WebWalker's Blog

Check out this gorgeous guy. Loni was kind enough to share this pic Scott sent her... he's aboard ship in this photo, but since then has spent plenty of time on land. Anyone wanting to send him care packages, contact Loni for his FPO address. He said he misses snacks, and likes Spaghetti-O's because he can eat them if he misses chow. Thank you, Scott, for being a Marine and defending Freedom! We love you and support you and pray daily that you return home safely at the end of your tour in the combat zone.

Mom has been to visit Tom and Jan in Denver, and then Tom arranged for her to fly north to stay for a while with her sister Mary in Chicago. She's been there, visiting with her sister and brother, her cousin Louise, nephews and nieces and their children. Every day she and Mary seem to be doing something different. Day before yesterday Mary's air conditioning unit needed repair (a new capaciter) and Mom said that it was getting a tad uncomfortable, but now it's fixed and she's happy again. It was funny to hear her say that Chicago was too hot - I guess the humidity really does make a difference. But she decided it wasn't so bad after all when I told her it had been 117 degrees here. *grin* -- Next week her Grand Adventure continues, as she heads to Virginia to visit Robin and Jerry.

I feel like a brand-new mom who has just put her only child on the bus to go to kindergarden "all by himself." Took Mom to the airport and put her on an airplane to go visit Tommy in Denver. Stayed by her side all the way to the departure gate itself, and saw her safely ensconced in her seat on the airplane. She was as nervous as a 6 year old child. It didn't help matters that we forgot to tell the TSA that she had a pacemaker, so it set off all their alarms and then she had to go through a full body search. It was totally ridiculous, an 86 year old woman whose pacemaker you can literally see through her skin, and they are searching her for terrorist devices. Can someone PLEASE bring back the days of profiling, the days of reason?!! We're supposed to be looking for terrorists, not 86 year old wheelchair occupants. Anyway, she's finally off on her Great Adventure to visit kids and siblings. She doesn't plan to come back home for a couple of months. She's be...

Father's Day 2006. Not like it used to be. Section 54, Lot 786 is where we gathered to place five vases of flowers above Dad's headstone, with a garland of red roses (his favorite color roses) surrounding it. Mark was kind enough to use his cell phone camera to take this photo for the blog; the rest of us had been too distracted to think to bring a camera. In attendance were Emily, Susan, Jimmy, David, Loni, Mark, and Nicholas.

Today is Dad's birthday. I'm feeling so sad, and I know I am not alone in that emotion. He would have been 88 years old today. The headstone marker for his grave site arrived yesterday; they were in the process of placing it at the time Jimmy and I and Mom were there visiting, at about 10 am in the morning. Jimmy and I went back today to put more flowers for Dad's birthday, and we took some photos. Here is one; click on the image to see it larger. Tom and Janice are supposed to be here later this morning - they are coming to celebrate June's birthday with her (gonna be a ripe ole 25 years old), and will stay tonight and tomorrow at Mom's house. She spent last night alone in her house; she is slowly getting stronger. On Tuesday I will go with mom to her checkup with her doctor, and then she hopes to go visit her sister in Chicago on Thursday or so... depening upon if and when Tommy can get her a freebie ticket on the airline.

Following is a copy of the letter from Ariel in memoriam of his grandpa, Tom Tate, read for him by Brent Weston at the gathering on April 26, 2006: As children we tend to idealize our elders, and then our first (and harshest) lesson in life is when we realize that they aren't perfect ... Just human. In my special long-distance relationship with Grandpa this never happened -- he was always my unshattered ideal to aspire to. For me he was: Honorable Pragmatic Strict with others -- but demanded even more of himself Creative Artistic A mechanical genius A pilot -- and A Gentleman. The times we spent together in just a few short trips -- spanning a lifetime -- were always magical for me. I could never get enough of talking with him about his experiences -- or drilling him with infinite questions, that sometimes caused him to pull the few hairs on his head that he had! And I will never forget that look of despair on his face when trying to explain something terribly complicated to me as ...

The following is a copy of the letter that Vernon wrote in tribute to Dad, which was read on April 26, 2006 by Mason Womble for Vernon: I remember Tom Tate from Oakland, California, in 1954, when we both attended a large church where he played a trumpet in the church band. Sherry (my wife of 39 years) played a clarinet in the same band -- we were both 8 years old and that was over 50 years ago. About 12 years later, when I asked Sherry to marry me, I came to her father's house to formally request her parents' permission. Tom cleared his throat after dinner and said, very seriously, that he "understood that I would like to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage." When I flippantly replied that I would like to have more than just her hand I got a swift kick from Sherry while Tom sternly corrected me, announcing that this was "NOT a laughing matter." Well, after all she was his eldest daughter ... Although we also laughed while working many long nights tog...