A Veteran Story

My hubby is a retired Marine. While in the Marine Corps, he was a drill instructor during the Vietnam war. It compromised his hearing as he was just like the teenagers of today who think that the loud music they listen to—especially with the ear pods in their ears—won't affect them. It did. He's lost a great deal of his hearing though gradually. But we have many blessings and one of them is that part of his retirement is not taxable. He also gets free hearing aids from the Veterans Administration because teaching recruits how to shoot diminished his hearing, so it was job-related.

The VA takes really good care of its veterans. A golfing buddy and friend of our son's had cancer and survived it, luckily. Our son, who is a nurse and works for a VA hospital in California, plus was a Marine for about 6 years, kept telling him to go to the VA as the man served in Vietnam during the agent orange era. He kept saying no as it was too much trouble. Our son told him all he had to do was tell one person (an advocate) his name, serial number and years in Vietnam. That's it. Then the advocate would handle it from there. Well, he finally did. He called our son a few months later to thank our son profusely. Not only was he awarded a pension of a couple thousand dollars a month but it was retroactive. He got $36,000 in a lump sum that he never would have known about if not for our son. He was ecstatic. He now doesn't have to worry about money as much with that veteran pension.

As I said, the VA is an advocate for veterans and my hubby is also. He was contacted by the VA a couple of weeks ago and asked to come in to reevaluate his hearing again. (He normally does this about every 3 years, but this was a bit early and he was perplexed.) They wanted to see if he could get his hearing evaluated for more money that would be tax-free. We're waiting for the results but as his wife, I can guarantee they'll up it as it is getting worse. We were even thinking of getting a hearing-aid dog for him in the future if anything would happen to me because when he is in certain parts of the house he cannot hear the doorbell or even the security alarm if it goes off sometimes.

Well, while he was being evaluated, they told him they're going to get a louder doorbell chime for us and also an alarm clock that is louder and has a vibrating pad for underneath his pillow so that can wake him up. He's a sound sleeper. I was thrilled as these things will cost us nothing. While not every man is meant for military service, I thank those that have given up years of their life to protect this country. I cannot tell you enough what it means to my hubby and me. I honor them profusely and their wives and children who don't have them with them all the time. Also, the ones who have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we have are greatly honored in this family. Thank you all, military men, women, wives, parents and children of those who serve or have served. You're special in this household.

Oh, btw, we received a box just 8 days after the evaluation. It contained a door chime with a very bright blinking light when the doorbell is rung—and it's portable so he can take it to any room in the house or garage—and an alarm clock with a large dial and loud ring and vibrator to put under his pillow. Yep, his advocate came through for him. (You can also tell I prepare these posts well in advance as this happened in early May.)
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Now you tell me, what could be so cute and this work space?! Just adorable.

I've tried this with sheer curtains on our patio but it didn't work well as hubs' grape vines tore through them as fast as the wind could carry them. I'd suggest heavier fabric if you intend to do this. The wind in our desert can be very fierce sometimes.

Just a beautiful fabric wrapped sweetly. I've seen women's closets where all their fabrics are stored beautifully. This doesn't happen in this house. I can't keep them arranged that well as I'm always digging around for something I try to make work for a project. Just one look through it and they're all messed up. I could take on a permanent job of arranging the fabric I have!

A vintage table painted white with a white vintage bench and white "schoolhouse" chairs and a chandelier adds about as much elegance to this dining area as you can get. I think it's gorgeous!

Personally, I love the look of lavender but the smell is overcoming to me. Not the best fragrance but its healing properties can be wonderful when applied to burns. I've tried it on burns and it works wonderfully.

Just a celebration of red here. Love this color along with my favorite color pink.

Now, as busy as this room is, it's colorful. It isn't something I'd try as it's too busy for me, but for a tropical paradise decor, this would be perfect. Looks more like a teenager's room though.

It would be heaven to have this kind of garden. Most of my favorite flowers are here in pots and it's an easy way to garden without tearing up your yard. It would also be a place to garden that might not be conducive to a yard in your area. I love this look.

Just a cute piece of ephemera for you.

This bath is a bit exotic for me but it is beautiful.

Hopefully our clematis will grow this huge with time. Ours is still struggling a bit. This one is astounding though.

Just a cute little thatched cottage somewhere in the world. Love its symmetrical design with the blue trim and pink flowers, plus being on a body of water makes it somewhat desirable also.

When I saw these I thought how cute they were to decorate an egg cup when not in use at the breakfast table.

Looks like a garage sale, but I see a couple of lamps and shades I'd like to transform.

This says it all. Endure to the end, my blogger friends. It will be worth it. :-)

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Tidbit:

The basis of the Macintosh computer was Apple's Lisa, which was released in 1983. This was the first system to utilize a GUI, or graphical user interface. The first Macintosh was released in 1984.
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