't sleep on the Common. (Boston Common)
> Don't wear Orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.
>
> Things you should know:
>
> There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two Hancock buildings (one old, one new for each).
>
> The colored lights on top the old Hancock tell the weatha':
> "Solid blue, clear view...."
> "Flashing blue, clouds due...."
> "Solid red, rain ahead...."
> "Flashing red, snow instead...." - (except in summer; flashing red means the Red Sox game was rained out)
>
> Route 128 is also I-95 south. It's also I-93 north.
> Most people live here all their life and still donÃf¢ââ?s‰â?z¢t know what the hell is going on with this one.
>
> The underground train is not a subway. It's the "T", and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
> Order the "cold tea" in China Town after 2:00 am you'll get a kettle full of beer.
>
> Bostonians... think that it's their God-given right to cut off someone in traffic.
> Bostonians...think that there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's - except in "idea").
> Bostonians...think that three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
> Bostonians...refer to six inches of snow as a "dusting."
> Bostonians...always "bang a left" as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.
> Bostonians...believe that using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
> Bostonians...think that 63-degree ocean water is warm.
> Bostonians...think Rhode Island accents are annoying.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2007 : 9:54:26 PM
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WHAT SMELL?
Maxine took her car to her mechanic. She told him, "Every time I take any of my friends out in my car, after a while there is this terrible smell. It never happens when I am on my own."
This quite intrigued the mechanic so he said, "OK, lets go for a spin and see what the problem is". Off they went. She drove down a one-way street in the wrong directionat 60 MPH, swerving, hitting the curb on both sides of the street,narrowly missed three pedestrians in pedestrian crossings, ran several red lights,and just missed a policeman on street traffic duty.
They returned to the shop and she said, "There it is now,
there's that terrible, smell. Can you smell it?"
"Smell it? Lady, I'm sitting in it."
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2007 : 2:56:20 PM
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MERRY CHRISTMAS...
On the way home last night, I was listening to the radio when a newscaster
called his little 91 year old granny to talk to her about the 'Holidays'. He
mentioned that he had noticed that Christmas has become so 'politically correct'
that no mention of Christmas is made by most retailers, we now wish people 'Happy Holidays.'
His granny said she missed the Old Fashioned Christmas when everyone wished each
other 'Merry Christmas'.
I thought about it and agree...so this year I will be making a conscious effort
to wish everyone Merry Christmas...my way of saying that I am celebrating the
birth of Jesus Christ. So I'm asking my email buddies, if you agree with me, to
please do the same.
And if you'll pass this on to your email buddies, and so on...maybe we can
prevent one more treasured tradition from being lost in the sea of 'Political
Correctness.'
God Bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
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Smile
