Funky Old Dude Still Married After 52 Years - A Love Story

A Toast to Bob and Ann

A few days ago I wrote this story about some of the things I'm thankful for, like my wife and kids. Let me give you a very brief recap. I met my wife online. We were friends for quite a while before we actually met face to face. The rest is, as they say, history. I have been with Heather for six years now, so I guess those dipsticks that said she and I would last three months have been proven wrong.

A friend of mine, Bob Zeller at Texas Tweeties, can be beat my record by a few years, By a few, I mean he beats me by forty-six years! And he did it the old fashioned way. By way of the United States Postal Service.

I asked Bob just after I posted my story about meeting Heather to tell me the story of how he met Ann, his wife of FIFTY-TWO years! 
 
In Bob's own words, here's his tale of romance. It's a great read, so please take a few minutes to read aboutan amazing love story that is 52 years young and still kickin' ass and takin' names. This is one of the best stories ever told. I promise.

Good News Stories About America

The Symbol of the United States of America

First things first. I' like to wish my sister Cheryl, who is one of the toughest (in a good way) women I know, a Happy Birthday. Cheryl is one of the best women I've had the pleasure to know and it's a privilege to be her brother. Happy Birthday, Cher Bug. Today is also Cheryl's daughter Erica's birthday. Erica is a lot like her mother, so she's a keeper, too. Happy Birthday Erica Bob. I love you both very much.

We've reached the end of the long Thanksgiving Weekend, made it through Black Firday and look forward to Cyber Monday tomorrow. A quick reminder, if you are doing some Christmas shopping online, please consider clicking on one of the ads on all three of my blogs. You'll get some great bargains and I'll get a small commssion from each sale. I'd appreciate it. Also on each blog you'll see a "Donate" button. If you are so inclined and would like to make a donation directly to me through PayPal (you don't need a PayPal account), it's a secure transaction and would be a nice reward for all the hard work it takes to run three blogs by myself. besides this blog, I also run Dumbass News, which is quickly becoming very popular with you and other readers around the world. My newest entry into the world of cyber comedy is Because Toby Said So. It, too, is picking up new readers from all over the globe. take a minute or two to look these two blogs. They're actually pretty funny and definitely worth a quick perusal. Thanks in advance. :)

As has become a custom on Sundays, I hopped into the Almost Way Back Time Machine and thoroughly examined the Three States Plus One archives for material worthy of your time and attention. This is what I came up with:

• Texas Tidbits: Miss Me Yet? Yup. - A short but heartfelt tribute to the 43rd President of the United States - George W. Bush. A few weeks ago, President Bush released his memoirs (and I have signed copy number 47) , which by the way, you can order through a link to Amazon.com on this very page. I disagreed with President Bush on many things, but one of them was not his love for his country and the decisions he made regarding the safety and well-being of her citizens. This short post is an example of what a great man George W. Bush is. Give it a look. You'll see what I mean.
• Maine Minutiae: Message In a Bottle - I had forgotten about this post and I am glad I found it again. It's about some kids in a school in Castine, Maine who put a message in a bottle then chunked it into the Atlantic Ocean. Somebody found it a very unlikely place. this is a nice, syrupy story that is good to read on a Sunday morning. 
• Colorado Chronicles: Honey, Can We Move Here? - This post is worth the look just to see the picture at the top of the article. Meeker, Colorado. I could live there.

That's a pretty good line up of Sunday reading right there. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I liked writing it. The posts I have linked you to are a microcosm of America and its people. You have a former President, a group of school kids and the Natural beauty that are America. God bless you and may God continue to bless America.

Thanksgiving Leftovers and Stuff(ing) UPDATED

UPDATED: Links in the post are now fixed. Sorry about the problems.
Toby

 We made it through Black Friday and are full steam ahead into the Christmas Season. My wife is a Christmas Freak, so at my house we are getting into the Spirit of Christmas at warp speed. Yesterday we did some house cleaning and re-arranging of furniture so we could put up the Christmas tree, which we did. We also have this damn five foot tall snowman that dances and sings when somebody walks close enough to it. The kids and Heather love it. Me? Not so much. It was a gift from my father-in-law, so going postal on the stupid thing is out of the question. So far. I guess I could put some duct tape over the motion sensor on it, but I would have to face The Wrath of the Wife if I did, so scratch one great idea. I bring up Christmas because I am gonna make a concerted effort to post Christmas related material on this blog for the next few weeks. With that, let's have another "Best of..." Weekend of some of the most popular posts from recent weeks. 

• Texas Tidbits: Big Drunk, A Texas Hero - I did this post about three weeks ago on what ended up being a slow blog day, so I figured I'd give it another go today.
• Maine Minutiae: Haunted Maine, Seguin Island Lighthouse - The posts I have written about lighthouses have proven to be very popular. here's one I wrote just before Halloween. Read it, if you dare.
• Colorado Chronicles: Unsinkable - The story of the Unsinkable Molly Brown. This is a pretty good post. Look it over, when you can.

That's a good lineup of some of our most popular posts that merit another look. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. Here's a quick reminder that if you'd like to write a guest post for Three States Plus One, drop me a note or an article at threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com and I'll look it over and post for both of my readers to see! Don't be shy. I mean, hell, you've read some the crap Pulitzer-worthy material I've written, so your submission would undoubtedly be much better. Send 'em in and be ridiculed by friends and family alike recognized as a literary giant. Have a safe Saturday and watch out for bargain-hunting vicious little old ladies if you dare to brave the world of Christmas shopping today.

Black Friday; 3 Posts for the Price of One While Supply Lasts !

I hope and trust that you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day, football not withstanding. We had a great one here at The Shoe Box. Heather spent the vast majority of two days preparing an honest to goodness feast for the four of us. We had turkey, stuffing, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, sweet corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, marinated carrots, gravy, apple pie, pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips, homemade banana bread and damn, I'm still full. Thank you, Heather for all the hard work and love that you put into our Turkey Day Dinner. it was fantastic!

We just finished putting up the Christmas tree and all the attendant bric a brac that goes throughout the house. It looks very festive. Oh!!! I almost forgot, we got our first snow of the season overnight and this morning! We got only an inch or so, but it still looks nice and wintry outside, almost Christmas -y.

I am looking forward to spending the rest of the Holiday Weekend with my family, so I am going to present an encore of some of my favorite posts from the past few months. Aaaaaannnnnnddddd awaaaaayyyyy we go!!!

• Texas Tidbits: the Greatest of the Greatest Generation - this is an outstanding post on one of the most decorated and celebrated heroes in the history of our country - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
• Maine Minutiae: Tomah Joseph - Legendary American - here I pay tribute to an amazing Native American. It's a reall good story.
• Colorado Chronicles: The Rio Grande Starts Here - when I first posted this back in early August, it was one of the most viewed posts since the beginning of this blog. It's still in the Top 5 or 6.

Have fun eating leftovers and watching some outstanding football games this weekend. If anything blog-worthy comes up, I'll hop on here and do my usual brilliant reportage and commentary. Adios, y'all!

Five Year Old Cancer Patient Draws on Will to Live

I found the following story at one of my daily pit stops, The Blogmocracy. It's the story about a very brave little boy named Aidan. Aidan is just like any other five year old boy, full of energy, enthusiasm and creativity. The one thing that makes different from other boys his age is that Aidan has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. That's a pretty tough hand to be dealt to anybody, much less a five year old kid.

The Blogmocracy picks up the story there, "On September 13, 2010, 5-year-old Aidan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He was strong and pulled through his first round of chemo all while teasing his nurses and vistors. Although this was a small victory Aidan, unfortunately, must go through 2 to 3 more years of chemo treatments and everything that goes along with that."

This story caught my eye for two reasons. The obvious one is that it's about a five year old boy with a horrible disease. The second is that one of my new grandsons is named Aiden. I shiver at the thought of my Aiden having to deal with such a terrible illness at such a tender age. These two boys are at the age where they should be playing kickball or learning to ride shiny new bikes or even going fishin' with their Dads and Grandpas, not getting brutal chemo treatments for two or three years.

Aidan, the sick boy, is taking the bull by the horns when it comes to his illness. He's drawing pictures like the one at the top of this post, and selling them online to help offset his medical bills, which have to be astronomical. With so much spirit, it's no wonder that Aidan's prognosis looks promising. Promising outlook or not, those medical bills still have got to be paid, so here's a link to Aidan's website where you can purchase one of his drawings! I like the cut of this young man's gib.

Aidan also has a Facebook Page where you can drop him a line of encouragement, as well as a page on his website where you can learn some things about this remarkable young man and his family.

Thanks to savage at The Blogmocracy for posting this story on his site and allowing me to post it here. It's the time of year for giving, so if you are able to buy one of Aidan's drawings, by all means, please do. If not, there's a "donate" button on the home page of his website,where a donation of any size would be much appreciated, I'm sure.

Aidan, you have friend in Maine, my man. I'm here for anything I can do to help a young brotha out. Email me at threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com anytime, buddy.

To my readers, I ask you to please pass this on to friends and family. Aidan is counting on us all to pitch in, in whatever we can. Thank you and God bless you. And God bless an amazing five year old boy named Aidan.

A Dumbass Thanksgiving

Eat moar chikin

Thanksgiving Thoughts (Lots of Them!)

It's a beautiful, chilly (22 degrees) Thanksgiving morning in New England. I wanted to take just a minute of your time to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some posts that have a lot to say about Thanksgiving.

• I mentioned some of the things I am thankful for in this post . 
• I also showed that the First Thanksgiving in the New World was held in Texas,
• Maine also had a Thanksgiving before the Pilgrims did. 
• Yesterday, I had some thoughts and memories of Thanksgivings past.
• My blog buddy, no2liberals had a nice story about his early Turkey Days.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving with family and friends, from my family to yours!