I am trying out the new Apple Mobile Me service which allows me a faster way to share our photos and videos a little easier. So to see the latest photos check out :
On the afternoon of July 13, 2005 the Space Shuttle Discovery will end a two year halt on America’s space program. And I can not wait.
For as long as I can remember I have been interested in the space program. When I was a kid books about NASA and movies like Space Camp captured my imagination like nothing else. In fact for a very long time I actually wanted to be an astronaut.
This story was longer but was lost due to stupidity! Sorry.
Here we are on a national day of remembrance. It is hard to believe it has already been three years since that fateful day in September that changed the way many people viewed the world. Today also happens to be a personal day of remembrance, it was a month ago today that a dear loved one had lost her battle with Cancer.
It is hard to believe that it has already been a month since that August day. Sometimes it feels like it has been so much longer and other times it feels as though it was just yesterday.
My aunt was a truly great person. She left a lasting impression on every single person she ever came in contact with. She had one of those personalities that just lit up a room every time she was near. Her infectious vibrant smile was enough to change the mood in even the gloomiest of rooms.
She also took to the task of being my mentor and confidant. She was the one that introduced me into the joys of reading by encouraging me to read the classics, such as Treasure Island and Pinocchio, at a very young age. She was also the one to encourage me to follow my dreams and find a profession in which I would be happy. She told me that by going to college and following a career path that I would enjoy it would never really feel like I was working. She was right. I love the career path I have chosen and when I get started on a project I don’t want to stop because I enjoy what I am doing.
She was also a moral beacon for me. She used to call them her Lucy Lecture Series. It was a joke that she would just pull a number out and say something like here comes lecture number 85, Safe Sex. She was great at helping a person see what was right, wrong, good, and decent and what the consequences would be whether they be good or bad.
Lucy’s influence on my life was truly profound. And that is why she was present at the two most important days in my life to date, my college graduation and my wedding. I will forever be grateful that she was able to make it to my wedding a short three months before she left this earth for a better place. She was able to see for herself that through her guidance and support I was able to find someone and marry the person who makes me happy and that I am willing to sacrifice everything for.
After a two year battle with cancer she finally lost. Unfortunately for us she has passed on however it is probably better for her as she is no longer suffering the wretched effects of this cancer that showed up at the end. She is now in her rightful place in heaven helping to make the afterlife all the more better. The loved ones she left behind will continue to more her loss for a very long time even though we know that she would be mad at us for taking the time out of our lives to reflect upon her. Even during her final days she was upset that her family and friends were taking time out of their lives to come visit her and wish her well.
During the month of September I also lost another relative. I also lost my Great-Grandfather. He lived to the ripe old age of 94. He would have turned 95 in a couple of weeks. In the 1970’s he was given 6 months to live do to cancer. He had fought death and won for so long we were all surprised to to see him make it as long as he did. He was a strong man with a heart of gold. Grandpa even outlived three wives and many doctors predictions that he would not last much longer. And even though he was ready to go it is still a great loss to any family no matter how long of a life the individual life was.
I will miss both of them very much. It is amazing to think that for one person midlife was 47 years old and the others was only 22 years old. I guess it just goes to show that you should really treat everyday as it is your last and to live life to its fullest. You never know when your time will come so please make sure that the people you care about know how you feel about them. Life is way to short to live with regrets.
Lucy Elwer left a lasting memory on more than just the family and friends she left behind. In Wednesday’s Lima News an article was written about this lasting memory that everyone could keep of her, I will post the article here to share this memory as well. All of the following is property of the Lima News and the original article can viewed here.
Lucy Elwer left lasting mark on Limaland
By JOHN HULLINGER
419-993-2088
jhullinger@limanews.com
08.18.2004
ALLENTOWN — Andy Conley lifted off the throttle and whipped the back end of his Elwer Fence 360 Sprint Car around. He slid it through Limaland Motorsports Park’s third turn and into the fourth. Suddenly the car headed towards the wall, out of control. It started to flip and flew straight into the catchfence with incredible force. The support post bent but did not break, something Conley and the spectators sitting outside the fence were thankful for.
Thank Lucy Elwer.
Elwer left this world and the Limaland family one week ago today when she finally lost a two-year battle with cancer. She was only 45 years old.
It was Lucy Elwer who persuaded and encouraged husband Dave to start his own fencing company — which eventually installed the catchfence in question — in 1992. It was Lucy, the dirt-track fan, who dragged Dave to Limaland the first time a few years later. “I was a drag-racing guy,” Dave Elwer said Monday.
It was Lucy who said, “Are you stupid? Well, yes! Jump on that,” when Dave asked her if they should consider sponsoring the Sprint division at Limaland in 2000.
It was Lucy who never missed a race.
And it was Lucy who every Friday night at 5, even as her days wound down, pointed to herself, gave the “OK” sign, pointed to Dave and 15-year-old daughter Natalie and waved. “She was saying, ‘I’m OK. You go,’” Dave Elwer said.
Dave and Lucy met when cruising was the thing to do in Delphos on those balmy summer Saturday nights. They got married on July 2, 1983. “Never a fight. We worked side-by-side since 1990. We got up and we wanted to work. It was never a bad time,” Dave Elwer said. “She was perfect.”
Limaland remembered Lucy Elwer on Friday night. As the Sprint cars circled the track during pace laps, driver Rick Boughan pulled his car to the front of the field in a missing-man formation while the crowd stood for a moment of silence.
The solitary silhouette of Dave Elwer stood in the infield. “I was a wreck,” he said. “I stood in the middle of that infield and cried like a baby. I just couldn’t believe it. I was totally impressed with everybody — the fans. I was just full of emotion that night. That was terrific. “Lucy would have been the type, ‘Oh, you didn’t have to do that.’ That would have been her,” Elwer said.
Elwer said Lucy’s favorite thing about racing was the way even rivals would lend each other a helping hand. When was the last time Barry Bonds gave Sammy Sosa help with his swing in the middle of a game?
After Tim Allison won the A-main Friday night, he dedicated his win to Dave and to Lucy’s memory. “Timmy and I have had words in the past. When he was giving his speech at the end, it blew me away,” Elwer said. “When he went up and said all that, there is the true spirit of your racers again. I was more than glad to go up and shake Timmy’s hand and thank him for everything he said. That puts all the differences aside right there.”
Lucy Elwer was a part of the fabric of Limaland Motorsports Park. Not just as a fan or a sponsor, but because of who she was. “Lucy became a part of and very intertwined in my personal family and the Limaland family,” Limaland president Jeff Jarvis said. “When she would walk up to a group of people, she just put smiles on everybody’s faces. She could never leave Limaland without saying good-bye to everyone. “She was just one of those people that she’d brighten up everybody’s day or night around her.”
Lucy Elwer will continue to brighten rooms, every time someone mentions her name. So when Friday night rolls around, remember one thing.
She’s OK. You go.
Have you ever wondered what people used to do for fun to pass an evening? Before video games and television, what did people do to have an enjoyable time? Did husbands and wives break out decks of cards, board games, read poetry to one another, or other obvious activities to have a lovely time? Would we still think of these activities as an enjoyable way to spend an evening?
The reason I ask these questions is because last night I had the most enjoyable time with my wife. Now get your minds out of the gutter. You may ask, Jedbeck what could you have possibly done with your wife that was fun besides the things we were thinking before you told us to quit? Well I’ll tell you, My wife and I spent the evening blowing up Aliens. That’s right Aliens. Now before you get your favorite spatula all twisted let me explain. We were not really blowing up Aliens a la Area 51 or even Wil Smith’s ID4 and MIB summer adventures. In fact last night I taught my wife to play HALO.
Now we have spent many evenings before playing video games. However, they are normally the more timid family friendly games such as Mario Party or Super Mario Sunshine. Now you may ask, what made you go from these games to such a violent game such as HALO? Well it is elementary my dear Watson ….. er …. right, anyway… As i was looking through the issue of GMR the i received with my Xbox Live starter set, I saw a coupon for a Nintendo 64 for only $7.99. I then mentioned to my wife how funny it would be to buy that so that we could find a copy of Goldeneye to play. Goldeneye was one of the best multiplayer first person shooters. I remember skipping a few classes my freshman and sophomore years of college to play against friends and other people on my floor. Beth said that she also loved playing Goldeneye and she would always kick some major ass when playing that game. And this brought us to the subject of HALO.
So last evening for about two hours, Beth and I were going blowing up Aliens and occasionally each other. I mean really, how often can you throw a sticky grenade on the one you love with out any repercussions? So look out Beth is practicing and when HALO 2 comes out all you Xbox Live gamers better beware. She is ruthless and will take you down with no remorse.