Greetings loyal airmen.  It certainly has been a terrible week, including what many of my colleauges have dubbed Black Monday in reference to the awful events that happened at Virginia Tech, leaving 33 students and teachers dead and 26 others wounded.  Sheer horror, as one survivor quotes, “I saw the face of the devil and he is real.”  At the same time, the North East was blanketed by some of the worst flooding to hit this area in decades.  It left behind millions of dollars in property damage and took several lives.  Two of these were a local woman and her four year old granddaughter.  Trapped in their car as waters suddenly rose over the street they were traveling, the brave woman attempted to flee the stalled auto, only to have the rushing waters sweep them both away down  river.  By the time rescuers found them, the woman still clinging desperately to the little girl, they had suffered hypothermia and would both succumb shortly after reaching a neary hospital.  It was such a blow to the entire  community.

Amidst all this tragedy, it is difficult to find a ray of hope.  Yet that is exactly what happened the following day.  Our oldest granddaughter has been battling a stomach malady for the past four months and doctors had been  unable to cure her.   She had to drop out of sports and her grades, she is a high school freshmen, began to suffer.  All because she is in a constant state of nausea.  Well, two days ago, our daughter and son-in-law finally got her in to see a specialist and this doctor put her through a series of tests.  By the end of the day, they had finally discovered the cause of her illness and now have her on a remedy program.  It is a small miracle for all of us who have been praying for her all along.  Hopefully by the time I write next week's log entry, our beloved granddaughter will be pitching in her next softball game and her life will be back to normal.

Good and bad, the roller coaster of life.  None of us ever escape it.  All we can do is our best, deal with the bad times with prayer and support from our friends and family, and truly enjoy and appreciate the good times.  There are no guarantees and every day should be cherished as the true wonderous treasure it is.  God bless all of you reading these words today.

Ron, over and out.