Thank you for the card!


You did a GREAT job!

duckie

You are so welcome.
I had such fun making it!

I finally got my Christmas tree up....



It has 25 lights, but you can't see them because of the flash.

And, it has one ornament on it, a gift from Barleychown.....

...a clear glass ball with a single white feather inside.....
...with a note attached ...


Guardian Angel Feather

"I'm from your Guardian Angel,
I've been assigned to you.

I dropped this in my struggles,
As I protected you.

Each time you almost stumble,
Each time you nearly fall,

I'm your Guardian Angel,
Answering your call....."



Thank you so much, Sarah.


Cindy

Awesome tree!!!

I thought of you when I saw those ornaments, then I thought of several others who deserved one, too...so I ended up making quite a few!

I'm glad you like it!

I liked it a bunch.

It made me cry when I read it, but in a good way!

Cindy

That's so BEAUTIFUL!

Nice job, Barleychown.

And you made it?

Les

My daughter started crying when she read it, too!
I don't EVEN want to know what the other thing was!

(Well...I really do!)

(I promise I won't cry.....)

Cindy

Such a cute tree! And what a lovely ornament & sentiment.

I got my card from you today Cindy. Thank you.. it was very cute! That must have been fun piecing together!

Meg

Sure you won't!


A feather from an Angel,
Is one we rarely see.
But this one is quite different,
And as special as can be.
This feather is a reminder,
Of a special person's love....
Who is now your Guardian Angel,
Watching & protecting from above.

I lied.......again.

Cindy

I TOLD you!

Hits a little close to home for me...

Hey...nothing like a good cry!

I needed one right now!


Cindy

Well, then! I'm happy to help...wanna cry some more???

Sure!
Nothing like a good "cleansing"!

Cindy

HA! I hear that! I just wrote a long thank you letter to the family that fostered Abigail...I know they worry about her, and I try to keep them updated...

Last night I searched for firefighter poems to print out to put in frames for Mike's room...they are so hard for me to read...

I can only imagine.....

Here's one of them...


I Wish You Could


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames or that family returning home, only to find their house and belongings damaged or destroyed.

I wish you could know what it is to search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen beneath you burns.

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 A.M. as I check her husband of forty years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping against hope to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done.

I wish you could know the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, and the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke--"sensations that I have become too familiar with."

I wish you could understand how it feels to go to school in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.

I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire, `Is this a false alarm or a working, breathing fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?' or to an EMS call, `What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?'

I wish you could be in the emergency room as the doctor pronounces dead the beautiful little five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past twenty-five minutes, who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy!", again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us, however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"

I wish you could read my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the mangled remains of her automobile, `What if this were my sister, my girlfriend, or a friend? What were her parents' reactions going to be as they open the door to find a police officer, HAT IN HAND?'

I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that you nearly did not come home from this last call.

I wish you could feel my hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of, "It will never happen to me."

I wish you could realize the physical, emotional, and mental drain of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have viewed.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, of being there in times of crisis, or creating order from total CHAOS.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging on your arm and asking, "Is my mommy o.k.?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears falling from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have hold back a long-time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You knowing all along he did not have his seat belt on--sensations that I have become too familiar.

Unless you have lived this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, what we are, or what our job really means to us.

I WISH YOU COULD!
-Randell Broadwater, Firefighter/EMT-A
Some lines written by
Jason Kopacko

Cindy, a tree! Congratulations, and good for you!

Barley- I can't imagine anything that would make me willingly walk into a fire, except my son. Those men and women are brave beyond all belief, and have nothing but my deepest respect.

Hey, Cindy...I can't quite tell what kind of 'tree' you have...


I put lights on a christmas cactus, and a peace lily...

I already thanked you over PM, but ima thank you here too ^.^ You're so considerate to send us all these cards *kisses* you really are a true friend!

~Phoebe

P.S.
New Zealand tomorrow! woohoo!

oh yeah!
I decorated my ficus!! Then half the leaves fell off >.< stupid thing... But ya its decorated and new leaves have already replaced what was lost Right now my ficus is in the window room of my house, and plants are scattered everywhere according to their light requirements lol. *hops* its fun now, cuz i have all this time to water em all ^.^

~Phoebs

The "tree" is some kind of palm thing.
(I don't know what half my houseplants are!)

Thinking about moving the lights and the ornament to the philodendron. I tend to get a little nervous about something sitting on my piano.

Cindy

Don't feel bad...I still have plants that I don't know...and I have spent the last year or two actively trying to find out and/or rememer once I do find out!

Do you play your piano often?

G-Mom

Actually, I've been playing along with David Lanz all morning.

"A Whiter Shade Of Pale", my favorite...