"A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success." ~ Robert Orben, presidential speech writer and comedy writer (Those two may go together more than you think.)

Granddaughter and Great Granddaughter!

Welcome one and all and just let me tell you that it's good to meet up with you again on this Monday, June 1, 2015. Graduation is in the air. Yesterday we had a recognition day for all our graduates affiliated with our local fellowship. It's always wonderful to see how God is working in the lives of these kids. We've known some of them since they were little tykes and now they are finishing high school or college. One graduation last week did get my attention a little more than the others. There are connections and then there are extra special connections! This was a pre-kindergarten finishing celebration and our little Great Grand Madelyn Joy was our special achiever. The photo is of her and her mom. I caught the photo off of facebook and sent it to her Paw Paw, our eldest Chris. He shot back an email saying that picture was something that he needed. I sent back one telling him that I can remember when his daughter, our granddaughter, Tiffany, Madi's mom, would do the same kind of thing and they would save her Poppy a photo. My response was the same as his, "Thanks, I needed that!" At any rate, we are proud of her and are busy making arrangements for the newly graduated from pre-K girl to come and visit her Great Grands, MiMi and Poppy. (I know people are not necessarily overjoyed when the grands go overboard about the grand kids but it's heartfelt even if it might be just a tad overdone.)

Last Friday morning we did get another round of thunderstorms. We had watched the local news the night before so we knew it was a possibility. Yet, when I logged into the Weather Channel website on Friday, according to their models they were oblivious to the huge downpour going on outside. That's most likely because they are tied to the National Weather Service, another one of those government agencies, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised except for the fact that my understanding is they are more or less the official weather station of record. I've heard quite a lot about weather forecasting and weather forecasters over the last several days. One fellow said he wished he had a job where you stick your head out the door and then come back and tell everyone it's raining. The wife and I watched some of it quite closely due to the potential danger and I will say there have been some whose timeliness and presence was appreciated. One fellow in particular on Monday a week ago was almost on TV more than the regular programming. Since it was Memorial Day Monday he was a fill in but we both commented on the excellent job he did in trying to inform and warn people concerning the impending storms. I thought about calling the National weather people last Friday to let them know what was going on but I figure as a governmental agency they will catch up with it sooner or later.  Later would be my guess.

I did make my annual diabetic eye appointment last Friday morning. The office is about 30 minutes away on a typical day. With a relentless rainstorm, well, it took an hour and five minutes. But, you know us old people, we will do whatever it takes to make sure we get our time slot early on the morning schedule. I speak with first hand knowledge. My appointment was for 7:45 a.m. The waiting room looked like a meeting of the local geriatric association except for one fellow who was maybe in his thirties. He seemed nervous. Maybe he thought if he hung around too long he would end up looking like the rest of us. Mostly white hairs. A couple of the ladies had dye jobs but they weren't fooling anyone. Just joking. Please don't write me. Good news from my ophthalmologist. The little microscopic blood vessel issue has now been ruled out as an instance of diabetic retinopathy.  She said after three years of specialized monitoring she no longer believes it to be diabetic related. Praise the Lord. She said it was most likely an instance of an unpronounceable name. She could say it. I couldn't. While the unpronounceable named blood vessel issue could be a problem she doesn't believe mine is. Praise the Lord. She deleted her previous diagnosis and inserted an abbreviation for the new one. I thought so. She so much enjoyed saying that word but I betcha she didn't have a clue how to spell it. Thankful that it was a good visit. Enjoy the rest of your day and may God bless each one. Amen. .....More later.