Memorial Day Reflection

Today's Memorial Day. I'm sorry to say that most Memorial Days have been busy with family reunions where there was a lot of fried chicken, potato salad and desserts...all home made! In those days, we burnt off the calories chasing cousins and being general nuisances. As I grew older and moved away from the extended family and the reunions, I think I've been more preoccupied on Memorial Day weekend with the Indy 500. For years I would travel back to Indianapolis to see it whether I was living in Texas, California, Colorado, etc. It always fascinated me.

My first "500" was in 1959. Jack Bradham brought the first rear engine car to the track and suffered many cat calls for trying to usurp the great Offenhauser machine. However, within 5 years, the sleek Lotus of Colin Chapman changed Indy forever. Jim Hurtubise and a few other good ol' boys tried mightily to get the front engine cars back as winners, but it just didn't happen. The only sorrow I felt about it is that nothing sounded like those front engine cars. When they went by on the pace lap, it would shake the drilling's in your teeth.

I was in my early 20's then and needless to say, the month of May in Indianapolis was "party time!" I had the happy opportunity to go to several parties where some of the drivers and crew would drop in. I was completely awed by A. J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones, but the guy who I thought was the most charming was Jimmy Clark. The quiet Scotsman optimized the European Formula car drivers with their amazing dedication and professionalism. Now that isn't to say our drivers didn't have those qualities, it's just you never felt they really took it seriously enough to monitor their party time or their health. They wanted to win the "500," but in those days, it didn't appear much time was spent working out or being sober the night before the race.

Over the years, as more foreign drivers came to the "500," it would appear their work habits changed the American drivers in a positive way. Competition was keen and each driver would try and figure out what their team could do better to put them in the winner's circle and drink the allotted quart of milk! I think all drivers began to think of their responsibility as part of the business and maybe the "500" lost some of its innocence and fun. Until this "500," I felt the race had lost some of its luster, but no one could watch that race yesterday without feeling all the highs and lows of tremendous competition. And, the interesting thing was, the top three finishers were all American! That's a change!

So, my thoughts during most Memorial Days have not been spent in much reflection about what the Holiday means. I know I teared up when taps were played while I was at the track or even watching on TV the last 20 years, but today as I was coming back from a friend's home in Donelson, I made a turn on Gallatin Road and drove to the National Cemetery in Madison, TN. I parked the car, got out and looked at the overwhelming row upon row of solitary white crosses.

Recently I've been doing some genealogy research on a Revolutionary War ancestor of mine so in this setting, I began to think about him risking his life to go against the King in order for us to have our Independence. How much these people gave up for our freedom! Just think how hard it must have been to be a "traitor" to the flag they were raised by.

Then it occurred to me, what about the soldiers of the Civil War? Although we usually think that Kentucky or Tennessee soldiers would be fighting for the Confederacy, it simply wasn't true. Many soldiers from those states fought for the Union and many, many times these boys would be fighting against their own kin! Think how difficult that may have been to preserve our unity!

It didn't take much effort to then consider those brave soldiers in WWI & WWII to risk life and limb to fight evil in foreign countries. Think about that! They shipped off to foreign lands to fight against tyranny for people who weren't even Americans! But, we believed then that it was critical to do everything possible to uphold freedom and support democracy. We continued to make that commitment in Korea and Viet Nam, however, some began to question the integrity of our participation in Viet Nam. Veterans were jeered and even spit upon when they returned! They were treated as disgraced citizens by some of the over-the-top dissident minority. The media gave them all the publicity and though the majority of our citizens didn't agree with this outrage, they did nothing to stop it or reinforce our gratefulness for the soldiers dedication. It was shameful!

When we were hit at home in 2000, there was a rally cry and our country came together to track down those evil Muslim fundamentalist killers. We supported the invasion of Afghanistan and provided that country freedom from the deadly Taliban that allowed Al Qaeda to train and grow to follow their evil pursuits of overturning any democracy. Do we still not understand that they are determined to kill every Jew and/or any Gentile that does not subscribe to their pathological teaching?

Our government had intelligence that the next hot spot in the Middle East was Iraq. There was substantiating evidence presented that convinced our government and nine other countries to invade Iraq to overturn Saddam. Subsequently, we found this "intelligence" was not what was purported, but since we were already there, we chose to capture Saddam, hold him and his henchmen for all of the torture and injustice he perpetuated on his countrymen for decades as well as his insidious involvement in plots against other governments. The big mistake was not having a thought out plan on how to restore or create the essence of a democratic government. There was a huge glitch in not understanding the culture and underestimating the insurgency engineered by Al Qaeda.

However, our soldiers have once again laid down their lives for freedom of others and protection of ours. A democratic government is evolving slowly in Iraq and if the Iraqi's make a commitment to democracy, they will eventually get it. I think the jury is still out about whether or not our participation has been effective and warranted the death of almost 2500 soldiers for the freedom of millions of Iraqi's. The one good news about this war is how our people are responding clearly and loudly in support of our troops. Even our most defiant celebrities have contributed their time and risked their lives by visiting our soldiers in Iraq. There has been overwhelming personal financial support by many of our citizens to build a state of art healing center for those soldiers gravely injured in this war.

When I think what these guys and gals have done for us from the Revolution to Iraq, my eyes fill with tears and my heart swells with gratefulness. I am so proud to have had the luck to be an American and I shall remember them every day and not just on Memorial Day. How 'bout you?

What's Happening With You?

It's been a quiet few weeks. Not much going on with pro football or Panda's. The McNair issue is still up in air. The parties met today to hear Steve's grievance on not being allowed to work out at the Sport's Park. The sport's guys say it could be 10 days before a ruling is made. This is all a stupid tap dance because they aren't going to re-up their relationship. Steve is gone, but the Titans are wanting something for him or if they can't get anything, they are going to hold on to him so he will miss training camp with whatever future team signs him on. (The Ravens.) Just business, kids, just business!

I had one very interesting experience last Friday. Hendersonville held their annual RELAY FOR LIFE (American Cancer Society fund raiser) at the high school from 7:00 pm thru 7:00 am. People in the community form teams and for twelve hours, there is some member of a team walking the track in honor of the people who have died of cancer or, more importantly, to support the people who currently have cancer. This effort raises a good deal of money through having a goal of at least $100 per team member as well as other spectators buying luminaries in the name of someone or the sale of many other offerings from food to a variety of goods.

The track is lined with vendors (food, massage, products, games) both on the inside and outside of the track. There was also a large bandstand that had great entertainment all night long by many local and Nashville artists.

I had never participated in RELAY FOR LIFE, but some friends began talking about it and I volunteered I was a cancer survivor. That's something I've not discussed with anyone the past 30 years, but it was a fact so they insisted I sign up as a survivor. On Friday night, with some trepidation, I drove over to the high school where I was confronted with about 5,000 people and was ushered to a dinner table for about 80 - 90 other survivors. We were served a nice dinner and given a deep purple tee shirt that claimed "I Survived!" After dinner, we were asked to sit by the bandstand and we were introduced. We were supposed to stand up when our name was called, but it seemed the pastor who called the names in my group was uncomfortable and sped through the names so no one really had a chance to jump up which was ok with me!

After this recognition, we were asked to stand behind two people holding a banner on the track and follow them around. We gathered and began walking. As we walked, all the other spectators stood on each side of the track and began cheering and clapping for us. It was absolutely overwhelming to me! I think because I've always been reticent about my cancer experience, I probably had never come to terms with my loss. This walk was an unexpected and joyous healing for me as well as some of my companions on the walk. I am truly grateful I was able to participate in this united community affair.

Even if you've never had cancer, if they hold a RELAY FOR LIFE in your town, please go, it'll be a wonderful experience and it would help raise money for fighting cancer that can hit any of us!

So what's happenin' with you? Appreciate your comments!

LOVE LIFE, LOVE IT'S PREDICAMENTS!

Sometimes we can really become discouraged because of the choices we make, our family or friends make, sports figures make and the choices that politicians make that impact all of us. I think we can work past our personal bad choices if we review them, take responsibility and, if necessary, ask forgiveness and vow not to repeat them.

However, all the rest are mostly out of our hands. We have no control over a bad choice of a companion that one of our friends or family members make. We generally have to suck it up and support them until they see the light. It works to no avail if we try to carefully point out the deficits in their choice; often it just strengthens their choice. Again, we are unable to assert that a particular ball player doesn't measure up to our "standards" and therefore shouldn't be part of the team. That's all up to the management of the team and whether they can offset the player's miserable choices by the players performance on the field. (Note: Pacman Jones!) Management continues to justify the selection of thugs because they "think" they can be instrumental in the construction of a winning team. Who do we hold accountable for this assault on our sensibilities - management or the thug?

Lastly, we have our politicians who simply tap dance through their political life trying to salvage their next election. What else could be the motive for our Senators and Congressmen to do absolutely NOTHING to get their arms around this illegal migration from Mexico? If any of them would simply look at the poll figures by an outraged constituency that wants something done, one would think they would get past their intellectual inertia and really find a solution. (Of course, that's making an assumption they have the intellectual capacity to deduce a solution and we all know the where assumptions lead us!) Are they so afraid of the wrath of Employers that they can't enforce a law that demands a penalty of becoming a felon plus fines if the Employers do not receive a verifiable social security number and/or other documents to certify whether this potential employee is a United States citizen or has a verifiable green card? Come on, that would be the simplest solution to have in place and enforced rather than some overwhelming idea of sending all illegals back to Mexico.

However, if the prospective employee doesn't have this documentation, they do need to be reported to IMS so they can be deported to their respective country, BUT with this caveat: the illegal has to undergo, a day or whatever it takes, a workshop on how they can be legal migrants before they are deported. They have to be armed with specific information on how they can pursue legal immigration and, if necessary, put them at the top of the line when they provide the required information.

This idea of building a "wall" at our Borders sounds like so much crap. Even if you build this magic "wall," why wouldn't anyone consider that it could be scaled or dug under? Who is going to manage it, mile by mile across the formidable desert? It still doesn't place responsibility on the party that seems to gain the most by the illegal...the EMPLOYER. Please understand I am a card-carrying Republican and in favor of business acquiring the people they need to become productive and profitable. This enforcement very well may mean we all pay more per unit because of higher employee wages, but think about the costs we are now absorbing in health, school and government due to illegal migration! Somebody put a pencil to paper and figure it out what those costs are. It will probably astound us!

So, these are a couple of predicaments we are faced with everyday. We can face and take responsibility for our own bad choices, but we can't control what others do with this exception: We can take away a politician's inability to make reasonable choices by not returning them to Congress! That, too, is OUR responsibility!

DRAFT POST MORTEM, MEXICAN BOYCOTT, BARRY GIBB

The best thing I can say about the Draft 2006 is that it's just a game and not get bent out of shape because the picks weren't all you hoped. Yes, the Titans have Vince Young who Bud Adam's thinks is the second coming. We'll see, but it may be a long time before any evaluation can be made. The real hack on Young is his intelligence; they apparently had to "dumb down" the offense for him at Texas. (From the last two years of Titan performance, that may not be too hard to do.)

The pick of LenDale White was a pleasant surprise. I'm pretty much a USC fan and the one saving grace for USC at the Rose Bowl was LenDale. I thought his performance was better than Reggie White's, but what do I know? My buddy, Jeff, thinks all is lost and can't believe Houston was so out of it not to choose Reggie. (Wonder how those picks that the Bears made are working for them, Jeff?) Guess the jury will be out for about three years on this Draft for these players, however, it would appear Jay Cutler (Yay!) probably went with the most ready and best team of all three top quarterbacks. I liked Lienart for his skill, maturity and professionalism; hope it works out for him in Arizona, but that's got to be an uphill challenge. I was amazed the Raiders passed on him; one supposes the NFL had more information on Leinart than we had that caused him to drop to the 10 pick!

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Gees, I would have thought the Mexicans would have waited for their big splash for immigration on Cinco de Mayo. All this protest today just affirms that these folks aren't interested in becoming LEGAL citizens of the US, but rather they don't just want to skip to the front of the line...they don't even want a line!

I have written my thoughts on this whole affair on my Blog: www.kayfrances.blogspot.com in the article titled I WANT TO LIVE IN AMERIKA, OLE! Really can't add much more than what I've already written.

It's pretty disgusting to me and portends a real danger to the US.

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Tonight, the country music people are having a big concert at the Hendersonville High School football stadium to raise money for Sumner County Tornado Relief fund. Many people here have suffered devastating loss and injury and I think it speaks well of these stars to make the effort to help out. The "surprise" guest is BARRY GIBB! No, not your ordinary country music star, but he recently purchased the late Johnny and June Cash's home here in Hendersonville. Good for Barry; his commitment makes him a good neighbor!
(Wonder if I'm going to see him pushing a grocery cart at Kroger's like I used to see Johnny, June, Marty, Conway, etc.? Now, that would be a thrill!)

And, finally a big "thank you" to all who are participating in the concert; it's appreciated!