Dad, you would have turned 71 today and we [your kids and grandkids] would have planned a little surprise celebration with a candle-lit cake like we did last year and the years before. You would have acted to be surprised but genuinely showed appreciation.

Making you happy was easy. All you wished to have was us around you on your special day or any given day. I just wish that I had spent more times with you. I just wish I could make you happier and prouder of me.

Today, with tears running down my cheeks, I sent you a long prayer wishing you not to be so lonely there. I know you can hear me, Dad. You are not physically here, but I sense your presence. So I want you to know that I love you more than you had ever known. I love you 'til the end of time. Just wait for me there, Dad. Until then, I send you my love through prayers. Happy Birthday to you in heaven.

***

Read more »

THE HISTORY

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United States. Each year on July 4^th, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate this historic event.

Conflict between the colonies and England was already a year old when the colonies convened a Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. In a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with the famous words: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

Lee's words were the impetus for the drafting of a formal Declaration of Independence, although the resolution was not followed up on immediately. On June 11, consideration of the resolution was postponed by a vote of seven colonies to five, with New York abstaining. However, a Committee of Five was appointed to draft a statement presenting to the world the colonies' case for independence. Members of the Committee included John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The task of drafting the actual document fell on Jefferson. On July 1, 1776, the Continental Congress reconvened, and on the following day, the Lee Resolution for independence was adopted by 12 of the 13 colonies, New York not voting.

Discussions of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence resulted in some minor changes, but the spirit of the document was unchanged. The process of revision continued through all of July 3 and into the late afternoon of July 4, when the Declaration was officially adopted. Of the 13 colonies, nine voted in favor of the Declaration, two -- Pennsylvania and South Carolina -- voted No, Delaware was undecided and New York abstained. John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that John Hancock's signed his name "with a great flourish" so England's "King George can read that without spectacles!"

Today, the original copy of the Declaration is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and July 4 has been designated a national holiday to commemorate the day the United States laid down its claim to be a free and independent nation.

***

Read more »

There is peace, even in the storm ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Read more »

Happy United States Marine Corps Birthday!!! I am proud to be a Marine's Wife!!!Semper Fi!!!

Read more »

There are still thousands of slides we keep from those days when digital has not yet been invented. These slides I used to use to learn my first photography lesson. Love them.

Read more »

Wishing you all a very happy valentine's day!!
If you missed telling your loved ones how much you love them in daily basis,
then today is the special day to tell them so.
If you can't tell them everyday,
at least tell them once a year.
So, today is the day.


Lucky for me, my husband of 12 years always tell me how much he loves me a thousand times a day making valentine's day no more special than any other days. But what's so wrong about celebrating love?

Read more »

I am too positive to be doubtful
Too optimistic to be fearful
and too determined to be defeated.
~unknown~

Read more »

This is the first bead I got from Mardi Gras back in 2003. I kept this one in particular because it was my first and I loved the color!

Read more »

Thought I'd play with this image and loved the result!!

Read more »

This week's Picture Perfect: Around The World is to show the beautiful or interesting place in where we live in. Since I have so many pictures taken of my own neighborhood, I jumped right into this challenge to share the uniqueness around me.

I found myself having a hard time to choose just one picture to be entered into this challenge, but then decided to pick the above picture. Since I live in Bay Area, California, one of the most sought-after spots we have here beside Golden Gate is, of course, the infamous former maximum security prison: ALCATRAZ.

Read more »

Read more »

Read more »