Grandma Popovich

My Grandma Popovich died last month. Many people had nice things to say about Grandman, this is the eulogy that I gave at her service.

Grandma Popovich is an amazing woman. She is one of the most Godly women I have ever met. She has an extraordinary talent, that I know came from God. You see, when she loves someone, she loves them completely, without reservation, with every shred of her heart. Most of us do not love like that. We hold something back. Our hearts only have so many pieces, and when you give a piece to someone else and they break it, it's gone. So we hold something back.

That's not the way Grandma works. When she loves someone, she loves them completely. She loves unafraid. I think that Grandma knows something about love that it took me more than 30 years to figure out. She knows that, though your heart may be fragile, God gave it an amazing ability to heal and to grow and to become stronger. You give your heart to someone, and yes, they might break it, but if you accept God's gift, it will heal. It will become stronger and it will grow. Grandma taught me that.

My heart is breaking right now, it's been breaking for three weeks. But I know that it will heal. Grandma taught me that. I can't regret the fact that I've loved my Grandma so much just because of the pain I'm going through now. It is a good, Godly love and I am a better person for it. I can't hold myself back from loving others completely because there are so many people who need love. You see, it's not about me, it's about the effect I have on others. Grandma taught me that too.

Most of us make our decisions based on the effect those decisions will have on us. Grandma made her decisions based on the effect those decisions had on others. She loved people completely, because they needed it. She forgave people she loved because they needed forgiveness. And she loved a lot of people because a lot of people needed her love.

Grandma told mom that she wants us to be happy and celebrate. She knew when she said it that we would be sad, that we were going to miss her, but she said she wanted us to be happy and to celebrate. I've had a hard time with that. I love my grandma very much and I already miss her. I know I'll see her again someday but my heart is breaking right now, and knowing that I'll see her later is of very little comfort to me now. She knew it would be that way for many of us, but she said it anyways. She said she wanted us to be happy when she knew we would be sad. Why?

Because she knew WE would need it. She thought about others first and she knew we would need to celebrate.

So how do we honor her wish when we are so sad? This is how I'm going to do it. I'm going to remember what my Grandma taught me, and apply those lessons in my own life. That's how she will remain a part of my life. Every day, for the rest of my life.

Grandma taught me many things, but for me her greatest lesson was this; when you love someone, love them completely. And love a LOT of people. She also taught me how to make strudel, and that's good too.

The death of liberty

All right, I'm a little depressed that it appears our country will now be run by a thief (socialist) and a moron. This is how liberty dies...we trade our freedoms for "economic security" and remain foolish enough to believe that those to whom we have given our freedoms will give them back when we want them. This is against the nature of government. To believe otherwise in the face of all the historical evidence is beyond foolish.

Economic freedom and property rights are the soil from which true liberty springs. When we vote for politicians that promise to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have done nothing to earn it, we invite those same politicians to take greater control over our own lives. Those who steal the property of others with no remorse have shown their tendancy towards tyranny. Once a politician starts down that road, history shows us that they do not stray from it.

So, congratulations to all my friends and family that voted for the socialist. You will get the government that you deserve. Unfortunately, you have also given me the government that you deserve.

Supporting the troops? Al Franken?

I have the fortune of being part of a large family with widely divergent points of view. A while back I was talking to a niece who was telling all about how she and her husband were against the war but supported the troops. That got me thinking. How often do people say something like that and yet I can find no instance of them actually supporting any troops. It's easy to say that you "support" the troops but it's not quite so easy to actually do so while you are spending all your free time working against the successful execution of their job. Which brings me to Al Franken.

Now I'm no supporter of Al Franken, in fact I think he is one of the most educated morons ever to grace this lovely planet, bless his heart. He's made alot of money working from a solid core of bald face lies, the premier subset of which includes his lies about other people telling lies. Mr Franken is unabashedly a detractor of this war and yet he does not go around touting how he "supports the troops." However, he has also been over there several times on USO visits.

Mr Franken is a buffoon. He is a pseudo-intellectual cretin who barely makes it past "imbecile," but, though he is virulently opposed to this war, he actually does support the troops. Ya gotta give him props. He may be an ignoramus but at least he's an ignoramus who supports the troops.

So my question to you, my friends, is this; If you are one of those people who is so proud of being against the war but supporting the troops, just exactly what have you done to express this elusive support? If all you do is work against us, try to keep us from doing our job, which is to WIN this war, and then SAY that you support us, well then you are a liar. You suck.

If, however, you have actually DONE something to support the troops, besides blabbing about it, then I thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and bless the day that you realized that support means more than just shooting off your mouth. You are a faithful person and I am proud to be a member of the organization that physically guarantees your right to shoot off your mouth. I will gladly risk my life to guarantee that right to you. That includes you, Mr Franken. God bless you.