freedom - the reason - VETERANS!

Take a look into these eyes of these old men…
This is the reason we all can play on our iPads
and bitch about our government.

Just remember today all the men and women
who stood up and faced the heat of battle.

So we did not have to know…
God Bless them all!

my home town - fall

So it seems that fall is here.
What a time these past months have been for me.
Lots of learning, lots of emotion, lots of remembering.
Now it is time for me to go back to my life in Texas.
These lessons I’ve learned will carry me.
I have quite a different perspective on just about everything.

Thanks to everyone who followed me on this journey.

my home town - ball field

Today I had to find the local UPS drop-off site, very tucked away and off the beaten path it is. I had forgotten that it is across the street from where I started my baseball life.
From this now overgrown and abandoned ball field, I put on my first baseball uniform.
I would do so for the next 25 years.
Sure brought back a few memories…

Dad - 76 days

Finally! Dad has left the building.
It has been a long journey for my Dad to recover from
a broken hip and the complications that ensued…bleeding ulcer.
So, 76 days after my Dad fell and broke his hip he gets to sleep in his own bed.
Now…the work begins to return to normal.
Normal for an 87 year old that is!

Dad - Tom’s Angel

This is my Dad’s OT (Occupational Therapist)
Sometimes the right people get put with the right people.
Beth was the perfect person for my Dad she did not let him
slide, gave it back to him as he gave it to her.
I could not have asked for a better person, a real angel for my Dad.

Thanks Beth!

My home town - 9-11-11

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me:
Thy rod and staff they comfort me   psalm 23.4

As we sat on the couch in Texas watching this horror, we knew that our
life as we knew it was to change forever.
To this day I am still angry at what happened to our country,
as well as I am angry of the people in this country who continue to play down it’s
significance and the significance of the hatred that is in this world…

My home town - barge traffic

One thing interesting about this area is scale.
Lots of over sized scale, big bridge, big boats, big things.
It took big things to make things here.
A steel mill that is no longer was the J&L steel mill,
a 7 mile long facility under one roof…raw materials in
one side, finished steel out the other, but now gone.

My home town - methodist church

Great clouds and the Methodist church spire.
Not my church, but I always liked the looks of the steeple.

Dad - Home Visit

We got to bring Dad home for the day on Sunday.
He had the time to look over his garden and see that
Some of his plants are producing, at least the cucumbers are.

Earlier in the week, Dad had a home assessment, it was to
assess if he and the home were ready for a return.
The assessment…he is just not ready to come home for good.
Dad still has some work to do to live on his own with Mom.
Perhaps when he comes home for good the tomatoes will be ripe…

my home town - king football

Just like Texas, football is king here in Western Pennsylvania.
As you drive around in the afternoons kids of all ages are
working on football drills anywhere there is space big enough to practice.
These lots produced the likes of Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Tony Dorsett,
Babe Parilli, Mike Ditka, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, George Blanda
and the only one I played against…Dan Marino.
Thank God some things here never change.

my home town - unlucky’s gas station

As much as I bag on the fact that my hometown, home county, is in such sad shape.
I present this gas station that is near my home, it has been closed for the entirety of my life.
Sure it’ll open, but then close within 6 months.
I guess this cool little building, just has a bad case of the unlucky’s.

my home town - sand blast

This place will sand blast things for you. It sits cross the road from Brady’s Run Park
A little used and very tree covered area. This is a very spooky part of the drive, morning or night. Many years ago a family friends daughter was murdered and her body was finally found in the park, as a 10 year old I hiked every road in the park after school with her father looking for her body for weeks. It took 10 years for her body to be found by a deer hunter, it was found just 5 feet off one of these roads…

my home town - water tower

Surprise!
Ok, so sometimes you think you know your back yard then this pops up!
I was trying to remember a short cut I used to know, but got lost.
As I am finding my way back home I see this funky shape sticking out of the woods.
I had no idea there was a water treatment facility tucked back in this part of town
With such a beautiful designed water tower.

Dad - Warriors

Dad is talking with fellow warrior and Vietnam Vet Bob; Bob has Parkinson’s which he contacted
from Agent Orange while in country from 1965-66. Bob is such a positive force; it was great having him in the room during PT. Bob is one of the great people in our country.
UPDATE:
Dad is really doing great, walking around the PT with a walker.
Still has pain, but he is moving.

my birthday, my treat

Since I am back in my boyhood home helping my Dad recover,
I gave myself the best treat for my birthday.
Young’s Frozen Custard.
Only one, next to the dairy farm.
Simply the best!