Happy Birthday Alexander!!!

Today is the 17th birthday of our youngest, Alex.  He has a car now and he is three months away from his license.  He has his Driver's permit and he has been logging miles and hours behind the wheel.  The day he get his license will be a day of dread for me and my wife.

The car we chose for him is a Saab 9-3 Sports Combi.  We were hyper-vigilant on finding him the safest car in our price range.  Alex loves his car and is so far doing all the right things, as far as safety goes.  I am certain that Trish and I will bore or even annoy him with our constant safety messages, but he will just have to bear with.  I do not see us stopping any time soon.

Happy Birthday Alexander!!!

Dedication of Memorial Garden

(taken directly from http://www.tabor.edu/)

As a permanent reminder and a loving tribute, the Marcus Manny memorial garden will be dedicated on Saturday, Sept. 25. Manny, 23, was a Tabor College senior and football player when he was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Feb. 22, 2009 near Tonkawa, Okla. He was the son of Roland and Patricia Miranda.

The memorial garden, located on the west side of the Campus Recreation Center, leads toward the football stadium. It is a path taken regularly by many Tabor athletes, staff members, supporters and students.

Like Manny, the garden will touch the lives of many Tabor students for years to come. President Jules Glanzer reflected on the young athlete’s life and his impact on campus. “Marcus was a likable student who had a wide range of friendships on campus,” Glanzer added. “His fun-loving and inspirational personality impacted so many of our students.”

During his college football career he played in 27 games for the Bluejays, made 62 of 82 extra-point attempts, and 16 of 34 field goal attempts, with a career-long field goal of 41 yards. He earned Honorable Mention All-KCAC honors in the 2009 season.


The memorial garden includes a number of benches, trees and a few of his favorite scriptures incorporated into the landscape of the garden.

The dedication will be held at 6:15 on Saturday, Sept. 25 prior to the Friends University football game. In case of rain the dedication will be held inside the CRC gym.

Back to School!

It has been over a month since I have written.  Things have not been easy.  Seeing countless weddings, some engagements and careers being started has not helped.  Everyone is going on with their lives, as they should.  I am so happy for all of them.

But in all honesty it is fucking tough!!! 

I knew August was going to be a tough month.  This is the time when all students start getting back to school.  It is bittersweet to see it.  Our youngest, Alex is now on his second week of school.  He seems much more energized. I think his starting at a new school has loads to do with it.  It was such a joy helping him shop for his clothes during the Tax-Free weekend.  This has been a tradition of ours for at least four years.  This year we were joined by a good friend of Marcus and it gave the day a newness that I definitely appreciated. 

This is also the time when NAIA colleges and universities start football season.  The Tabor football team is now in zero week and will have a game next weekend.  Three weeks ago would have been the time we would have said goodbye to Marcus while he leaves for start of two-a-days and report back to school.  If he were here, I imagine he would just be making jokes about the kids returning back to school.  About being thankful how he would have to endure two-a-days.  If he were here he may be complaining about his job and the daily grind. 

But he is not.

So this is what we have to do...