We are Marshall

At 7:35 pm on November 14, 1970, an aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board. The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football squad, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, four flight crew members, and one employee of the charter company. The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss against the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina. At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, with most away games within easy driving distance of the campus. The team had originally planned to cancel the flight, but changed plans and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9.

Many things touch our lives in many ways over the years. But I will never forget a dark November night 40 years ago today. One of our cousins was spending the night like they usually did. We were setting in the floor playing bingo and daddy was watching TV. They interrupted the normally scheduled programming to tell that a plane had crashed at the Tri-State Airport carrying  the team, coaches and boosters of the 1970 Thundering Herd football team, killing everyone on board.

The Tri-State Airport was nestled snugly in the hills of Kenova. No one liked to fly in there because of the surrounding hills and difficult landing strip. The television showed horrific photos of fire being fought as it licked the trees and hillside surrounding the wreckage.

The area was in a state of shock. Marshall fans love their football. To lose the entire team including the coaches, was a monumental devastation. The loss of so many young lives was just to hard to understand.

Some wanted to shut down the football program completely. Some wanted to continue on in support of the memory of those who died.

Over the years, the football program grew and Marshall University once again became the unstoppable Thundering Herd. Documentaries have been done. Movies have been made. Many articles and blogs have been written. But when it all is said and done, 75 people lost their lives that day and a town was changed.

I had the privilege this past spring to visit Huntington. I drove down through campus and noted the changes made over the years. The games are no longer played at the old Huntington East High School field. Memorials stand as a reminder to those who have gone on before.

I went out to the cemetery to pay my respects to those souls that were lost that day. It was an emotional time, bringing back many memories from that night all those years ago. As I stood there looking at their gravesides and reading their names, it made me realize WE ARE MARSHALL and we always will be.

Many loved ones still remember that tragic night and many still relive it every November. The movie We ARE Marshall is not just another football movie. It is about a town and how it suffered a tremendous lost. It is about the lives that were changed forever that day. It is about a town torn apart that rebuilds to face a new era after experiencing a major devastation. It's not about football. It's about spirit and strength and community.

Today, my blog pays homage to those who lost their lives 40 years ago. May you each rest in peace.

The Christmas Tree Saga

I love Christmas trees. I have always liked the ones that our bigger than life. The ones that are so big you can't wrap your arms around them. I decorate the old fashion way. I have a mish-mash of ornaments - homemade, family heirlooms, glass balls, and Walmart specials. I love my colored flashing lights and my silver tinsel. And when all is said and done, it's not a Christmas tree until I add Candy Canes and cover it with those old-timey icicles.

It may not be politically correct to cover with a hodge podge of decorations.  So many trees nowadays are "themed" trees or color co-ordinated to match the decor of the room they grace. But not mine. My tree is the way we like it. It's the way we had trees when we were growing up and it's not Christmas without our traditional tree.

Welllll, this year, I decided I was going to break with tradition. I was going to downsize the tree. I was going to part with my 7 1/2' Prelit Matha Stewart and go to a small 6' Slimline tree. I posted my old tree for sale. I picked out the new one I want and picked out the lights that I'll use on it. I have everything all planned. It was going to be awesome having such a smaller tree to decorate. It would cut my tree trimming time in half. It wouldn't take up so much room in the living room. It was a great idea and I was very excited about it.......until yesterday.

I was reminiscing about Christmas's past; about the pleasure on the kids faces when they would get up and see the presents surrounding the tree. In my mind, I can see the pictures I take every year of the grandchildren gathering around the tree. I can see hubby and I reclined on the couch with the lights from the tree being the only lights in the room as we admired our Christmas tree in all her majesty.

Then it hit me. How can I change tradition? How I can break out of the mold of something that is a part of my entire being? I could picture the kids coming over for our family gathering. I could picture them gazing in shock at the the newly downsized tree. I could hear their shocked "MOM! What did you do to your tree?" and "But you ALWAYS have a big tree."

And then I knew. My big trees at Christmas are special to me. They hold a world of memories. I cannot imagine Christmas with a downsized tree. So after all my planning and excitement over changing trees, I'm not going to. I'm going to keep my Christmas the way I like Christmas and not make the change.

Feeding America

Thankful thought for the day - Today I am thankful for the food God provides for my table. Thankful for the fact that we have plenty to eat and many item to choose from.

One of my favorite charities is Feeding America. They offer many programs that you can participate in to help feed America. Check out their site http://feedingamerica.org/take-action.aspx and thank God for what he has given you by passing blessings on to those less fortunate.

Giveaway

Thankful thought of the day - Today I am thankful for friends.

.... We are common folk. We sit in the bleachers, eat at diners, change diapers and wear our favorite team's ball cap. Fans don't wave when we pass. Servants don't scurry when we come home. Chauffeurs don't drive our cars; butlers don't open our doors or draw our baths. Doormen don't greet us, and security doesn't protect us. We are regular folks. And we wonder: Does God use people like us? -- Max Lucado


Max Lucado believes we are all made to make a difference. This is a wonderful book about the common folk. The hillbillies and simple folks. The net casters and tax collectors. It is a story that is so inspiring. We are given a choice...an opportunity to make a big difference during a difficult time. It is an encouragement for us all to rock the world with hope.


I will be giving this hardback edition away. The drawing will be held one week from today on Friday, November 19th. To enter for the giveaway, simply follow any or all of the steps below. You will get one entry for each of the following you choose. Up to three entries per person.

1. If you are already a follower of my blog, you can simply leave a comment for one entry or if you are not a follower, sign up to become one and leave a comment.

2. If you are already one of my faithful followers and you have your own blog, you can get an additional entry by placing this link http://mamawsplace4.blogspot.com/2010/11/giveaway.html  
for others to see on your blog and leave me a comment that you have.

3. Send me an email to mamawsplace@gmail.com to be entered in the giveaway.

I will post the winner by 8:00 AM EST on Friday, November 19th. Cut off for entries will be at midnight on November 18th.

Send down a miracle

Thankful thought of the day - Today I am thankful that God is still in the miracle business.

In times of deepest troubles, in the midst of our darkest storms, that's when God steps in and a miracle's performed.

 

We have all been there. We've hit rock bottom. We've faced life's challenges head on, not knowing where to turn or what to do. We've been knocked down, stepped on and left to flounder. But just when we have faced our darkest moments, just when we have no idea where to turn, God steps in and performs a miracle. Some are large; some are small. He has healed the sick; comforted the broken hearted and provided for us in our time of need. It could have been something major like a life threatening illness or something as simple as finding a $10.00 bill in your purse when you were in need and thought you were broke. He still provides for us.

 

There is a gentlemen from our community that recently underwent a four organ transplant. Things went well and he's been improving daily. In the past few days, he has developed complications that are leaving the doctors baffled. They are trying to find what is causing the complications and how to fix it. He is in serious need of prayer. But with all he is going through, when he was told of the complications, he simply smiled and said "This is nothing that God and I can't handle."

 

God send down a miracle for this young man.

I believe

Thankful thought of the day - Today I am thankful for the word BELIEVE.

Just a little while ago, I went to my Facebook page to paste my thankful thought of the day. I am thankful for so much that it takes me awhile to decide what one thing to focus on each day. As I was deciding, I started scrolling through the posts that were made last night. And then I saw it. A post that guided me to what I needed to be thankful for today. BELIEVING.

A wonderful, dear friend of mine who I have known for about 50 years, had posted a video she took of two of her granddaughters. I'm not sure of their exact ages but I think they are around 5 and 8. The video is of the youngest child playing a beautiful song on the piano. It is perfection. She doesn't miss a note as her little fingers glide across the ivory keys. Her sister is sitting beside her, clearly in awe. The little one offers to teach the big sister how to play. She takes Sis's fingers and places them on the keys and patiently shows her each note. That in itself is precious, but what made my morning was when the older one made a comment about not being able to do it, this little angel looked at her big sis and smiled and said "Yes you can if you BELIEVE you can."

I could not have said it better. How many times do we falter or fail simply because we do not have the faith that we can do it. We believe in others so easily, but have such a hard time believing in ourselves. Believing is to think; to feel sure of; to accept as true; to trust. Why do we let doubts enter in? When we set goals for our lives, we should go after those goals, believing with a trusting heart that God will guide us on our journey to reach our goals. We must have a firm conviction.

The Little Engine that Could taught us "I think I can, I think I can."  Bob the Builder is famous for his "Can we build it? YES WE CAN." Young David was not afraid to fight Goliath. He said "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God." A young boy with a cocky attitude BELIEVED he could take down a giant. Through our faith in God and our belief in ourselves, we should be able to achieve great things if only we BELIEVE.

Thankful for Twins

Thankful thought of the day - Today I'm thankful for my twins. They have given me more pleasure and joy in their 33 years than words can ever describe. Not to mention the 5 beautiful grandchildren they have brought into the family.

It was a cold December morning 33 years ago, around 5:00 am and I woke up with back pain so bad I could barely roll out of bed. I soon noticed I was spotting a little. I was concerned because my baby was not due for four more weeks. I called the doctor at 8:00 when they opened and told them what was going on and they told me to come on into the office. The doctor checked the heart beat and said the baby was doing fine. He said I may not make it the full four weeks, but he wasn’t going to examine me because he did not want to chance inducing labor. He suggested going home and propping my feet up and relaxing and made me an appointment for a week later. That was in the early beginnings of ultrasounds and they didn’t do them unless they thought something was terribly wrong, so they did not do one on me.


That evening I was feeling a lot better and we had friends come by to check on me. We decided to play cards to pass the time. At 8:00, I felt the first of a series of sharp stabbing pains in my right side. Twenty minutes later, the process repeated itself. We stopped the card game and started clock watching. The pains would come and go sporadically until 2:00 a.m. on Saturday. By this time, I knew it was time to make the call. Off to the hospital we went. Upon arrival, they determined I was dilated to 2 and was definitely in labor. I was whisked off to labor and delivery. I had been up since 5:00 on Friday so by the time they got me settled, I was slightly delirious. I would drift in and out of a semi-sleeping state until the next pain would hit. I remember at one point, they were adjusting the heart monitor and the nurse said, “By the sound of that good strong heartbeat, I would say it is a boy.” At this point, I was just happy my baby was about to arrive. I never did have a preference as to the sex of the child at any point. After 7 hours of laborious pain, I had dilated to 5 and could receive the much anticipated epidural.

The baby monitors were unhooked as I was raised up to receive my dose of heaven. As they adjusted the fetal monitors, it was a new nurse and I heard her say “You can tell by the tiny little heartbeat that it is probably going to be a girl”. Keep in mind, not having slept for, at this point, 32 hours I was only vaguely aware of everything as the epidural seeped into my system, relaxing me. It may me start to doze and my last thought was, “Somebody check my baby. The heartbeat was a lot stronger earlier.” But I was slipping into oblivion and could not force the words out.

Three hours later, they had to wake me up to tell me to push. I was feeling nothing by this time. When it finally became time, they wheeled me into the delivery room. I remember laying there laconically looking around and thinking, “So, this is what a delivery room looks like.” As the doctor settled himself at the end of the table I turned my eyes toward him right as he said “Nurse, get another warmer ready. I think we might have twins here.” Shock. Dismay. Speechless. These are words that all described how I felt. I raised up and said “Who?” Well, duh, I was the only pregnant woman in the room so they all had a good laugh. I just kept laying there laughing and saying, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this!” When all was said and done, I was the proud mother of two beautiful, healthy children who were four weeks early. Weighing in at 4 pounds and 12 ounces and 5 pounds and 8 ounces, they were each a little over 17” long.

The mood in the delivery room was one of celebration and jubilation. They broke hospital protocol and instead of whisking them straight to the nursery, they placed one in each arm and wheeled me out the doors where my family was waiting. Can you imagine the commotion it caused when I shouted, “Hey everybody, I got one of each!” That’s right. I had my daughter and my son. The two things I most wanted in the world, in one grand gesture and one problem free pregnancy, I had my family. I get asked all the time what it was like to have twins with no notice and I always reply, if I had ever had more children, I would have wanted to do it again.

Chris & Diana

Chris

Diana

Diana with her husband Michael and her children, Caleb & Shelby. She is my oldest by about 4 mintues.

Chris with his wife Jamie and his children, Garret & Alexis. He's my baby. He has a new son, Colby, but he's so new we don't have a family photo yet.

Me and my twins. That my oldest niece, Christy, beside us.