This looks so nice, no where near as cold as the snow on the mountains looks.  This is Florida, and thanks to Becca I have this to keep me warm.

Today has been a good day.  I got more songs for my list that I am still working on.  I found four more singers I wanted songs from.  The list is getting pretty long but I guess it should since I am collecting all the songs that I liked in my life that that is quite a long list for the past 85 years.  Some do go back that far as my mother always sang around the kitchen and many of her favorites became mine until I was in high school and found there were new songs out there also.  Today I added Alouette, Norman always lead a group sing with that when he had had too much to drink.  As a small child he spoke French all the time at home as his grand mother did not speak or understand much English but as he grew up he forgot the French until he got drinking, then it all came right back to him.  He had a great time in Canada on shore leave.  He spoke like a native once he had had a few drinks.

I thought of Norman a lot today.  Not bad, nor even sad just remembering the good times and the very end.  When we went on a cruise and we went snorkling.  We both got caught in the tide as it went out.  I just went over my head so could not touch the bottom and it took all the hard swimming I could manage just to keep from going out between the two rocky ledges and being taken out to sea.  Finally a tall woman gave me a hand and pulled me in where I could touch.  She was watching all the fuss just out side the little inlet.  She said some old man was caught in the tide and was being slammed into the ledge.  I yelled “Oh, no I bet that is my husband”  so she helped me go out to meet the life guards that were trying to bring in the man who was hurt.  Sure enough it was Norman, they had him on the surf board and he was fighting them with all his might.  He was yelling “No I can’t go in, my wife is out there and I have to get to her.”  he was  all covered in blood from the cuts on his head where he hit the rocks but he was bound and determined to find me before he would let them take him I’m.  The woman helped me go to him and once he saw I was alright he relaxed and let them bring him in and fix his head.  He was pretty banged up but alright.  He had the same panic that last night, I didn’t recognize it but looking back on it now I know that was what he was trying to say.  He kept grabbing Patty’s arm and pulling her down to him.  I could not hear what he was saying as almost no sound came out of his mouth.  He kept mouthing to me to go home but I would not and got mad at him for turning to Patty for help or comfort or whatever when I was right there and he telling me to go home.  He fought and struggled until Patty said, “Yes, Dad.  I’ll take care of her.”   I know now he knew he was going and would not go until he knew I was taken care of and would be alright.  Once Patty told him she would take care of me he relaxed and went to sleep.  when he went to sleep and was peaceful Patty and I went home to get a little sleep.  We were back at the hospital in less than 2 hours and they had lost him three times already and we fighting to keep him then.  We let him go and he faded away very peacefully.  I never connected the two until much later.  I was too emotional involved to understand it at the time or even to try to understand but now I know he was taking care of me and looking out for me right up to and including the time God took him away.  A beautiful ending to his story and very much like him all his life where his family was concerned. Not much different from other men maybe and very special to me.

Today we had a great day.  Luke got up an hour earlier than usual so I had him watch TV until I finished some computer work I had to do.  We usually start at 9 and we did today also only we didn’t start with me reading to him as he ate his breakfast.  We started in on Algebra.  He is doing two  and three step equations and doing very good at it.  The fractions still give him some trouble but the algebra part he has no problem with.   We did some more work on other subjects and played a couple games and are now waiting to see if Mom and Dad get home to night or not until tomorrow morning.  I don’t think they can drive over the mountain as it did snow last night and it looked like it was snowing up there all day.  We’ll see.  Have a great day.