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Well it was off-topic, wasn't it? Unless the dead guy is the one the Supreme Court case is about.

i don’t object. at all.
i took the cue from the OP, which i understood to suggest general questions about G Groff were ok.

i’m still intrigued about my family connection to Hans Graf.
i had questions/suspicions, it took years to find it in writing.

Gerald Groff could be a distant cousin.

From a locked topic:

P.4 / viewtopic.php?t=5925&start=30

Re: Closed Communion On Threads
Post by HondurasKeiser » Sun Jul 23, 2023 12:19 am

I should add that you’re right that they will not bat an eye if I wear plain coat or my wife wears a covering,
indeed they may thrill to the idea that it connects them in some strange way to the past or their upbringing or the way that congregation used to be.

They will however, brook no public dissent to things like full inclusion for gay and transgender members or women in leadership.

Such a common occurrence these days. In churches and elsewhere. Brand appropriation. Bait+switch. Erosion of substance.

Thursday ..

i received a small travel bag i’d ordered from Amazon. i think it will work ok.
i was shocked to find an AUSTRALIAN PASSPORT in a zippered pocket!
very strange feeling.

it’s fairly new, issued in 2022, last stamped in Barcelona Oct 2023.
a woman, born in 1967.

i told my family. they offered to do a search for her.
i think my daughter found her on LinkedIn. Tasmania.

meanwhile, i learned it should go to the Australian Embassy in Chicago.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel ... s-csi.html

my daughter is going to try to let her know i have it, and ask if she wants me to mail it to her, or to the Embassy.

she has probably replaced it. either way, i imagine she’ll be glad it was found. not damaged.
if she doesn’t want it, i’m pretty sure the embassy will want it.

it was a creepy feeling finding it. i’ll be glad when it’s headed for where it’s supposed to go.

i hope i wasn’t supposed to let Amazon know. i haven’t.

^^A week passed. No word from the passport owner.
i phoned the Australian Embassy, they were glad i called about it. they asked a few questions, maybe to elimnate me as a thief?
i’m not sure. it wasn’t too bad.

They mailed a FEDEX overnight envelope with an overnight return envelope, i dropped it off in one of their drop boxes.

i was glad to be rid of it. i did not like having it. i don’t expect to hear anything more about it.



i tried to contact Amazon about it.
They have all manner ways to return things, BUT, i couldn’t find a way to talk with a real person, or report an odd thing like this.
i gave up and decided i made the effort, that would have to do.
i more trust sending it to the embassy than back to Amazon. i think that was best. i hope so.

“things i like”

i hope to be with my family in Washington soon.
not sure for how long. maybe 4 weeks. we usually decide depending on what’s needed when i’m there.
and the price of return flights.

i’m preparing a small surprise.
i bought 3 smaller journals, 160 pages each, for my daughter, granddaughter, and myself.

the theme, “things i like,” with few instructions. and lots of encouragement.
we can compare in a year to see what we’ve come up with.

my first entry: “swimming with snow falling”

at center of my journal, i put a highlighted pink stripe down the page.
a section for memories of my granddaughter, now that she’s 16, there are memories of her youngest years i love.
like, how she used to hum happy little tunes all-the-time, which i loved, but also, helped me always-know where she was, at any given time. she seemed unaware she was humming. a sweet happy soul. i have a pink gel pen i’ll use for that section.

i put a unique bookmark in each, so, each journal can be identified in a glance ~ without spying!

i’ll tell them, if they like, they can begin upside-down+backward, add sketches, stickers, mementos, whatever they choose.
a word, paragraph, page, no matter. “things i like,” on each page.

i’m looking forward to giving them to the girls, looking forward to writing-away, looking forward to comparing results next year.

- - - - - - -

Coincidentally, some short news reports are appearing that suggests there are benefits to writing in long hand, reading hard copy books, learning cursive, etc. Maybe i’ll add a note about that as a thing i like.

Example:
Why Writing Longhand Is Still So Important Today [Backed By Science]
https://webwriterspotlight.com/why-writ ... -important

lest i forget: ouch
how did i get this far in life without this happening?!

Foot Fractures Fifth Metatarsal —Talking with Docs / -8min

HondurasKeiser wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 1:51 pm But remember, this isn't actually happening. Don't believe your lying eyes.

diamond

Note to self:

i wouldn’t say i ever had an easy life .. not horrifically bad, but, not easy, either.
When we’re young, the presumption often is, “things will be better - when i’m older!”
At least in the old days, being older was considered the goal to earned privileges. Not much thought about added responsibilities.

i’ve done a lot of getting older now.

We worked hard, had problems+challenges, blessings, thankfully, we grew in faith over time.
There was a lot of belief in, “things will get better.” That was a popular saying.

One day, in a sermon, my fav pastor asked, “What if - things DON’T get better?!” A good question.

Time passed.
Eventually, my husband received his terrible terminal diagnosis, not for a quick end, but for an unknown period of time, a time in which there would be regular losses of ability, no gains. So much uncertainty. We chose to face it together.

It was difficult, thankfully, we were not new to faith. Our faith was our guidance and comfort.
We had been tested, this was more than all of anything before.

It was as tho everything before had been “training+preparation” for this massive challenge.
So different from our childish dreams of blissful adult life! God is so amazing.

It’s not over.
Here i am, still drawing on past faith and experiences in attempt to meet the next moment.

Life is not over until it’s over. Faith is The Way.
i feel so sorry for those who have to face life without faith. i honestly cannot imagine what kind of tormented hell that would be.
my heart aches to know it happens.

ohio jones wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 12:26 am

temporal1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 2:13 pm they could see their home from the orphanage yard. their father remarried, they could see her son playing on the swing in their family yard.

life can be beyond words to describe.

Yet words can try to describe situations even more difficult.
http://defiancecountyohiogenealogy.blog ... ounty.html

Supt. Hall usually attends to the duty of finding homes for the children. And in this work he has numerous trials and aggravations. Especially where the children have parents to meddle and interfere. One peculiar case was called to mind of an inmate of the Home who was blessed with a father, mother, two stepmothers, two stepfathers, and yet not a soul to prevent the child from becoming a county charge.

Things have happened. Too early to know how things will unfold. i’m choosing to hope for the best.