~Stay Safe~

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend:)  We usually have a large gathering and cookout, but we chose not to this year.  Instead, we decided to spend a relaxing weekend at home watching old movies...Midway, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Longest Day... and newer ones...Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, The Great Raid, etc...  Being from a military family, these movies always touch my heart because the older ones remind me of my childhood days... sprawled out on the living room floor with my brothers watching these very same movies with my father.  It also gives us a glimpse of what all the men and women of the Armed Forces have sacrificed to ensure our freedoms stay intact and allow us to sleep peacefully each night...things we take for granted, but that have come at a great cost. Yes, today means a great deal to me.

This card was created for our son Jonathon, who is currently serving in Iraq. I am super happy to say...he will be USA bound next month:) I made the card while he was home on R&R, earlier this year. Unfortunately, I was not able to send it to him because I was not permitted to have his address...he is in Military Intelligence, so his whereabouts have been a secret for a while now.  At first, the whole secrecy thing was unsettling; but knowing it is for his protection, it has become much easier to handle. The layout for the card was from a sketch posted at the beginning of the year at Paper Crafts Magazine. I had the sketch saved on my older laptop...but my laptop recently decided to retire with no advance notice, so I lost it:(  Also, with my sketchy memory...I cannot recall the number (PCM had a download for 100 fabulous CAS sketches)...all I can tell you with any degree of certainty is...it is between 1 and 100;)

Before I head on out of here, I wanted to share a poem with you. I first read it in my European Lit class during my junior year of high school. It really struck a chord with me; and all these years later, it is still etched into my mind. I also think it is one of the reasons poppies are one of my favorite flowers. Truly, it took this poem to make the symbolism of the poppy more real to me.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I hope this poem touches your heart as it touched mine.  Have a wonderful Monday evening...and remember to take time to thank and remember our soldiers everyday!!

Happy HUGS!!!

Carolyn

I am playing along with the following inspirational challenges:

Cards For Men - No Patterned Paper

Craft Your Passion - What a Guy!

Stamp Insanity - Red, White, and Blue

Scrapalicious Challenges - Memorial Day

The Stamping Boutique - Red, White and Blue

Rubber Redneck - Color Round Up...featuring Service and Sacrifice...Red, White and Blue

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Use Buttons
Kaboodle Doodles - Show Us Your Colors