It has been a week since Josh died. It has been a very rough week for all of us. We have been blessed with the knowledge that Josh had so many wonderful friends that have been so supportive. We have been spending time thinking about the good times we had with Josh. Although everyone keeps talking about how Josh had such a bright future, I prefer to focus on what a wonderful life he had. I like to think about the laughs we had and how full his life was. I believe that even though he was only 22, he did so much in his 22 years.

I'm still depressed and having difficulty sleeping, but I'm sure that will get better once we are finally able to have the funeral.

I want to thank all of the other soldiers in Afghanistan for their service and for helping make Josh's last hours so much better.

Funeral arrangements

Services for my nephew, My Hero For our Fallen Soldier, Josh Lancaster The visitation will be at Brookside Funera Home at 9:30- 12:30 Saturday. Following will be the Service at 1:00 at Church of the Brook. After will be the grave side at Brookside. Then a gathering at Millbook Civic Center for family and friends.Rest in Peace our hero

Tribute to Josh Lancaster

Josh Lancaster

On Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Chris’s and my nephew, Josh Lancaster, was killed in Afghanistan from wounds he received during an insurgent attack on Kandahar Airfield. Josh was 22-years-old and was assigned to the 184th Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group, based at Fort Campbell. The only local television station to pick up on the story was our NBC affiliate, WSFA. Here is the segment they did on Josh. Josh was supposed to come home on February 11^th.

The Army flew Josh’s wife, Melanie, her parents, Josh’s mom, Kim, and one of his uncles to Delaware. The Army took care of all of them and made sure their every need was taken care of. Our tax dollars are well spent.

Josh’s body will be flown to Maxwell AFB and transported to the funeral home. Prior to Josh leaving for Afghanistan he made specific requests in case anything did happen. The family is determined to see each of those requested filled.

Millbrook, Alabama is his hometown and has a population of just over 16,000. They are donating the civic center for meal afterwards. Also Millbrook has basically said if you need anything let us know.

Maxwell AFB houses the Air University. Additionally, at nearby Gunter we have the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. The Headquarters Standard Systems Group (SSG), where my dad worked. The total military related population in the metro Montgomery area is over 32,000.

Current estimates for people attending the funeral/wake is at approximately 700. That number is increasing daily.

The local Coca-Cola bottling plant is going to donate drinks for the meal etc. Budweiser is making signs. The motorcycle group “The Patriot Gaurd” will be on hand. (In case anyone wants to demonstrate). The American Legion is doing something also.

Also, there is a group of 3 or 4 people taking names for various other donations for the gathering at the civic center. If you would like to help, please contact Cheryl here.

Predestined

Poem by Caroline Demaree

Shadowfever

On January 18, 2011 the final book in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning was released. The series has taken 5 long years to complete and it was well worth the wait. I finished my first reading in 6 hours (I know, I'm a fast reader). I will not post any spoilers here, but I wanted to pass along my love of the book and encourage everyone to read the series.

Photography

 I took these pictures on January 16, 2011 at Blount Cultural Park in Montgomery, Alabama. My dad and I have been trying to get a decent picture of a Blue Herron in flight. We finally got these pictures. We were quite pleased with the way they turned out. I know there are some of these that are blurry, but when you consider that this is an action shot, I was happy. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we do.

C'est Carol

It's today! What better day could it be?

I'm just me. I can be a tad outspoken and sometimes say stuff I shouldn't. I'm also brutally honest which is a blessing and a curse at the same time. I don't usually care too much about what anyone thinks of me. I'm satisfied with me and that's all that matters.

This blog will (hopefully) be about me and stuff that interests me at the moment. It may have stuff to do with my workouts and diets or my business. It could be poetry or pictures. It could be random ranting or review of books. Whatever it may be, it's still all me...c'est Carol.

Enjoy the journey.