Nancy and Tom Taylor

Lisa's daughter Jessica

2011-06-29T14:12:00.002-04:00

Last week, precious Jessie OD'd on heroin. She is in the hospital in an induced coma. I believe she had a stroke and a heart attack. Will visit with Lisa Thursday after work. I've know Jessie since she was 8 years old. Here is a pid of Jessie with her son.

It's summer

2011-06-29T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well, at least in Oklahoma summer has hit ... dad says it has been anywhere from 107 to 100 degrees this week! Here in PA, it is a balmy 73 degrees.

Yesterday (June 28) would have been mother's 94th birthday. I miss her so much. It is hard to believe that she has been gone for almost 12 years. The ache never goes away.

Sunday, we went to Norwalk, OH again for the NHRA National races. It was not as hot as last year, but was still hot. We think this is going to be our last year to go. The tickets are $55, it is a three hour drive just to sit out on a bleacher (at the starting line) with ear plugs in your ears all day. The novelty has run out. It has been a wonderful experience though!

Saturday, we went to David and Joe's for their annual party. There were not as many people there as were last year. This year it was mexican themed so I made a dulce de leche cake. It was awesome!

Saturday ... finally

2011-06-18T07:58:00.002-04:00

Art and Chris came in from Phoenix Thursday afternoon. We all had dinner here at the house and just sat around talking for several hours. It was so good to see them; Tom really misses having his brother live nearby! We will be going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving again this year.

For dinner we had wild Alaskan salmon with a blueberry balsamic glaze; roasted cauliflower with parmasean; fresh baked whole wheat bread; and a peach-blueberry pie for desert. I must say that everything was delicious. Oh, we also had a very nice french Pinot Gris to go with our meal.

Friday, Tom played in the ASPE (plumbing) golf outing. Before going to work on Friday, we took the Reatta in for inspection and to have the air conditioner retrofitted to R-134. Now we will have air conditioning for our trip to Boston next month.

Lisa will be here soon to clean the house (yippie ... one of my luxuries)! Tom and I are going to the Sewickley Farmer's Market then Tom will go pick up Art. They will go to Cathy's in Ellwood City. I plan on going to a 'secret sale' at J.Jill in Ross Park Mall and will more than likely see if there are any shoes there calling my name!

The cat is fine ... he had some sort of stomach bug and bronchitis. After a steriod and antibiotic shot, he is as good as new.

Gary ... if you are reading this BEFORE you go to OKC, take your nook (and all the paperwork) with you. You can exchange it at the Barnes & Noble there. BUT READ THE PAPERS THAT CAME WITH THE NOOK ABOUT EXCHANGES FIRST. Returns on the nook have to be made within 14 days ... you have exceeded that. (I will email you this too, inc case you don't read it here.)

iCloud beta

2011-06-10T09:59:00.000-04:00

I am loving that I can buy music from my iPhone (business) then go to downloads in iTunes on my iPad and get my new music!!

Looking forward to iOS 5 this September. Hopefully, they will come out with a new iPhone. My Blackberry (personal) is just getting cumbersome and outdated.

I am such a geekette!

Our precious kitty

2011-06-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

Last night we took Zane Grey to the vet. He has been sneezing and coughing the past few months, but when I got home yesterday evening he had been throwing up ... alot.

They gave him a shot with a steriod and antibiotic in it. Also, we have a liquid antibiotic to give him for 10 days (this will be fun).

This morning he seemed to be feeling much better, but I did not see him eat.

What was I thinking?

2011-06-07T09:43:00.001-04:00

Sunday afternoon, I thought I would re-create one of Julia Child's recipes from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I jumped into preparing the recipe without fully reading the entire directions. This was poor planning on my part. It took about 45 minutes to put the marinade together; then it had to marinate for 24 hours. This brought the recipe into late Monday afternoon. It was 10:30 p.m. when it all came together. It will be my dinner tonight. Tom won't be home for dinner because he has a meeting. This will be a solo feast.

Here's a link to a blog that someone wrote about preparing this recipe.

Our weekend

2011-06-06T13:43:00.002-04:00

Sunday, June 5

Tom dropped me off at the Grocery store and then he took 'Big Red' to the car wash. When we got back home, I started getting the roast ready to marinade for 24 hours. (From Julia Child's, the Art of French Cooking). Tom loaded up the roof rack on the SRX and then loaded the kayaks. We went to Raccoon Creek State Park for about two hours.

Dinner was a salad with a strawberry balsamic dressing, some cantaloupe and asparagus. Of course, there was cherry pie for dessert!

Saturday, June 4

Maggie and I went to the Semi-Annual All-Clad factory sale at the Washington County Fairgrounds. It was Mags first time there and my second. Tom was happy that Maggie went, otherwise I would have 'asked' him to join me. Next we went to the Strip District and then the Sewickley Farmer's Market. Whew, it was around 2:00 p.m. when we got back to our house. Tom had trimmed the front hedges. After putting things away and getting cleaned up, we ordered a pizza, had a beer and watched a Netflix movie, "Iron Man 2". We fell asleep half way through it and then realized that we had seen it before.

Friday, June 3

After work, we drove into town to have dinner at Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle Irish Restaurant/Pub. The band that played at Maggie and Neil's party were performing (Corned Beef and Curry). They are awesome! I had the iPad with us so we could follow the Pirates game.

Enjoying the day

2011-05-29T11:14:00.000-04:00

Last night wemet some friends at the Dependable drive-in around 7p.m. We saw "hangover 2" and "Bridesmaids". It was almost 2 a.m. when we got home! We slept in until aroud 8! It is such a beautiful day we didn't want to waste any of the day.

This afternoon we are going to Maggie and Neil's for their annual party. We need to go buy some beer, wine and ice to bring with us.

My thumb is still far from being healed!

It's about time for an update

2011-05-04T09:07:00.000-04:00

I must start updating our blog again.

Today, it is raining again! Out of 182 days it has rained 84 of those days. There is so much that needs to be done in the yard and flower beds!

And then there is my car ... it needs a lot of TLC (wash, wax, windows, interior, etc.) Speaking of cars, Tom got a new car last Thursday. Here's a pic of him taken last Friday.

1 Oct - Arrived in the Ardennes (Grand Halleux, Belgium)

2010-10-10T12:39:00.001-04:00

It was about a two hour drive from Sprinkange, Luxembourg to Baraque de Fraiture, Vielsam, Belgium. Bernadette, the owner of the Auberge du Carrefour, gave us a three-room apartment for our stay! It was nice to have all the extra room (complete with a kitchenette)!

Claude and Eddy picked us up around 6:00 p.m. and drove us to Claude's house about 20-25 minutes away. There we reunited with Martine and Carole (and met Eddy's friend). We drank champagne and exchanged gifts. They gave us a plaque commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 551st Battle of the Bulge, some maps and papers they had written along with hats! Martine had prepared a FABULOUS meal of salmon quiche, pumpkin soup, roe buck in a mushroom sauce and then ice cream with a raspberry sauce. We had coffee and sat around and talked until it was time for us to return to the Auberge where we fell fast asleep on very full bellies!

October 1 - Met Bert and Anny in Luxembourg City

2010-10-10T11:44:00.002-04:00

We checked out of the hotel in Larochette and drove to the American Cemetery outside of Luxembourg City where we met up with Anny and Bert. It was an emotional visit and we saw General Patton's grave.

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, 50.5 acres in extent, is situated in a beautiful wooded area. The cemetery was established on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the enemy's desperate Ardennes Offensive, one of the critical battles of World War II. The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army. General Patton is buried here.

We then followed Anny and Bert into Luxembourg City for a quick tour of the center of town. We went to an overlook to see the large stone arch bridge and into a cathedral.

Adolphe Bridge - erected between 1900 and 1903 during the rule of Grand Duke Adolphe. This event was followed with great interest from abroad, because the bridge had the biggest stone arch in the world up to then.

Notre Dame Cathedral, a Gothic-style church built by Jesuits in 1613, contains the tomb of John the Blind, king of Bohemia and count of Luxembourg from 1310 to 1346. Several members of the royal family and noted bishops are buried in the crypt.

After leaving the city, we drove south to the town of Bascharge where Anny and Bert treated us to the most fabulous meal that we've ever been served. The chef came to our table to discuss what she was going to serve and asked if it was okay with us!! We started off with wine, bread, butter, a fish course, a meat course (consisting of rabbit, vegetables and thinly sliced TRUFFLES) and desert.

After we left the restaurant, we went to Anny and Bert's home for a visit before we headed to Vielsam. Bert mentioned that he had a collection of wine .... WOW, he had around 1,500 bottles; some dated to 1976. Before leaving we shared a bottle of fabulous Gewurztraminer and exchanged gifts and then placed a call to Mary Jane. She was so thrilled to hear from us and to have the opportunity to talk with Anny and Bert again!

We said tearful good-byes (adi's) and then we drove into the Ardennes region of Belgium to Baraque de Fraiture to meet up with Claude, Martine, Carole and Eddy.

No internet access!

2010-10-03T02:26:00.001-04:00

All we have is the blackberry and updating is diffocult. We are not going to be posting for the remainder of our trip.

First day in Luxembourg

2010-09-30T05:37:00.007-04:00

Actually, we arrived in Luxembourg late in the afternoon of Tuesday 28 Sept. Bert and Anny drove from Luxembourg city to Larochette to meet us and take us to dinner. We went to a lovely italian/portguese restaurant that was in an old house (everything is old around here) that was supposedly haunted.

We started off the evening with a wonderful Sparkling Wine (champagne) made in Luxembourg. Next we each had a LARGE plate of thinly sliced ham (from Luxembourg) and melon. That alone could have been enough for us, but there was much more to follow .... a fabulous white wine from Luxembourg, pasta ala carbonara (awesome), cordon bleu and then a wonderful italian red wine. We were just overjoyed with the evening ... words cannot describe how happy we were to be with Anny and Bert sharing the fabulous meal.

Our hotel

Wednesday, 29 September

Bert and Anny picked us up around 9:30 a.m. and we began our journey of going to the places where Tom's dad had been during WII. Our first stop was Anny's family home (they no longer live there) where Tom's dad was invited to dinner on 27 December 1944, just before the Battle started.

Anny, Nancy et Bert outside of old family home

Weis family home during WWII

We then went on to many other places and stops. Some of the things we saw was a memorial to General Patton, the Musee Militarie in Diekirch. We had lunch in Vianden at one of the best places I've ever eaten at before!! Of course, the meal began with champagne (something we are getting accustomed to) then a plate of appetizers, a bottle of white wine and then our entre of grilled white fish on a bed of sauted celery, blue potatoes and a wonderful mushroom cream sauce! Espresso and un petit biscuit finished the meal.

Our journey continued on for another hour or two!

Here is a photo taken from our room of the Larochette castle.

Larochette castle across from our hotel

Images from Amsterdam

2010-09-29T15:18:00.002-04:00

Riding 1st class on train to Amsterdam w/free wifi

View along the canal in Amsterdam

We need more cowbell in Amsterdam!

From a Steeler Bar in Amsterdam

Paradox in Amsterdam ... a coffeeshop

Leaving Amsterdam this morning

2010-09-28T03:21:00.000-04:00

It rained all day yesterday and it made sight-seeing rather miserable. We just had breakfast and will be catching a trolley soon to take us to the train station.

We hope to add some photos this evening.

Amsterdam has not been one of my favorites. So many people; so many BICYCLES!

Sunday Sept 26, 2010 in Brussels and Amsterdam

2010-09-27T08:29:00.001-04:00

WOW WHAT A DAY! We walked a total of 10.8 miles and a record 19,690 steps - or something like that. Had to walk thru the rain from Sweet Brussels B&B to the train station, got onto a lovely train cabin only to find 2 British BITCHES sitting in our seats and refusing to move. We just told the conductor we would take other seats to calm things down. Nice ride with a cold salmon salad lunch with white wine of course. Managed our way thru the station and found the correct tram into town - where Nancy tried to get off too early and had the conductor chuckling at her. Our B&B here is quite different from Sweet Brussels. This is an old 4 story building - we have to trek up 3 flights of spiral stairs. We walked all over town, to dinner at the Satellite sports bar with fish and ships, then up to Victoria Hotel to meet the tour guide for the Red Light District tour - great sights, then stopped to the first gay bar in Amsterdam -what a fun place with wild characters. Then walked back to our B&B and Nancy got very nervous about being lost - but we made it just find. Great cool weather to do the walking. Today is raining and going to a museum. Just met up with a funny brit lady from Manchester - what a talker!

Saturday in Brussels

2010-09-25T13:24:00.005-04:00

We woke up around 8:30 this morning ... slept a little later than we'd planned. After eating a quick breakfast prepared by Sophie and her husband Stephan, we hurried to meet up with the Brussels Bike Tour group. We toured Brussels for 4 hours on bicycle stopping for a lunch of chips (Belgian Frites) and a beer. Some of the hills here in town were tough for me and I had to walk up one. At the beginning of the tour, I thought we had lost our minds because the cobblestone streets are NARROW and we had to share the road with cars and BIG buses, but we persevered! By the end of the tour, we buzzing across intersections with cars everywhere! It did rain on us several times throughout our tour. I don't know how Tom does it, but his hair stayed perfect while I looked like a drowned rat. (Note ... I had the hooded jacket on while Tom was wearing a plain jacket! (I need to start using his brand of hairspray!!!)

Mannekin Pis

Tomorrow we leave Brussels and take the train to Amsterdam.

It's so european here in Brussels :-)

2010-09-25T13:07:00.002-04:00

Tom and I are finally here in Brussels. The flight over was fine, but long! After going through customs at the Brussels Airport, we managed to find our train without much trouble. Things are marked very well here, it's just that everything is in Dutch or French. Once we got off the train (we made the 9:10) it was supposed to be a 7-10 minute walk to our B&B.. Well, it took us about 30 minutes! That was a long time for me because of the 25+ lbs. pack on my back plus it was humid! Our GPS was having problems locating a satellite because it was VERY overcast.

We had to wait a bit before getting into our room. The first thing we did was take a nap nap since we did not sleep much on the plane. After freshening up we set out to see the sights and ended up at the Grand Place and stopped at an outdoor cafe for beer and dinner.

The beers we sampled sampled: Chimay and Duvel then the waiter suggested Delirium ... OMG that was so good!

After dinner we came back to the B&B for the evening.

Waiting for shuttle (to take us to the airport)

2010-09-23T11:39:00.000-04:00

This is so unlike us ... we are ready BEFORE our shuttle gets here. As a matter of fact, we have a spare 30 min.!

Tom's backpack weighs 30.5 lbs. and mine weights 25.2. Hmmmmm? I have a few minutes to take things out, but I'd better not.

My prayers have been answered : - )

2010-09-22T13:15:00.002-04:00

Finally, at long last someone has opened up a Barbeque Restaurant that serves excellent, Texas (Oklahoma)-style barbeque. They are 2 blocks from my office and easy to get to on my way home:-)

Monday lunch: Pulled Pork sandwich, cole slaw, and baked beans
Monday dinner: Chicken dinner w/cornbread, baked beans and potato salad
Tuesday dinner: same as above
Wednesday (today) lunch: Chopped brisket sandwich with baked beans

Check them out:
Selma's Texas Barbeque

Funny video from my friend Sheri

2010-09-22T11:11:00.001-04:00

Holy EURO / Our Itinerary

2010-09-22T07:54:00.002-04:00

What in the heck has happened to the euro?? It was a mere 1.26 USD to 1 euro last week. This morning when I checked, it was 1.3379! Our USD is growing wings right before our eyes:-(

23 September (Thu) - Depart Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to Brussels

US Airways

23 September (Thursday)

Flight #3466 - Depart Pittsburgh 3:00 pm - Arrive Philadelphia 4:13 pm

Flight 750 - Depart Philadelphia 6:15 pm - Arrive Brussels 8:00 am on 24 September

8 October (Friday)

Flight 751 - Depart Brussels 10:45 am - Arrive Philadelphia 1:25 pm

Flight 860 - Depart Philadelphia 3:35 pm - Arrive Pittsburgh 4:47 pm

24 - 25 September (Fri and Sat) - BRUSSELS

www.sweetbrussels.be/

Sweet Brussels Bed & Breakfast

78, Avenue de Stalingrad

1000 Brussels - Belgium

tel: +32 486 259 137

E-mail: sofie@sweetbrussels.be

Brussels Bike Tours (http://www.brusselsbiketours.com/ 4-hour tour then lunch and a lesson on Belgium beer)

26 September (Sun) - Train from Brussels to Amsterdam

Depart Brussels (Gare du Midi) on Thalys train no. 9323 at 11:50 am
Arrive Amsterdam (Centraal Station) at 1:43 pm

26 - 27 September (Sun and Mon) - AMSTERDAM

www.hotelkeizershof.nl/

Hotel Keizershof

Keizersgracht 618

1017 ER Amsterdam

telephone: +31.20.6222855

fax: +31.20.6248412

E-mail: postbus@keizershof.demon.nl

http://www.amsterdamboatclub.com/

St. Nicolaas Boat Club gives one of the best boat rides in Amsterdam. They're not like the big tour boats. They have a small old open boat that holds about 10 people. It's much more like going out with friends than being on a package tour. The driver of the boat asks you where you want to go, and what you would like to see. Being small, these boats can go down the smaller canals that the big glass covered boats can't navigate.

28 September (Tue) - Train from Amsterdam to Brussels

Depart Amsterdam (Centraal Station) on Thalys train no. 9330 at 11:16 am
Arrive Brussels (Gare du Midi) at 1:10 pm

3:00 pm - Pick up rental car from Hertz and drive to Larochette, Luxembourg
(We will be bringing our own GPS w/European Maps on it.)

28 - 30 September (Tue, Wed and Thu) - LUXEMBOURG (Larochette)

http://webplaza.pt.lu/~grhopola/

Hotel de la Poste

11, place Bleech

L-7610 LAROCHETTE

Tél: 00352 87 81 78 Fax: 00352 83 70 07

email: grhopola@pt.lu

1 - 6 October (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) - BELGIUM (Baraque de Fraiture - Parker's Crossroads)

http://www.aubergeducarrefour.be

Auberge Du Carrefour

Baraque de Fraiture 2

B-6990 Vielsalm (Houffalize,La Roche- en -Ardennes)
Tél.: 00-32-(0)80/41.87.47
Fax : 00-32-(0)80/41.88.60
E-mail : info@aubergeducarrefour.be

7 October (Thu) - return to BRUSSELS

We will find a hotel near or at the Brussels Airport

8 October (Fri) -return to PITTSBURGH

Tomorrow's the day ...

2010-09-22T07:51:00.001-04:00

Our journey begins tomorrow. The shuttle service is picking us up around 11:45 a.m. to take us to the airport. Instead of having to someone to take us to the airport (on a workday), we came across a company called SuperShuttle. With our AAA discount it will be $38 round-trip for them to pick us up at our home, take us to the airport, then from the airport to back home. That is less than it would cost to park at the airport for a weekend!

We will fly from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia then wait for two hours before departing for Brussels. The flight should be around 7-1/2 hours; we land in Brussels on Friday at 8:00 a.m.

The only thing I need to figure out what mode of transportation (bus, tram, or train) we want to take from the airport to the train station (Gare du Midi). It is a 10 min. walk from the station to our B&B.

Pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl Champions

2010-09-15T14:53:00.000-04:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we went down to Heinz Field for the Annual Rib Fest. We were so hungry when we got there, we chose a BBQ booth that had the shortest line. The BBQ was just okay. We have vowed that next year we will not show up there real hungry. We'd like to try one of the booths that has better BBQ (which means the lines will be longer:-).

After we had cleaned our plates, we walked into the stadium. We were surprised to see that they had all 6 Superbowl Championship trophies on display! Tom took this pic with his phone; it turned out great!

Sour Cherry Pie

2010-09-14T08:30:00.001-04:00

While Tom was playing golf yesterday evening, I made a Sour Cherry Pie. Thanks to our niece, Maggie, who gave us cherries this year:-) The pie was still hot at 10:30 p.m. so we will have to wait until tonight to taste it:-(

15 Years Ago ....

2010-09-09T09:47:00.002-04:00

Tom and I were in Key West. We got married at sunset on the beach near Fort Zachery Taylor! We had a fabulous 10 days in Key West. Hopefully, we will visit there again.

Happy Anniversary Tom!
All my love, Nancy

Caring Bridge update from Mary

2010-09-08T05:36:00.003-04:00

Quick update for the day...

So! How is dad today? I have figured out how to answer it. Dad is absolutely as well as he can be today, September 7, 2010. As of today, dad is still breathing on his own, off of supplemental oxygen, smiling, speaking more clearly (and logically), joking and yes, still defending our mother.

Further proving that he is getting back to his old self, dad has managed to persuade the doctors to allow him to come home. Yes, you read that correctly, as of today, the team at JH is working on getting dad home. No one likes hospitals, least of all dad. None of us has any idea how he managed this, but, as he has always said, "How can you rest and recover when someone is waking you up every hour for more tests?"

Dad still has a few milestones to hit before the papers are signed and he is back on the farm. His is still not swallowing 100% and has to stick with a "soft-mechanical" diet which basically equals: YUCK! However, even a steady diet of mashed potatoes, yogurt and liquid dietary supplements is better than having a tube down your GI track.

His strength is improving slowly but surely. As always, he is one determined Davis. He told the doctors he was going home- end of story. If this is what the man wants, we are all happy to proclaim: this is what the man shall have!

Dad has defied the odds at least twice now. I have been in the room when they have told us that the "outlook was not good" and that he was "deep in the woods." We have all cried and panicked and pretty much prepared ourselves for the worst at the doctor's suggestion. Then, along comes dad, quietly, and in his own way, allowing us the opportunity to be dramatic, all the while knowing that in the end, everything would work out. He had a plan and he would be sticking to it. Quite frankly, after 28 years, I can confidently say, dad is usually right.

Thats my dad. Thats our dad. Thats my mom's husband. Thats Liam's Grandaddy. Thats our brother, son and friend. He rocks!

Buick car show in Columbus

2010-08-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note ... we are in Columbus, OH for the Great Lakes Buick Regional Car Show. We drove the 68 Skylark and 'trailered' the 89 Reatta.

Good News! The Reatta won a 1st Place in its class and the Skylark won 2nd Place its class. Needless to say, Tom and I were very pleased! There were some beautiful cars here. I will post a few pics once we get home.

We are in the business center getting our 'internet' fix before heading loading up and heading home.

UPDATE ON BLACKIE : - )

2010-08-29T09:50:00.001-04:00

Posted by Mary on Caringbridge.com Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:44 PM, EDT

I sat down to write tonight's update and tried to think of the best way to write it. I think half of me is afraid to write it "out loud" and the other half is still having a hard time believing it.

Patrick, Liam, Tommy, Alex and I made our all-too-familiar journey to Baltimore this morning to see mom and dad. We arrived as usual. Patrick and Liam stayed in the waiting room, while I went back to dad's room to let them both know we were there. I used hand sanitizing gel at three different stations before I got to his room, donned and white paper gown and purple plastic gloves and waived hello to the various nurses I feel as though I have gotten to know fairly well. I pushed back the multi-colored curtain blocking the public's view of my dad to find him, eyes wide open and sitting up (with quite a few pillows supporting him).

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, dad's eyes have opened momentarily, usually as the request of my mom, but they have not remained open for anything longer than a few seconds or a quick blink to answer yes, or no. Today, dad's eyes were big and blue. Just like we know them to be. The jaundice we have seen is suddenly gone. While his ventilator tubes are still there his face looks pink, not gray or bright red in a moment of fever.

Fast forward to a few hours later. Mom has Liam back in the apartment taking a nap. Patrick and I have had a quick bite to eat, and Tommy and Alex are on their way from Arlington. The Pulmonary Doctors show up and tell us: "Well, its time for the tubes to come out. We think he can do it." Suddenly, another nurse is behind them with handfuls of plastic and they are asking dad how he feels and if he is ready.

Two coughs later, the tubes are out and we have our dad back. Almost instantly, his fever broke to 99.8 and with the break in temperature came dad's sense of humor. When the nurses explained the they would "put him down to make him more comfortable" (meaning the would lower his bed briefly) dad responded "Eileen has been trying to do that to me for years."

We spent the majority of the day trying not to overwhelm him. Two weeks of not talking left for quite a bit of catch up. The more dad talks of course, the lower his oxygen went, so for now, we have to be patient. When mom came back to the room, in typical Davis fashion, everyone was harassing her and trying to make her laugh. Dad's response: "Why are you giving your mother a hard time?" He is already back to defending her!

We still have a long road to travel. However, for now, we are satisfied with what we have, as nothing can really top hearing "I love you" in words after two weeks of barely there hand squeezes. Our goals are to avoid another infection, keep dad off of the tubes over night and for the foreseeable future. We will worry about the future later.

I wrote quite some time ago about the 5:00pm phone calls with dad after work. I used to laugh and roll my eyes at his response whenever I asked him how he was feeling: "Better now that I hear your voice." Same thing, every day. Geez dad!

Well! I know I speak for all us when I say: we all feel better now that we have heard your voice dad!

GO DAD!

Caring Bridge update from Mary

2010-08-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:09 AM, EDT

"Hurry up and wait." We often joke about the phrase in our family and how we all would like this entire process to be over. We actually had a doctor use this phrase in the hospital recently. By no means did this upset us, rather, it confirmed our feelings of frustration.

Unfortunately, although I hate to say it, dad has yet another infection. Dad had been waking up gradually and communicating through blinking his eyes and squeezing our hands, even nodding his head when our mom asked him too (go figure). The doctors finally sounded upbeat and said "we" were having a good day. In fact, we had even started talking about the possibility of getting dad off of the ventilator as he had been breathing well on his own.

Then SMACK! Like a bomb, everything was once again on hold as he is battling yet another infection. We have been driving the nurses crazy obsessing over dad's fever. When you go from a week at 104 and finally hit the 98 mark, 98.3 really causes panic. As of today, dad is back at the 101 mark, and while yes, in comparison to last week 101 is not too bad, its a fever, and we have all jumped back on the infection train. Yeehaw!

The good news is that the fever does not seem to be getting worse at this point which means he is responding the antibiotics. He was even breathing well on his own last night (tubes are still in the just allow him to do it on his own and have the option for assistance should he need it). Dad is very tired which is understandable and is not communicating as much as he was. He was able to communicate with our mom and the nurse that he did not feel ready to be 100% on his own without the tubes. Again, he is tired. As Patrick says: Blackie is a warrior.

The doctors are not overly worried and have tried to convince us that this is normal. In fact, repeated infections are one reason they are eager to get those tubes out as quickly as possible. Dad's port lines have been switched from his arm to his chest, to his leg and now his neck. The good news is that he has minimal bleeding and his blood counts are remaining stable. With the last infection everything tanked which made the fight so much more difficult for dad. So again, we wait.

We continue to try to keep things in perspective. Back in November, dad was on the ventilator for more than 3 weeks. We are approaching the two week mark although it feels as though it has been months. Dad was able to tell Tommy, Patrick, Alex (Tommy's girlfriend) and me to go back to work. And we all know that if he could, he would express his frustration that we have been spending so much time in that darn room with him. While mom is physically on her own most of the week the phone calls, visits and emails have been a great support to her. Please keep them coming.

Finally, in response to the prayers that have been coming our way: WOW. We believe so strongly that these prayers have carried dad through this. The difference between Friday morning before the vigil and Saturday morning was absolutely nothing short of a miracle. We simply cannot thank our family and friends enough. While we would certainly prefer not to be going through this, we have also been able to reconnect with family and friends that we do not get to speak with often enough. As a daughter, it has taught me so much about who I want to be "when I grow up." I think we would all be extremely lucky to have the outpouring of support and love as our dad has had. Dad really is pretty amazing.

GO DAD!

Tom talked with Eileen this morning

2010-08-25T15:23:00.003-04:00

Said they plan on removing the ventilator today. He is doing a little better, but still anxious and a bit scared. Eileen has been staying in the room on Blackie request and not sleeping well - was able to get back to the apt late last night to sleep in real bed - Had a tense moment when they were taking him on elevator to a procedure and he did a "hulk" trying to break free. Mixed talk on whether the transplant will happen or not. She was whispering at times so it was hard to hear everything.

Update on Blackie

2010-08-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

From Art's phone call to Tom:

Fever still down; found a 2nd infection and working on that with antibiotics; bone marrow scan found to be non-malignant so it is still Myelodysplastic syndrome; weaning him off ventilator.; the transplant is now off the table; he is responding by squeezing hand and blinking.

Shopping on Sunday

2010-08-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning Tom and I drove up to the Grove City Prime Outlet Mall. Our main purpose was to go to Wendell August Forge to purchase some gifts to take to Belgium with us and to go to the Jockey store for Tom to pick up some new socks, t-shirts and undies.

We ended up first going to Eddie Bauer 'just to look' and ended up walking out with a shopping bag full of clothes:-) After getting the things we originally intended to get, I decided to stop in the Bass store to look at a scarf. I walked out of there with new shoes, a pair of socks and no scarf!

After we got back home, I had to jump in my car and head over to a friends house for a Pampered Chef home party. Tom worked on the Reatta. After I got back home, I helped him finish up. The car is now ready for the Buick Regional meet that is going to be held in Dublin, Ohio next weekend.

Sunday update from Mary

2010-08-22T19:17:00.001-04:00

From http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jblackwelldavis/journal

Sunday, August 22, 2010 1:27 PM, EDT

Just a quick update as we know there are many, many people praying hard for dad.

As of today (Sunday) dad's temp is down. Way down. He broke 100 yesterday and is somewhere in the 98.7 range. The good news is that he seems to have done this on his own without the help of the more drastic measures they had been prepared to take. The doctors were very pleased not only with the drop, but the fact that it has stayed down for over 24 hours. GO DAD!

Some of his other "numbers" are also better. Because the fever has dropped, the medicines which are being used to keep his BP stable have been decreased. His platlettes are up and he is still doing well with the oxygen levels.

Unfortunately, he is still not "out of the woods" as the doctors keep telling us. We are really being to dislike that phrase and I am confident it will no longer be in our vocabulary once we are finished with this. While the infection seems to be going away, the bottom line is that Dad still has to contend with the reason he is here in the first place: cancer. The cancer continues to cause problems (both new and exsisting) as it always does. So, again, one step at a time.

We cannot thank you enough for the prayers heard sent from around the world on Friday. We know these prayers are responsible for the genuine miracle of the fever breaking. All of us could feel them and I cannot explain the strength the prayers gave us.

Right now, the goal is to keep dad comfortable and peaceful. We are with him every step of the way. And if there was ever a time we questioned it, we know without a doubt that everyone out there is with him too.

GO DAD!

Saturday evening update

2010-08-22T06:44:00.001-04:00

Saturday evening, we had a message from Art. He had talked to Eileen. Blackie's fever finally broke and it was under 100 degrees. He also said that he was somewhat responsive ...blinking his eyes and some facial movement. They made an attempt to remove the ventilator, but his heart began beating irregularly. They are going to try removing it today.

Caring Bridge update from Mary

2010-08-20T20:35:00.002-04:00

Friday, August 20, 2010 11:17 AM, EDT

This is a difficult entry for me to make. But, as we have discussed, we feel it is important to keep our wonderful and supportive friends and family up-to-date.

As you all know, dad came in to the hospital last week to begin what was suppossed to be a routine round of chemo followed by the Bone Marrow Transplant. To put it bluntly: that didnt happen.

As it turns out, dad must have come into the hospital with a pre-exsisting infection that he had picked up somewhere along the way. In "healthy" bodies, this infection would not be a problem. In dad's body however, it is sending everything into a tailspin.

For about a week now, dad has been on a ventilator assisting his breathing and heavily sedated to keep him comfortable. His fever has ranged between 101 and 104 (where it is currently) and the doctors at JHM have worked very hard to figure out what is causing this problem. At one point, dad's kidneys were seeming to be giving up although they seemed to have rallied as of today. Finally, dad's blood pressure is dangerously low and has struggled to maintain a healthy number without significant medication. Although, it is important to note that this too has seemed to improve ever-so-slightly, which is certainly better than no improvement at all.

What does all of this mean? Unfortunately, we have no idea. I am not sure we ever will. What we do know is that as of last weekend, the doctors appeared very grim about dad's recovery. However, true to form, dad refuses to do what everyone expects him to do and he is fighting like the warrior he is. While the doctors are hesitant to use the word "improvements", at times, we have seen him head in the right direction, as have the doctors. There are still very scary days ahead of us. But, with the same faith and love we came into this with (maybe even more), we will continue to fight as a family and as a community.

Mom is doing as well as she can be. I cannot count the number of times I have heard "your mom is such a strong woman". Tommy and I could not agree more. Her friends and family have been a tremendous help with this, and on behalf of Tommy, Patrick and myself: THANK YOU.

Aunt Betsy and Uncle Bob have been with us and have been grocery shopping and taking care of the forts in our absence. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tom Taylor even came down from Pittsburgh to lend a shoulder. We could not do this without our family. I think every day of how lucky Liam is to have been born into this extended family.

We will continue to take each day, hour, minute and second, one at a time. We have no idea what the next day will hold, but know that every day dad (technically speaking) wakes up, is another day to smile as much as possible and repeat: "he can do this!" If you can, today, 8/20/10, Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town, WV, will be holding a vigil for its community in honor of those in need of special prayers from 3-8pm (I beileve). If you can attend to say an extra prayer for strength and comfort for our dad, we would appreciate it. For those outside of Charles Town, if you can stop for a minute, sometime this afternoon, and send a prayer, we would also appreciate it.

We came into this knowing dad wanted to fight. He had a determination unlike anything we have seen. We will continue to fight with him every step of the way. GO DAD!

8/20 morning update

2010-08-20T11:08:00.001-04:00

Just got a call from Tom, he had talked to Art. Art had talked to Eileen.

Blackie is doing worse today; they thought today would be better
Temp is 104.3
They may try to do the bone marrow biopsy
Blackie may not survive the procedure

Sad and scared.

Zucchini lasagna & Pirate Radio

2010-08-20T08:57:00.001-04:00

Tom and I have been given quite a lot of zucchini this week. A friend from Tom's office said that he'd made some zucchini lasagna. Well, last night I made some ... it wasn't bad, but I had a hard time enjoying if because I knew how fattening it was! Four eggs and two pounds of cheese. It did taste good, but a little cheesy for me.

After dinner, Tom fixed the rear view mirror in the Rendezvous. The glue that had been holding it up to the windshield finally gave out. For the past week or so, he'd been driving with the mirror bungee-corded to the visors. Darn, I should have taken a pic of it!

We watched a really good movie last night ... Pirate Radio. Great music!!

Evening update from Art

2010-08-19T21:00:00.001-04:00

We just talked with Art. Eileen told him that Blackie's BP was very low and they had to give him meds to bring it up. His temp is still high, but the vent is only working at 5%; Blackie is doing 95% of the breathing on his own.

He still isn't responsive and this could be due to the drugs they are giving him.

The dr. are thinking about doing a bone marrow aspiration tomorrow to look at his marrow.

From Patrick

2010-08-19T15:03:00.002-04:00

No improvement. another tough day fever holding around 104. Worry creeping back in.

Docs have asked mary and tommy to be there saturday morning for meeting. Has mary scared. More scared that is

No news yet

2010-08-19T12:41:00.002-04:00

Tom sent a text to Mary over an hour ago and I haven't heard anything.

What I know today ...

2010-08-18T15:05:00.000-04:00

It seems like Blackie is holding his own. Temperature is still elevated; the meds to keep his blood pressure elevated has been decreased; his kidney functions have improved somewhat; and the doctors think they have pinpointed his virus/infection and are checking to see if it has done any damage to his heart.

Art talked with Tommy this morning and Art thought Tommy had said that they were considering removing the ventilator today. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

On a lighter note, we received an email from Claude Orban in Belgium. He, Martine and Eddy have asked us what we would like to do on our visit. (Other than military related sights.) We thought that was very nice of them to ask. This evening we are going to put our thoughts together and send them our response.

Also, we received confirmation from the Brussels Bike Tour company that they had openings for us on the day we want to tour. Here's their website: http://www.brusselsbiketours.com/

Afternoon update

2010-08-17T16:29:00.000-04:00

From Maureen in California:

Hi!! Just talked to Eileenie again -- caught her as she was going to take a nap. Blackie is still holding steady and Betsy (Blackie's sister) & Bob just arrived and are at the hospital now. Doctors have identified one of the lung infections and are checking the heart to make sure it didn't infect the heart.

Update from 8/16

2010-08-17T07:47:00.000-04:00

Received an update from Mary yesterday morning and have heard nothing else since. Here's what Mary wrote:

"No change 4 drs but we thnk the temp is down and they might b close 2 figring out what the problem is. Mayb. Kidneys nt bttr bt nt worse. Temp dwn 2 100. Go Dad"

So, in that spirit, GO BLACKIE!!!!

John's Hopkins in Baltimore

2010-08-16T09:29:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, we drove to Baltimore to see Blackie and be with Eileen. Blackie is still on life support while his body tries to get regulated where it can take over when the infection/fungus problem is figured out. While we were there they said that his MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndromes) had progressed into full-blown acute leukemia. Then yesterday, they said that the recent bloodwork showed that that had not happened. It is a roller coaster of emotions.

Saturday evening we stayed at the Hyatt Regency at Inner Harbor. Here are some photos taken from our room.

Evening update on Blackie

2010-08-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

Today the doctors flushed Blackie's lungs out. Not sure what this procedure was supposed to do, but afterwards Blackie was having a terrible time breathing. They had to put him on a ventilator and CANCELLED THE TRANSPLANT. Prayers desperately needed!!!

8/13 Update on Blackie

2010-08-13T08:05:00.003-04:00

[ from Eileen this morning ]

Hi gang,
Well, yesterday was not a good day for Blackie. The transplant is on "hold". He has developed a significantly high fever
there appears to be some infection in his lungs. Today they will do a bronchciscope (like Dad) and take a look around.
He perked up about late afternoon but by evening after he ate a little, his fever went up. Night time fevers usually do.
Needless to say, this stinks.

On my way home I was pretty upset. Therre was a man in the elevator going down from the same floor and he asked if I had a loved one here. We got to talking and turns out his wife had the exact same experience. She was in the hospital for 11 days, sent her back to apt. to recover. Brought her back 3 days later and continued with the transplant. So it gave me hope that "hold" doesn't have to mean
"never".

I am going over as soon as I shower but wanted to bring you up to date. Please pray extra hard for Blackie. I know you are already.
I love you for this and more.

love, Eileen

Tomato Soup

2010-08-12T12:25:00.001-04:00

This recipe is fairly easy, but so worth the effort! Click here to go to my Recipe Box blog.
Bon apetit!

Update on Blackie

2010-08-12T08:14:00.004-04:00

Here is the latest from Eileen:

Blackie has a Caring Bridge site setup while he goes through this bone marrow transplant process. You will need to register by entering your email address and creating a password. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jblackwelldavis

Well, Blackie is now IN the hospital. Yesterday was a long day getting the Hickman line put in his chest. He needed platelets to even
begin. The when the post test came out, he still didn't have enough, so they gave him more during the procedure. All was fine after that.

Today he checked in at 11:30 am. Something in his blood count was low, so he needed to receive more blood today. Testing samples all day long. Late afternoon, he received a small amount of "trial chemotherapy". Then they have to monitor and take samples after that has been infused. They will be testing him all through the night every hour. His sleep will be very disturbed. He has slept off and on all day which he really has needed. THEN, the kinetics of the "trial" give them the right amount of 3 medicines they mix together to get
the job done. He will be in the hospital for 1 month (give or take a little they said). Then an outpatient/in-patient until they say he can go home. Still looking like November.

We were able to get into the JH apartment on MONDAY! Whew. Here is the address:

Mr. James Blackwell Davis
c/o Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family Pavilion
301 N Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231

Living Room Phone:: xxx Bedroom Phone: xxx

I am only giving the phone numbers to family. Address can be given to anyone and I'll take the cards to Blackie.

I couldn't do with Blackie without you, my dear and wonderful family. Blackie loves all of you so much and he knows well how much YOU love him too! I don't know what we would do without eachother. Will someone PLEASE check and make sure this email gets to Annie and Steve, and to Cathy and Bob? I have what I think is an old email. Thanks.

I'll have my cell phone on vibrate during the day with Blackie. Tomorrow night I'll probably stay with him through his first night of full treatment.

love and kisses, hugs and peace of mind to us all.

Eileen

551st PIB - Col. Doug Dillard Awarded French Legion of Honor

2010-08-11T12:36:00.000-04:00

Washington Post Article

John Kelly's Washington
World War II veterans honor Allies in liberated French towns

By John Kelly
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
In February 2005, Monika Stoy and her husband, Tim, sent letters to the mayors of more than 250 cities in the south of France, towns that ranged from the Mediterranean playground of St. Tropez to the tiny village of Urschenheim, in Alsace. As varied as the towns were, they had one thing in common: All had been liberated in the late summer and early fall of 1944 by members of the 3rd Infantry, the same division that the Stoys, both U.S. Army officers, were part of.
The letters weren't official Army correspondence. Instead, they were a labor of love. Each bore the same message: Our World War II veterans are dying. It would be a sign of respect to display a plaque in your town in memory of the sacrifices they made. If you provide a plaque, we will guarantee that U.S. soldiers will be there for the dedication.
The Stoys made three requests: That the towns fly the U.S. flag at the dedication. That they play the U.S. national anthem. That there be children, who could keep the memory alive.
Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery, the latest chapter in the Stoys' efforts to remember these veterans took place under a broiling sun reminiscent of the weather on Aug. 15, 1944, when the first paratroopers tumbled from the skies over southern France. Francois Rivasseau from the French Embassy bestowed the Legion of Honor on four veterans: Lloyd Ramsey of Roanoke, Douglas Dillard of Bowie, Sherman Pratt of Arlington and James Welsh of Baton Rouge.
The Stoys are kind of like the Johnny Appleseeds of Operation Dragoon. Often called "the forgotten D-Day," Dragoon was the August 1944 invasion of southern France by Allied forces, an event often overshadowed by Operation Overlord, which landed troops on Normandy's beaches on June 6. Their letter-writing campaign was inspired by a souvenir map handed out by the French ministry of defense in 2005 labeled "Routes of Liberty." It showed only French units taking part in Dragoon. While the French did take part, the bulk of the force was 90,000 U.S. troops in parachutes and gliders from the 3rd, 36th and the 45th Infantry Divisions.
"That's when we asked the French colonel, 'What's wrong with this picture?' " Monika Stoy said.
The couple pored through division histories, noting the names of towns liberated by the 3rd. They went online to find contacts in those towns: Who was the current mayor? What was the address of city hall?
"Out of those 250 letters, we probably got 70 responses," said Tim Stoy, a lieutenant colonel who lives in Springfield with his wife. Twenty-five percent of those said no, the Americans hadn't liberated their town. Another quarter said it might be nice to have a plaque, but they couldn't afford it. The rest said, "Tell us more."
The Stoys were only too happy to.
The town of Les Mayons put up the first plaque, a handsome design on etched glass. The plaque in Salon-de-Provence is enameled metal. The one in Kaysersberg is a bronze tablet. Since those first letters went out, 61 French towns and villages have put up plaques in memory of their liberators. The Stoys have attended nearly every dedication, sometimes with an Army color guard, sometimes with some of the veterans themselves.
Monika Stoy retired from the Army as a captain, though more than one speaker Tuesday referred to her as a "field marshal," given that she had wrangled not just two dozen members of the Greatest Generation, but also representatives from France, Canada, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Britain, the U.S. Army Band and at least two generals: Gen. Carter Ham, current head of U.S. Army forces in Europe, and Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips, deputy commanding general-rear of the 3rd Infantry Division.
"Not one of them thinks they did something special," Ham told me after the ceremony. "They all say, 'I was just doing my job.' Even after all these years."
There were little glimpses into those days 66 years ago. Doug Dillard of Bowie, who went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam, remembered the paratrooper whose rucksack clinked as he loaded it onto the airplane. He had replaced its Army-recommended contents with a case of beer.
Jim Welsh was raised in Canada and said he got tossed out of school for refusing to learn French. "I said, 'If they want to speak to me, they can speak in English.' Little did I know," he said.
As the old soldiers reminisced, I said to Tim: You must be about done, right?
"No," he said. "We're still sending letters out every year. Mayors change."

8/9/10

2010-08-09T09:26:00.006-04:00

Last night we went to the Carnegie Library Music Hall in Munhall to see Rufus Wainwright and his sister, Martha Wainwright. Very interesting and different show, but I really enjoyed it.

Martha (playing acoustic guitar) came out first and sang for an hour.

After the break an announcer came out and said that Rufus would be performing two sets. For the first set he asks that no one applaud until he was finished and left the stage then after a short break he would come out again and we could applaud all we wanted to. …. So, the theatre is dark and he comes out very slowing dressed in a purple (with rhinestones) Edwardian dress the he sits down at the piano and sings for an hour … sort of an opera (in English) that he wrote as a tribute to his mother (Kate McGarrigle) who died in January this year. It was a very unusual and moving performance.

So, after this hour was over with there was a short break and he came back out dressed in an orange paisley suit w/white shoes (BTW, he is very gay and theatrical) and sang for another hour. At times Martha sang with him. It was almost midnight when we got home and to bed.

Dad is doing ok. Blackie leaves today to go to Johns Hopkins. Starts INTENSE chemo tomorrow and hopefully, they will do the transplant on the 18th.

Saturday morning we got some things done around the house and then in the afternoon we took the convertible to Beaver for a car cruise. It was very well attended! I guess we stayed there for about 3 hours. It was nice; the weather was perfect! Before going home, we went to Hank’s for a custard.

Sunday we worked on the Reatta (removing all of the overspray from the undercoating) using Goo Gone to remove all the crap from under the hood.

Please keep Patrick's father, Liam, in your prayers. He was admitted to the hospital upon his return to Ireland. Could be mini-stroke, heart problems or a blood clot. Just don't know for sure.

Blackie

2010-07-29T09:51:00.000-04:00

To read about Blackie, go here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jblackwelldavis

You will need to register.

The weekend of July 16-19

2010-07-19T14:55:00.003-04:00

An update ... Friday evening I met some friends and we spent then evening at an outdoor wine and dine festival. It was hot, the vendors would only give you an ounce of wine, the food was plentiful and you could buy a whole bottle of wine but not drink it on the premises. Well, we did not follow the rules ... since they also sold corkscrews, we found a table and sat their and drank our bottle of wine:-)

Saturday, Tom worked in the yard and I did laundry and made zucchini bread and oatmeal raisin cookies. For dinner we had duck breast with a honey, thyme and balsamic vinegar glaze. I roasted the organic carrots and beets we had received in our 'box' this week. Dinner was quite tasty! Afterwards, we went to the Eagles club for a bit.

Sunday morning we skyped with Art and Chris. It was really nice as we all sat in front of our computers in our jammies! After lunch we took the convertible to a car cruise not too far from the house. It was really hot and there weren't many cars there so we headed back home and loaded up the kayaks. This time we went to Raccoon Creek State Park. They have a nice man-made lake. It was a great way to spend the Sunday afternoon.

Catching up with what we've been doing

2010-07-15T12:22:00.002-04:00

I have been such a bad, lazy girl not posting more often. Wow, June 28 was the last day.

July 14, 2010

Yesterday was my Isidore Foods delivery. I was supposed to received another pork belly but it did not come. In my box this week was:

loose leaf lettuce
carrots
beets
cucumbers
zucchini
new potatoes

Last night after dinner, Tom and I watched our latest Netflix movie, "It's Complicated". I had seen it before, but Tom had not.

July 13, 2010

Since I pulled all my nails off yesterday, I went to see Mandy at noon and had another full set put on! New nails always makes me feel better.

Tom and I met some of the Jaycees at Johnny Carino's for dinner and a planning meeting for the annual Border Bash (college football game of Pitt vs WV .. BIG rivals) party. This event is attended by WV and PA Jaycee members.

.... okay, gotta get to work ... will update later, I promise:-)

NHRA Finals in Norwalk, Ohio

2010-06-28T10:56:00.009-04:00

WARNING ... turn your volume DOWN

Funny Car Race(Semi-finals)

Stock Car Race (Semi-finals)

Father's Day

2010-06-20T13:40:00.001-04:00

Dad sounded pretty good today; he had gone to church and then stopped for some lunch. It's really hot in OKC and he won't be getting outside. The heat index is supposed to be around 105 degrees.

Yesterday Tom and I went to AAA and booked our rental car for our trip to Belgium! We rented an economy from Hertz. I had hoped that we could also rent a GPS, but you need to rent at least a mid-size car. Now, we will have to buy maps for our Garmin and then take it with us.

We also went to REI yesterday. Tom bought an around your neck holder for valuables. I bought a PacSafe Metro bag.

This morning we did some research into Brussels hotels ... we came across this B&B (Sweet Brussels) that we would like to stay in. They do not do online reservations, so we are awaiting a response to our email inquiry.

Links for trip to europe ...

2010-06-17T11:33:00.000-04:00

Amsterdam:

http://www.lovers.nl/en/tickets-and-prices/redlight-candlelight-cruise/

A new look

2010-06-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

Today I changed to look of our blog. It has been a while since I've posted, but I've been experiencing a severe bout of procrastination. Right now I am listening to Randy Pausch's Lecture on Time Management.

Recipes

2010-06-09T08:34:00.001-04:00

My recipes seem to be scattered everywhere! I've decided to create a separate blog that just contains my recipes ... that way they can be categorized.

So ... I will be adding the link to my new blog after I have it set up.

Here it is ... http://nansrecipebox.blogspot.com/
It is also listed with the links on the right side of this page.

Officers of the 551st PIB - Camp Mackall - 1943

2010-05-28T15:22:00.005-04:00

Dad is on the top row, 4th from right side.

Driving down to Georgia

2010-05-28T15:09:00.002-04:00

We are going to go visit Tom's mother this weekend. It will be a quick trip, but one that we need to make.

F o r t y - t w o years ago

2010-05-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

I graduated from Putnam City High on this day 42 years ago. Wow, that's a lot of years!

A message from Belgium (Dominique Portier)

2010-05-27T13:07:00.003-04:00

Hi Nancy, How are you ??? and Your father ??? Sathurday this is the Memorial Day ... I will put flowers on the 551 Graves ... I need your help ... or no a girls need your help ... I don't know if you have seen in the 551 Friendship ... Mrs Jennifer Minshall is 1Lt Donald Booth' family and she tried to have some info , your father is also an officer and he has maybe some souvenir from him ??? If he can help this girls ???
Give my regards from Belgium .
GOYA

Aimee Hebert

2010-05-13T16:43:00.000-04:00

Aimee is the daughter of Susan Hebert in Baton Rouge, LA. I met Susan through Carolyn ... Aimee is becoming quite the horsewoman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4_icTH59cU

End of the line

2010-05-13T16:39:00.000-04:00

Last night was the end of the line for the Pittsburgh Penguins:-( The Montreal Canadians won the 7th game! It was sad seeing the Pens not play up to their full potential!

A sad day

2010-05-11T16:36:00.001-04:00

Tracey's (my co-worker) father died this afternoon from Mesothelioma. Her mother died from breast cancer January 5th. My heart hurts for Tracey.

Here's his obituary:

George W. Rowley, 64, of Georgetown, died at 3:40 p.m., Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at the Good Samaritan Hospice House in Wexford, Pa., following a courageous battle with Mesothelioma.

Born Feb. 20, 1946, in Calcutta, Ohio, a son of Grace Rowley of Georgetown and the late Lester H. Rowley, he was a lifetime area resident.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, he retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after 25 years. Prior to that, he worked at the former Crucible Steel Company in Midland.

He was a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and Ducks Unlimited. An avid woodworker, hunter and fisherman, he loved to play guitar and enjoyed drawing. He also loved to share his passions with his friends and family, especially his grandsons.

In addition to his father, he was preceded in death Jan. 5, 2010, by his loving wife, Linda Gaye Rowley, whom he married Nov. 25, 1967.

Surviving are two daughters, Tracey A. Anderson and her husband, Tom, of Chester, and Lisa G. McCoy and her husband, Jim, of Clinton, Pa.; and a son, Michael Rowley and his wife, Gerri, of Roundup, Montana. There are three grandsons, Steven Michael Rowley, Tyler James McCoy and Nicholas George "Butch" McCoy.

He was preceded in death by one brother, Dale A. Rowley.

The Rev. Willard "Chuck" Adkins will conduct an outdoor funeral service at 12 p.m. Friday at the Chester City Park Pavilion #3 in Chester, WV. Friends may call one hour prior to the service at Pavilion #3.

Immediately following the service, family and friends will gather at the Chester City Park Indoor Pavilion.

George's family requests that everyone attending the service feel free to dress casually, as George would have wished.

Full military honors will be accorded by the Tri-State Veterans Burial Group.Burial is to be in Spring Grove Cemetery. The DAWSON FUNERAL HOME, 215 West Fifth St., East Liverpool, Ohio, is in charge of all local arrangements.

The family requests memorial contributions be made to the Good Samaritan Hospice House, 146 Neely School Road, Wexford, PA 15090.

View this obituary and send condolences online at www.dawsonfuneralhome. com.

Thursday May 13, 2010 04:58 AM

I've been busy!

2010-04-22T18:04:00.003-04:00

Things have been hectic at work for both of us! We are doing good, but don't seem to have much spare time any more :-(

Love ... Nancy & Tom

Final stages for the pancetta & bacon

2010-04-12T10:05:00.006-04:00

The pancetta is hanging in a dark room in the basement for the next two weeks. The bacon is in the refrigerator downstairs drying. Tomorrow after work, I will put the bacon on the Big Green Egg and smoke it.

Lemon meringue pies for Easter

2010-04-04T11:28:00.002-04:00

This afternoon, we are going over to Aunt Lynn's (Chris' aunt) for Easter dinner. Lynn wanted me to bring a dessert. This morning I made two pies to take with us.

After curing the pork belly

2010-04-04T11:16:00.005-04:00

This is how the bacon and pancetta looks in the refrigerator.

This is the left over skin, fat and some meaty pieces. The skin and fat will be rendered into lard and I may turn the meaty pieces into salt pork or cracklings.

Pancetta (part 1)

2010-04-04T10:53:00.007-04:00

The pancetta required a lot more work. Here are the ingredients for the cure (garlic, kosher salt, curing salt, crushed black pepper, juniper berries, thyme, brown sugar and freshly ground nutmeg).

The skin had to be removed. I think I removed too much of the fat. When rolled, this will be the out side. At least there is still a bit of fat on the end.

Here is the meat side.

Here is the cure all mixed together
.

After rubbing in the cure and placing the pancetta in a zip lock bag, a pyrex dish was placed on top of it and then weighted down with two of my 5 lb. weights. Like the bacon, this has to remain in the refrigerator for seven days (turning daily).

Bacon (part 1)

2010-04-04T10:29:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was the day that I learned how to cure bacon and cure pancetta. It was much easier to get the bacon ready for curing. Here's the photo of the whole belly (approx. 9 lbs.); it takes up an entire half sheet pan. The pork belly is from an Amish farm in Lawrence county.

Here's how it the meat side looked after cutting it in half. (The other half was set aside for the pancetta.)

And here is the skin side:

And here's the bacon in a maple syrup (from Beaver County) cure. It will remain in the refrigerator for seven days.

Frozen pork belly

2010-04-01T14:34:00.002-04:00

Well, we got our pork belly yesterday. I think it is about 10lbs. or half a belly. Thank goodness it was frozen so I did not have to deal with it right away. I think Saturday is going to be the day to get the cure on it for bacon and pancetta. I am also thankful that I could not see any fur or nipples on it!!

David, our food co-op owner got the belly from a local Amish farm in Lawrence County. We are so fortunate to have the Amish and local farmers near us!

Here's what the pork belly looked like when I picked up; it is on a half-sheet pan.

Lemon confit

2010-03-28T19:51:00.009-04:00

My brother has inspired me to learn the art of charcuterie. For my birthday he sent me the book that he has been using to make his own bacon and pancetta. The book is "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing." It is the most interesting book! My first attempt at curing was to make Lemon Confit. Basically, what that means is that lemons are cut up, layered with kosher salt and kept in a dark place for up to three months. Once they are preserved, they will last forever.

Curious about the lemon that when sliced was approximately 9 inches long (I forgot to take a pic of it before cutting it)? That lemon is from Arizona! Art and Chris' next door neighbors have moved out and are trying to sell their house. No one is there and the lemon tree was loaded with lemons, so Art picked them. He brought one to GA and gave to Tom last week. It was not a meyer's lemon; just a regular one. It was a big ass lemon! I've never seen one so huge!

It's been a while

2010-03-22T14:45:00.002-04:00

Last week, I was in contact with the Isidore Foods co-op about buying some pork belly. Hopefully, this Wednesday I will have 10 lbs of pork belly in my cooler box where I pick my items up. I'm planning on making bacon and pancetta. Last week I purchased a boning knife, some butcher's twine, and some 2-1/2 half gallon size ziplock bags. All I need now is some curing salt; Tom will pick some up at Pittsburgh Spices on Wednesday.

Tom left Saturday for Georgia. Art was flying in for a week and Tom drove down to help with some yard work and to help MJ with some other things too. It will be a quick trip for Tom; he will be back home tomorrow evening.

Oh, did I mention that we have purchased our tickets for Belgium??? We are just so darned excited!!

Pre-St. Paddy's Day celebration

2010-03-16T08:53:00.003-04:00

Friday, March 12, 2010

This evening Tom and I went into Pittsburgh to meet one of Patrick's buds from Dublin! He was playing with a local band, the Buzz Poets, for St. Paddy's Day celebrations. It was such a pleasure to get to meet Ciaran Doyle! Here's a pic of him and Tom! Hopefully, Patrick, Mary and Liam can come to Pittsburgh for the 2nd largest SPD parade and festivities!

Joined a local, fresh, food co-op

2010-03-11T08:28:00.007-05:00

Thanks to our niece, Maggie, we joined the food co-op that she and Neil are members of. They offer items year round. Here's a link to the co-op's website: http://isidorefoods.com/. I'm really excited about this ... fresh food and local too! What more can a girl ask for?

All you have to do is log-in on Sunday evening before midnight to order things such as dairy, meat, and breads! It's not far from home where we pick our box(es) up each week. The eggs and butter were inside a special cold-pack bag.) Here what we received in my box (in addition to the Amish-made butter and cage-free eggs):

Single Produce Only Box: ($14.50 per week)

Salad Greens (1/2 lb.) – Organic (Emanuel Kempf Farm)
Potatoes (3 lb.) – Zacherl’s Farm
Apples (3 lb.) – Apple Castle
Beets (2 lb.) – Organic (Joe D. Byler Farm)
Frozen Roma Tomatoes – Kohser Farm
Garlic

WWII prison camp liberated by the 551st

2010-03-09T15:05:00.004-05:00

I realize this isn't much of a blog post, but this is a good place for me to keep information organized.

"The Wöbbelin camp, near the city of Ludwigslust, was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The SS had established Wöbbelin to house concentration camp prisoners whom the SS had evacuated from other camps to prevent their liberation by the Allies. At its height, Wöbbelin held some 5,000 inmates, most of whom were suffering from starvation and disease. The camp was freed on May 2, 1945."

Also, here are some photos of Dad's memorabilia:

In Oklahoma City

2010-03-05T09:53:00.001-05:00

Tom an I are in OKC ... more later. Just wanted to get this started. Today will be the first interview with dad about his life and wwII.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

2010-03-03T10:01:00.008-05:00

Last night Tom and I went to see Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Byham theatre. It was the most awesome performance that we've EVER been to. Here's their website: http://www.rodgab.com/home.html

Blackie update

2010-03-02T09:43:00.002-05:00

1st update from Patrick:
Not sure what the latest is exactly. They sent him home from hospital yesterday to reduce the risk of catching anything else or the two things that he does have getting worse. No news is good news on Hopkins it seems. No changes to Thursday so far. Eileen had to go to work today so Blackie is at home alone. Nothing else for you at the moment I am afraid.

2nd update from Tom via Eileen:
Yes they go the JH on Thurs. Eileen called me this morning on way to work. She hopes they keep him for a while, but probably wont happen. The pneumonia cough is clearing up - was on heavy IV antibiotics and now on an oral dosing. Blackie was up this AM but went back to bed - not sleeping well but naps a lot. The MRSA is in nostrils and sputum.

Root beer short ribs

2010-02-28T13:09:00.004-05:00

Last year a friend of ours (Colleen, a.k.a. fab photographer) sent us a card that had a recipe for Root Beer Short Ribs. When Tom worked at Burt Hill, where he met Colleen, they had "Root Beer Fridays". This love of Root Beer among three friends (Tim, Tom and Colleen) has resulted in us attending Root Beer and Ginger Beer tastings at a little candy/soda shop in Sewickley.

The root beer that I used in this recipe was Boylan's and was made using Cane Sugar. Here's a photo taken after the recipe was assembled. It now has to cook slowly for about three hours. (I also just learned that my camera takes widescreen pics ... who knew?? Just think how smart I could be if I'd just read the manual!!)

Update from Patrick

2010-02-26T14:52:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

Not sure if any of you have heard from Eileen as of yet. Blackie was readmitted to hospital last night about 8 o clock. He had gotten incredibly weak and was vomiting a lot.
We discovered he has pneumonia this morning.
Has the potential to be another extended stay. I don’t have details on one lung or both lungs, but either way with his immune system being as lowly as it is at the moment, this is obviously not great news.

Blackie update from Mary

2010-02-26T06:30:00.001-05:00

He goes back on for a meeting (and some tests) on the 4th. According to mom once that happens they return 7 days later to review, then within 10 he is admitted to start final round of chemo and they have 14 days to do the transplant. yeehaw

2/23 Update from Eileen

2010-02-23T10:34:00.002-05:00

Well, here is the latest update.

Blackie came home from the hospital yesterday. He DID NOT go to Johns Hopkins. There was a wrentch tossed into the plan. However it is being taken care of. We spoke directly with Dr. Smith at JH and Blackie will receive an appointment for platelets, a bone marrow biopsy, and visit with Dr. Smith. Then 7 days later we go back to Dr. Smith to review results and discuss plans to move forward.

All seems to go at a snails pace sometimes but we can't believe the time is actually upon Blackie. He really dodged another bullet. He's tired from last week and will recover at his pace. Tomorrow and Friday he has Lab work appointments to keep a close watch on his blood count.

He has been treated very well and we couldn't be happier. Mary and gang came last night to make dinner. Liam was a bright spot for Blackie but he is not allowed to hold him or even allow Liam to sit on his lap.

We are tired for now. I hope to get back to work tomorrow. I really need to get some days in. I'm thinking Dad will keep watch over B. while I'm out. Dad was certainly doing his work (and a disappearing act!!) last week. Dad always was one to count on and he's doing through God and from heaven. There is not 1 doubt in my mind.

I love you guys sooo much. Today I am tired and just can't talk. Know that I love you and feel your strength for Blackie and he knows that you love him.

More when I know something.

Eileen

2/22 - Blackie update

2010-02-22T11:14:00.006-05:00

2:14 p.m. (arghhhhhh)
From Mary on Facebook: "They gave dad the green light, and then of course, in tune with everything else this week, we are back in a holding pattern. Dad is home and mom is talking with Baltimore to have it rescheduled AGAIN. Ill keep you posted." It seems that there was a clerical error and JH was not ready to accept him. The hospital in Winchester wants him in there now! Eileen is having to give him shots daily and flush out his iv's that the hospital left in!!!

9:00 a.m.
Blackie was released from the Winchester Hospital yesterday. This morning he and Eileen drove to Baltimore where he will be admitted to Johns Hopkins hospital. A plan of action will be developed today for his bone marrow transplant.

Blackie

2010-02-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

Tom just heard from Art. Art had talked to Mary; she said Blackie was back in the hospital and it has something to do with his spleen. Tom said he would call Eileen later today to see if he can get more information.

Quinn's 2nd Birthday

2010-02-15T09:54:00.002-05:00

Click play to start video.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T07:22:00.008-05:00

The cat wanted to go out at 7:01 a.m. and I could not go back to sleep ... darn cat! Today I am going to make buckwheat pancakes for Tom; if I may say so, they are awesome. I will post a photo later. I use the recipe from my favorite cookbook (The Joy of Cooking) given to me by my favorite (and only) brother, Gary:-)

Then this afternoon we are going to Quinn's 2nd birthday party. Quinn is our great nephew. His mother is Maggie and Maggie is the daughter of Tom's sister Cathy. You know you are getting old when there are three generations involved in describing who someone is.

Well, my valentine just got up and I'm going to go wash my face, make coffee and then breakfast

Last Friday night, after Tom got a haircut, we went to see "Crazy Heart". I thought it was an awesome movie, but then I do like country music a bit :-)

Young buck in the back yard

2010-02-09T17:52:00.003-05:00

I just happened to look out the window and saw this young buck at the bird feeder!

Dad & Millie - May 5, 2007

2010-02-08T22:17:00.002-05:00

I love this photo!

2001 Presidential Unit Citation - article from Washington Post

2010-02-08T11:16:00.004-05:00

For a Battalion Lost, The Highest Honors
551st Ground Forces Spearheaded Air Attack in Battle of the Bulge

By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 24, 2001; Page B01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

The end was in sight for Army Lt. Richard Durkee and his paratroopers. After four days of bitter fighting in the frozen Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, the men were closing in on their final objective, a Belgian town guarding a critical German escape route.

Durkee had moved forward through the deep snow to take out a German machine gun nest on a bluff defending the fortified town. He looked behind, expecting to see his platoon moving up. There was nobody save one soldier.

"Send up the damn men so we can attack the town," Durkee called.

"Sir, I can't," the soldier replied. "They're all dead."

Durkee fell back to find that more than 15 men had been caught in crossfire from German machine guns, and their riddled remains were strewed in the snow.

"Oh, that was terrible," Durkee, 82, of College Park, said recently, his voice shaking at the memory. "There was my platoon, body upon body."

When the battle was over, more than four-fifths of the 643 men in the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion were wounded or dead. The Lost Battalion, they would later be called.

Yesterday, at a packed Pentagon ceremony, the Lost Battalion finally received recognition. More than 40 veterans, including Durkee, were on hand as Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, awarded the 551st the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor that can be given to an Army unit.

"We are in the presence of heroes," Shinseki told the audience.

"After such a long period of time, it's not only vindication, it's verification of what we accomplished," said retired Col. Douglas Dillard, 75, a Bowie resident who served in Durkee's company and spoke on behalf of the veterans.

Until now, the battalion received little credit for its role in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest land battle fought by U.S. troops in World War II. A surprise German offensive through the Ardennes in December 1944 had sent the Americans reeling and threatened the Allied advance in Nazi-held Europe.

On Jan. 3, 1945, the 551st spearheaded the 82nd Airborne Division's counterattack in the northern section of the German "bulge," the 60-mile salient the German forces had pushed into American lines.

The battalion was given the task of capturing the town of Rochelinval, a key position holding the last bridge over the Salm River, the last avenue of escape for the German army in that sector.

Durkee's Company A saw the worst of it, losing 40 percent of its men in the first two days.

As they rested in the forest on the night of Jan. 4, the cold was getting worse.

"I went around and told the [noncommissioned officers] to make sure the men didn't fall asleep, because if they did, they would surely die," Durkee said.

Moving forward the following day, Durkee's platoon was pinned down by a German position. Durkee ordered his men to hold fire, because another American platoon lay in their line of fire.

Dillard was lying in the snow wondering what they would do when he heard Durkee's order: "Fix bayonets."

The bayonet charge -- highly unusual for U.S. troops in World War II -- caught the Germans by surprise, and more than 60 of them were killed. "It seemed like a lifetime, but it only lasted five minutes," Dillard said.

The paratroopers took Rochelinval on Jan. 7, and Adolf Hitler ordered a retreat the following day.

The men of the 551st had paid a terrible price. The unit was so depleted that the Army soon disbanded the battalion, shipping the survivors to other units.

Their records would be lost, their actions largely forgotten, their sacrifice not honored.

That was not the case at yesterday's ceremony as Shinseki and other speakers saluted the "Goyas," the nickname by which the paratroopers were known.

Many credit the belated recognition to Gregory Orfalea, a District resident whose father served with the 551st. Pvt. Aref Orfalea was the messenger for the battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Wood Joerg, who was killed in the fight for Rochelinval. But growing up, Greg Orfalea heard no war stories from his father.

"If you got him a little warmed up, he would say, 'All my friends were killed around me,' and that would stop all conversation," Orfalea said.

After his father died in 1985, Orfalea, a writer, attended a 551st reunion and soon began interviewing the veterans.

"There was a sense of waste and low-grade anger that they had been destroyed without any recognition," Orfalea said. His 1997 book, "Messengers of the Lost Battalion: The Heroic 551st and the Turning of the Tide at the Battle of the Bulge," generated momentum to change that.

For Durkee, yesterday's honors filled a hole he had felt for 56 years.

"I had a feeling in my gut -- I've got to tell the world about these guys, these guys from the 551st who fought and died, and nobody knows who they were," he said.

Note by Nancy 08 February 2010: Dick Durkee passed away September 14, 2004 in Berwyn Heights, MD of dementia; he was 86 years of age.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20040926&slug=durkeeobit26

Vance's Poem - An inspiration from your Dad

2010-02-08T09:39:00.002-05:00

Dear Maureen, Tom and Art, and Eileen (I need Kathy's emai)

I cannot say why I woke up and felt the need to write this down this morning - I just knew I needed to get my butt out of bed and compose. I know your hearts feel similarly graced this week as I do from the love and sharing that outpoured from all, as this poem says my feelings of the gift received from your Father. a gift you never want to give up, but share with all you can.

Thank you all very much for the warmth, the heartfelt hugs, and the blessing you all gave to us on this visit. All of you graced us with the goodness of your Father, and the warmth of his character, so thank you so much for being you.

Eileen, can you share this with Kathy, and somehow if Tommy and Patrick feel a desire to compose an Irish folk song around this poem, it would make my day.

From Distance to Close

There was once a man named Arthur, who lived a good life. His family reached from seaboard to seaboard,
some knew each other well, some not at all. But they all had a fiber that kept them from distance to close.

Arthur gave his life to passion, passion for family, for church, for friends, for foes,
always guiding his relatives and relations from distance to close.

He was a fiber that wrapped around all he met, strong, resilient fiber, never to be broken, never to be unwound,
always to be be there in a pinch, always to be known you were loved from distance to close.

You knew this man as a hero, a Father, a business man, a friend,
but to know him you knew a magician, an entertainer, a man of compassion, a man to be known.
From far and wide, all knew the same, whether from distance to close.

The family ranged from loving dear wife, to kids so blessed and loved,
to cousins and aunts and uncles to new family additions known to some, not to others,
but all wrapped in the fiber of Arthur, from distance to close.

One winter day it was time for Arthur to depart this world, leaving all to grieve, all to hurt.
They gathered at his homesite in person or in spirit
to remember the fiber that all loved so dearly. Some saw each other for the first time,
some from the week past. All came together from distance to close.

Love was shared, stories abound the room, new children entertained,
magic swept the house, hearts filled with love, newfound friendships and family ties grew like seedlings,
old bonds wrapped together more securely, that fiber was strengthening,
the family and friends bonds grew and blossomed. All this from Arthur, and his magic from distance to close.

A lesson we now share with all we meet, no matter the views,
the troubles, the tribulations, or tussles,
find a fiber of love for all you greet, from distance to close.

I love you all very much. Let's keep the fiber of love grow.

Vance

Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 3:35:03 AM GMT -07:00 U.S. Mountain Time (Arizona)
Subject: An inspiration from your Dad this morning at 4 am

Video - Tom using the snow blower

2010-02-06T16:29:00.003-05:00

FINAL AMOUNT OF SNOW = 22 INCHES

More snow photos

2010-02-06T15:43:00.004-05:00

Tom ventured outside to start clearing a path and cleaning off the drive way. (I'm sick or else I'd be out there helping ... yes, I am really sick with a horrible cold. :-)

SNOW

2010-02-06T08:32:00.005-05:00

It started snowing yesterday around 12:30 p.m. and here it is at 8:30 a.m. and it is still snowing! We were supposed to get anywhere from 6" to 8", but we have somewhere between 12" and 18!

Video - Zane Grey

2010-02-06T08:11:00.004-05:00

Zane Grey, " Leave me alone, quit following me!"

Arthur H. Taylor, Jr. - German first aid box and news articles

2010-02-01T12:29:00.010-05:00

This is one of the items that Tom received from his dad. It is a German first aid box. Inside the box were some things that Big Art used during the war.

Part of the boxes contents:

Here is his patch (276th)

More on Tom's Father .....

World War II, community hero to be laid to rest Thursday
Mark Millican
January 26, 2010

As a forward observer for an artillery unit in Gen. George Patton’s Third Army in World War II, Art Taylor was so adept at sneaking up on Nazi positions that he often called fire down almost on top of himself.“

The guys in his unit (the 276th Armored Field Artillery) called him the best shot in the battalion,” Taylor’s son, Tom, said on Tuesday. “He could call in a shot within 400 yards of where he was without getting hit. Forward observer was one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army, because if you got rid of him you got rid of the artillery.”

Art Henry Taylor Jr. passed away on Sunday. He was a native of Buffalo, N.Y., but made Dalton his home and became involved in numerous civic and church activities here. It was only while he was in his 70s, his sons said, that he began opening up about his war experiences, which included earning the Bronze Star for heroic achievement and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, among others.

“His right leg was blown up at some time during the Battle of the Bulge (in Belgium), and his second Purple Heart came when he saw a bomb falling on a railroad track in Germany,” said Art Taylor III. “The track was raised and he was down below it, and it affected his hearing for the rest of his life.”

Taylor’s daughter Eileen said her father never shared the “gruesome” war stories with his children until they were older.“

They were too hard for him to tell when we were young,” she said. “His ears rang constantly, but he never complained about it. It would get to him sometimes and he would ask us to turn something down.”

His wife Mary Jane said her husband was once in a church steeple in Germany with a pair of binoculars and got the drop on a Nazi in another church steeple nearby.

“He saw the glint on that man’s glasses,” she said.Art Taylor III said for his father to sight the round he had to shoot the bazooka once on each side of the steeple before zeroing in.“He was able to knock the guy out of the steeple,” he said. “One of the last things he did in the Army was help liberate a prison camp in Czechoslovakia. It was mind-boggling for him to see the despair. Our father saw the Holocaust.”

Eileen Taylor said her father’s unit was involved in combat for 244 straight days soon after hitting Utah Beach six weeks after the D-Day invasion at Normandy.

“He talked about the cold, and how they could never get away from it,” she said. “When he got back from the war he never wanted to go hunting when his friends asked him to go, because he said he’d seen enough killing. And he never wanted to go camping.”

Taylor grew up in the family clothing business.“Art’s father started the business in 1935 in New York, but it goes back to England.

Art III is a seventh-generation clothier,” Mary Jane Taylor said, motioning at her son. “Art’s family actually made uniforms for Lord Byron’s army in England.”

Taylor’s father actually tailored his military uniforms, and some of them are on display during veteran-related holidays at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, she added.

“Art was a member of the National Association of Men’s Sportswear Buyers, and the man who did the displays in the museum was also a member,” she said. “Art asked him if they wanted the uniforms and they took them. They have some WAC (Womens Army Corps) uniforms in there also.”

Taylor was a Dalton Rotary Club member, served on the boards of directors at Dalton State College and Hamilton Medical Center, and at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus. But one of his favorite activities was sharing his experiences with schoolchildren.

Tearfully, Eileen Taylor read a couple of the notes of thanks the children had written to him. One student said his “favorite item” was the Nazi flag Taylor had liberated somewhere on a battlefield, and another said she “liked the story of when you were stuck in the minefield.”

“I think they heard some stories that even we didn’t hear,” said his wife.“He appreciated every person who was in his presence,” said Eileen Taylor.

Judy Alderman with the Prater’s Mill Foundation said Taylor had been interviewed and recorded his memories as part of the foundation’s oral history project at the mill. “

He was a fascinating man and a true American hero,” she said.

The family will receive friends at the Melrose Chapel of Ponders Funeral Home today from 2 until 4 p.m. and from 6 until 8:30 p.m. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Taylor will be laid to rest at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. American Legion Post 112 is in charge of graveside honors.

----------

Publisher remembers "American hero"William Bronson, publisher, The Daily Citizen
January 26, 2010

Our world, our country and our community is far less full with the loss Sunday of Arthur Henry Taylor Jr.
In my business you have the opportunity to move around and meet a lot of new people from all over this country. One of the blessings of all the travels is that rare meeting and chance friendship with those unique and inspiring individuals that make this country great.

I am a better person for and have been blessed with one such relationship in Dalton. Art Taylor is one of those special people. It was impossible to not get caught up in his love of country and his enthusiasm for life. That enthusiasm showed through in everything Art was passionate about.

I will always be envious of his ability to sell you on what he wanted. Art was impossible to say no to when he put his sales charm on. Just ask the many businesses he solicited for one of his passions, the Roman Open Charities. I learned it was easier to just say “Yes sir, agree” and move on. Resisting the Art Taylor charm was futile.

I will always be grateful for the moments he gave me. Art’s willingness to come visit me at the office and share his life stories and show me his maps and travels during World War II was amazing. I loved his pride in the Catholic faith we shared, and no, Mary Jane, he never overstayed his welcome.

Just trying to comprehend the great life he lived is impossible for mere mortals like you and me. He lived the life of many men, from his 63-year marriage to Mary Jane, to raising a family, to decorated World War II soldier, to 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus, to successful businessman, Rotarian, civic leader and so much more.

Please, when you have a moment today, take it in honor of my friend and an American hero, Art Taylor. He has earned it.

Big Art fought a good fight

2010-01-31T20:39:00.002-05:00

It has been a long and sad week. We are back home and coming to grips that dad is no longer with us.

Tom is on his way to GA

2010-01-22T11:53:00.003-05:00

He left this morning around 9:30. There has been no change in Big Art. I will be going down, but not certain when or how. Our hearts are breaking.