Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven
16 December 1770 – 26 March 1827

Midnight Sonata - The original title of the sonata is “Quasi una fantasia” (It. almost a fantasy). The popular title of Moonlight Sonata actually didn’t come about until several years after Beethoven’s death.
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Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

The following is from a friend of mine and his own thankfulness says so much. Find what there is to be thankful in your own life.

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What I'm Thankful For

I'm thankful that I serve a God who not only created me but loves me in spite of what I have done with His creation.

I'm thankful that I am part of a church who embraces what I am instead of trying to mold me into what I am not.

I'm thankful when I see Dona walk away because I know that I will be just as flushed when I get to watch her walking back; and at my age I'm thankful that I still get flushed.

I'm thankful that I am called "Honey" instead of Grand Pa.

I'm thankful that my three boys have turned into my three men.

I'm thankful that kids still like to fight with me, young ladies see the father in me and young men still think I can kick their rear. And for the latter, I am thankful for the power of perception.

I'm thankful for a cool mountain night and a warm open fire.

I'm thankful when I receive a great hug, a sincere smile and a firm handshake.

I'm thankful when my knees and back don't hurt when I wake in the morning.

I'm thankful for answered prayers, God's correction and a lack of worry.

We all strive for the big things. We all want God's blessings and tend to think big when we picture prosperity. But at the end of the day, I have found that it is the series of little things that makes me happy.

For this revelation, I am most especially thankful.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
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Cards That Are Dealt

“You play the hand you're dealt. I think the game's worthwhile.” ~C.S. Lewis

An interesting quote that many people say, 'you play the cards you were dealt with.' The meaning of which is that we end up in circumstances that we simply have to live with. Those circumstances could be under or out of our control at any given moment in time.

We may not even be able to hold the cards given us. A bad tendon in need of repair which causes you to drop the cards from time to time. Yet the surgery requires a cast that also prevents us from effectively holding those cards. But time will heel, the cast will come off, rehabilitation of the situation and we are back to playing those cards with ease.

The other side of being dealt the cards are those that you deal. We each make decisions in life, good and bad, which determine our circumstance. So making those choices will have an impact on the cards we deal to our self.

As C.S. Lewis said, "I think the game's worthwhile" and I couldn't agree more. Life is a wondrous thing and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Roads by C. S. Lewis

I stand on the windy uplands among the hills of Down
With all the world spread out beneath, meadow and sea and town,
And ploughlands on the far-off hills that glow with friendly brown.

And ever across the rolling land to the far horizon line,
Where the blue hills border the misty west, I see the white roads twine,
The rare roads and the fair roads that call this heart of mine.

I see them dip in the valleys and vanish and rise and bend
From shadowy dell to windswept fell, and still to the West they wend,
And over the cold blue ridge at last to the great world’s uttermost end.

And the call of the roads is upon me, a desire in my spirit has grown
To wander forth in the highways, ‘twixt earth and sky alone,
And seek for the lands no foot has trod and the seas no sail has known:

For the lands to the west of the evening and east of the morning’s birth,
Where the gods unseen in their valleys green are glad at the ends of the earth
And fear no morrow to bring them sorrow, nor night to quench their mirth.

(From Spirits in Bondage; Heinemann, 1919)
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Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Full name: Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
B: 27 January 1756
D: 5 December 1791

Remembering Love Lost

Gone - flitted away,
Taken the stars from the night and the sun
From the day!
Gone, and a cloud in my heart.
~Alfred Tennyson

Your life is filled with people that you have grown so accustomed to being around, that when they leave we suddenly realize just how much we are bonded to them. Our lives can become so intertwined with another, that we fail to see just how close the bond is until they are gone.

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
~W.S. Merwin

We find ourselves trying to regain the image of these people, a loved one or maybe a friend that has slipped from our sight. We try to pull our dreams at night out into the gathering light of day. To experience their presence once again hopefully.

Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream.
And I seek thee in vain by the meadow and stream.
~George Linley

With each passing day, we look for anything that will remind us of that missing piece of us. Is it the green leaves of a tree rustling in the wind, a child laughing as she skips down the road or the circus noise from high upon a Ferris wheel; where can we capture that moment again?

Oft in the tranquil hour of night,
When stars illume the sky,
I gaze upon each orb of light,
And wish that thou wert by.
~George Linley

As we gaze upon the stars or look to shapes within the clouds, we each will find that reminder of ones gone before us. It might be a star in the sky, the floating cloud formations above us or the gentle trickle of a stream.

"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will."
~Author Unknown

It will become easier as our memory grows deeper with the spirit of a loved one. We experience that in a much different way and grow closer to them by keeping them within our hearts.
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Hope For A Cure

The year goes wrong, and tares grow strong,
Hope starves without a crumb;
But God's time is our harvest time,
And that is sure to come.
- Lewis J. Bates

So here is a good one to write. On Saturday, November 15, I ran in the Purple Stride - Atlanta 5K Run. Many of you contributed and have heard me talk about this event. The local affiliate is in its third year of existence and this is the third annual event. Its intention is not to only raise funds for research, but it is to raise awareness of the fourth leading cancer killer of the major cancers...but is the least funded. In raising funds we help with research to come up with early detection, better treatments and ultimately a cure.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a nationwide group of people working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer. Founded in 1999, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has grown into the only national organization fighting pancreatic cancer in a comprehensive way. They accomplish their mission by directly funding research and demanding that the federal government increase research dollars for pancreatic cancer; by providing patients and caregivers with reliable information to make informed decisions with their health care teams; and by helping individuals and communities work together to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for pancreatic cancer

So for this local event being held in Atlanta, GA (USA); it was a bit cool but the colors were wonderful in the trees. Our mother would have loved the beautiful colors of fall, the briskness of an early morning but more important; the laughter and chatter of people gathering together. There were 750 runners this year and our local group raised nearly $104,000 dollars, much of that support coming from folks like you that supported my efforts.

Also, I want everyone to know that I came in first place in the 45-49 year olds that were born in Fremont, Nebraska. It turns out that I was the only one in that category! But I did run the 5K in 39 minutes, 20 seconds and feel pretty good about it as this was quite a hilly course. I don't fancy myself a great runner but at this age, I feel great that I can. I also enjoy the idea of just feeling alive when I run in these events.

I submitted a "Tell Your Story" and picture for the local affiliate to use. These stories and pictures will be heading up to Washington DC given out to all of the congressman/women and Senators. The bigger story with all of these individual ones is that there are real people associated with this cancer and personal stories of hope, loss and survival. There is also possible testimony to be given in a committee meeting and I hope to possibly be there and speak myself.

The event also featured a "Remembrance Wall" that was very touching. In the upper middle part of the board I placed our Mother's picture with our Dad. I used a picture of them both as two become one in so many years of marriage. The love of each other's lives is the way I choose to remember.

The other stories on the wall are ones just as heart touching as our own. Lives shortened but not forgotten, so many that didn't last as long as our Mother, so we have to feel blessed by the amount of time she was able to stay with us.

There was information from a research doctor at the University of Alabama who talked about new treatments that are promising. But the thing I didn't hear about is early detection except for a young woman whom is a four year survivor. Her early detection was a nagging stomach pain deep inside that she wouldn't let her doctor simply pass off. They did the CAT scan and found the small tumor in a very early stage in the pancreas. Surgery, lots of weight loss as one expects, months in the hospital and lots of support from family and friends.

All touching, all encouraging news, but everyone I talked to say that even though we have come a long way, we have a whole lot further to go. So thank you everyone for supporting me in running for all of you, your loved ones and the survivors.

More importantly, thank you for expressing your love for Mom.
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Fitness

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports launched its Adult Fitness Test in May of 2008. I am one of those that missed this announcement as I am certainly not one that does a very good job of watching my own fitness. I tend to focus on other parts of my life and find it difficult to balance out those Six Spokes of Life.

So recently I was reading the October issue of Readers Digest and found a pretty simple and easy guide to measure yourself as an adult. I found that I'm not close to these particular and simple tests. Yet I'm setting a goal for myself to achieve these.

You will see they don't take expensive equipment or gym memberships to achieve them. So we will see how I do and how long it takes.

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The Test: Push-ups
The Goal:
Women (on knees): 33 without stopping,
Men: 40 without stopping
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Work your chest and triceps three days a week. Vary the push-ups by doing them on an incline or decline, or do some chest flies or chair dips, says personal trainer Kelli Calabrese, author of Feminine, Firm & Fit.

The Test: 1.5-mile run
The Goal:
Women: under 12 minutes,
Men: under 10 minutes
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Walk/run three times a week, and do non-impact activities like swimming or cycling on the other days. Add a day of interval training (going faster than your normal pace with periods at a much slower pace).

The Test: Half sit-ups
The Goal:
Women: 60 in a minute,
Men: 65 in a minute
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Do a variety of abdominal exercises three days a week. "Core strength is so important because it improves posture, can reduce back pain, and may help stop a fall as we age," Calabrese says.

The Test: Sit and reach
The Goal:
Women: 9 inches beyond heels,
Men: 8 inches beyond heels
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): After warming up, Calabrese says, increase flexibility by doing the yoga pose downward dog: Position your body in an inverted V, with your hands and feet on the ground and your butt in the air.
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But why get fit? Will it add years, days or just minutes to the length of my life?

The point in my mind is not how much longer one might live by being more physically fit. What it will do is make all of your years of living that much better. One can live to be 85 years of age, but if you are so unfit that walking six steps is a struggle for the last 30 of those years, then the quality of those 85 years just isn't very good.

So try to achieve the goals above; try to join the President's Council and take the Adult Fitness Test. Enjoy a more fit life; enjoy life!
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Open Road Missions Update

Go to Open Road Missions.

Find the DONATE button to support Paul in his efforts.

Bless him with our giving and then pass it along to your friends.
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Congratulations Barack Obama

Congratulations to our newly elected 44th President of the United States.

His opponent John McCain said it best in his speech:

"In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too."

All of us as Americans have much to be proud of in this historical moment. The days will pass and the ideological differences will remain among us. But the inspiring aspect is that we will peacefully transition power. We've done this fourty-three times and it will happen this fourty-fourth time on January 20, 2009.
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