Shauna Niequist

Memoir 

Her substack

Author Website

sebastian Junger

He is a favorite for sure. I wrote about it in 2016

I wrote about Tribe in 2016 blog

Sebastian Junger is purposeful and meaningful.

His new book is fascinating faces the topic of death head on and that experience.

In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery.

Second Owlet Fledges From Great Horned Owl Nest At Wildflower Center! – ...

90 seconds of peace

Face the Fight Together | USAA

#carryon #together

legacy X2

 

I received my bib and here to remember for my 5K walk for Wear blue

Last night I received my email from wear blue: run to remember announcing my hero.  Ladies and Gentleman - meet SGT Dale G Brehm.

Ranger Brehm was killed in a Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 19, 2006

Sgt. Dale G. M. Brehm, 23, was a team leader assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. He was wounded by enemy small arms fire while conducting combat operations in western Iraq on March 18, and died of those wounds on March 19, 2006.

After graduating from Turlock High School in Turlock, Calif., Brehm volunteered for military service and entered the Army Feb. 15, 2001. He completed One Station Unit Training, airborne school and Ranger Indoctrination Program at Fort Benning, Ga.

Assigned to 2nd Ranger Bn. in October 2001, Brehm served as a rifleman and grenadier.

Brehm was a six-time veteran of the Global War on Terrorism, deploying three times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal for valor, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Jordanian Parachutist Wings and the Ranger Tab. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medals with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

As a Ranger, Brehm selflessly lived his life for others and distinguished himself as a member of the Army’s premier direct action raid force, continuously deployed in support of the Global War on Terror, and fought valiantly as he served his fellow Rangers and our great Nation.

Brehm is survived by his wife, Raini, his mother and stepfather Laura & Ed Vawter, his father and stepmother, William, and Linda Brehm and his two brothers, Scott Williams and Chad Williams.

I will do a 5k walk dedicated to him this week, remembering his legacy, teammates, and family. #neverforget #saytheirnames

legacy

 This week I stumbled on an obituary that stopped me in my tracks. 

This is was my mom's good friend Mary Jane. She was a dear friend to my mom in some of her most challenging years. I remember (maybe 9-12 years old) going to her house often. She was also drove school bus with my step-father for about 20 years. She also knew my dad, there are not too many of those folks left since he died in 1978.  She did not have an easy life and suffered abuse for many years. She remarried later in life and  I believe found joy.  Her obituary made me smile but also left pools in my eyes. Her faith carried her and her strength moved her forward.

Obit

Mary Jane VanWassenova was on born February 2, 1943, in South Rockwood, Michigan. She was one of four children and the only daughter born to the union of Leroy VanWassenova and Anna Louise (Meyer) VanWassenova. Mary attended Trenton High School in Trenton, Michigan, graduating with the class of 1961.

To help provide for her family Mary worked as a bus driver in the Jefferson School District for more than thirty years before retiring. She was a member of the South Rockwood Senior Citizens and St. Charles Catholic Church where she volunteered her time helping with funeral luncheons.

On November 25, 2016, she married Ronald Masserant at St. Charles Catholic Church. Together the couple were blessed with a blended family of seven children. Mary was quite the bookworm taking every opportunity she could to delve into one of her favorite romance novels or finding solace within the pages of the Bible. She was very gifted in the kitchen and if she wasn’t preparing her delicious lasagna or bread stuffing she might possibly be baking an apple or rhubarb pie. Likewise, Mary enjoyed being in her garden tending to her roses, tomatoes, cucumbers and the rhubarb she used for her pies. Mary was very kind and generous and always willing to help others in need. She loved her family and was especially fond of her grandchildren who affectionately referred to her as “Mimi”.

Mary Jane Lemerand-Masserant, age 82 of Newport, Michigan passed away on Saturday; May 17, 2025, at Fountain View of Monroe. Her passing was preceded by her parents: Leroy and Louise VanWassenova and two brothers: Gary and Alan Joseph VanWassenova.

To cherish her memory she leaves her husband of eight years: Ronald Masserant of Newport; a daughter: Wendy (Jerry) Venier; two sons: Charlie (Jody) Lemerand and Rick Lemerand; Ronald’s children: Chad (Michelle) Masserant, Ronnalee (David) Zambeck, Ryan (Becky) Masserant, and Kurt (Lora) Masserant; a brother: Mat (Janet) VanWassanova; her sister in law: Barb VanWassenova; eleven grandchildren: Nicholas and Brent Lemerand, Hayley and Ashley Masserant, Nicholas and Noah Zambeck, Luke, Kolby, and Stephan Masserant, and Zachary, Nathan, and Lindsay Masserant; and two great grandsons: Hayden and Luca Lemerand.

Friends may gather from 10:00am until 11:00 am on Wednesday; May 21, 2025, at St. Charles Catholic Church; 8125 Swan Creek Road, Newport, Michigan 48166. Mass of the Resurrection will begin at 11:00am also at St. Charles Catholic Church with Father Henry Rebello, as celebrant. Procession will follow to St. Charles Cemetery for burial. 

Veterans

 Veterans explaining that they felt alone.

“I have lost the bond with others that came so easily while serving.”
“I don’t know how to make new friends.”
“I don’t have anyone to talk to.”

Common themes on applications for outdoor programs.

Vanishing Treasures

by Katherine Rundell

A non-fiction book about 20 endangered animals.  #awareness of Animals.

Every human can save something.

Fascinating and a great audiobook.

https://sharonmcmahon.com/podcast/vanishing-treasures-with-katherine-rundell

What can we do to help save the most vulnerable animals? Sharon McMahon is joined by #1 NYT Best-Selling author Katherine Rundell to talk about extraordinary animals like the Greenland shark which can live to be over 600 years old, or the American Wood frog that freezes in the winter, and kickstarts its own heart in the spring. Katherine shares stories about animals you’ve probably never heard of, the challenges they face, and the urgent need for preservation and mindful coexistence with the natural world

Perfectly Clear

 A memoir from Michelle LeClair about her escape from Scientology.

Michelle Leclair

This is absolutely fascinating.

I tried to do some additional research and it is almost non existent.

Praise

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; 

Praise God all creatures here below; 

Praise God above, ye heavenly host; 

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Amen.

Pinnacle Foods Co | Gourmet Food For Mountain Top Moments

Very cool - I have not tried these yet but will add to the bucket list.

Love a good meal on the trail.

The company is a small business with roots in Montana.

Pinnacle Foods was founded in Missoula Montana. In 2021, John moved the production side of Pinnacle Foods along with his family back to North Carolina in order to raise their two young boys near their grandparents. We now have to get on planes to have face-to-face meetings about Pinnacle Foods but our partnership as brothers, each working in our strengths, remains as strong as ever.

The idea for Pinnacle Foods originated around a campfire deep in the Maddison Range. While eating sub-par, freeze-dried food the question arose: “What if this were better?” 

heard in yoga

 There is a big full moon coming on Monday and I am already starting to feel it..

The Story of the Moose Hide Campaign

The power of a voice.

Keep speaking out.

End violence to women and children.

Unluck any other, book.

I just read I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel.

I have not read anything like this in many years, but I like it.

She is obsessed. 

You Tube review from Bob the Bookerer

 

The idea that people become a brand.  It can be very intense and also very real.

Thoughts from Emily Jessica Turner

Memoir - Ruth Wariner

The Sound of Gravel 

RUTH WARINER is an internationally renowned speaker and author of the New York Times bestselling memoir THE SOUND OF GRAVEL. At the age of fifteen, Ruth escaped Colonia LeBaron, the polygamist Mormon colony where she grew up, and moved to California. She raised her three youngest sisters in California and Oregon. After earning her GED, she put herself through college and graduate school, eventually becoming a high school Spanish teacher. She remains close to her siblings and is happily married. The Sound of Gravel is her first book.

today

 Church of England

May 5, 2025

Almighty Father who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the Risen Lord, give us such knowledge of his presence with us that we may be sustained with his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth through Jesus Christ your son our Lord who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Allow me to see you in all things.

Writing Hard Stories

 

Fascinating read about what an author feels when writing about their most traumatic events in their lives and how a memoir becomes a life of it's own.

Melanie Brooks is a writer and a teacher.

Her father died of AIDs - In the mid 1980s, Canada’s worst public health disaster was unfolding. Catastrophic mismanagement of the country’s blood supply allowed contaminated blood to be knowingly distributed nationwide, infecting close to two thousand Canadians with HIV. Among them was Melanie Brooks’s surgeon father who, after receiving a blood transfusion during open-heart surgery in 1985, learned he was HIV positive.

CS#76: Afghan Female Special Operators | Female Tactical Platoons | Fari...

Farida is a amazing. 

I have had the honor to get to know her, she is a warrior.