The Proposal

Angela recently posted a note on Facebook describing how I proposed to her. This is what she said:

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It has been 2 months since Loyd proposed. On November 26th at about 10pm he knelt (on both knees) and asked me to marry him. But the proposal started the moment i saw him at the los angeles airport on November 24th. I came down the escalator wearing my "I love Loydo" shirt, and he smiled up at me holding a single red rose. With the rose was a note card with a picture of him printed on it. Written on the card was the line " An angela(a) twinkles in the evening sky." I thought... how sweet. but when i got in the car there was another card sticking out of the glove compartment with a picture of us and the second line "Shining among many, but unique in my gaze." Now I thought " how fun! its a game!" over the next two days little notecards printed with pictures of us and another line to the poem would spontaneously appear in random locations. it was great fun. i was having so much fun finding these cards and reading the poem over and over. Then the night before Thanksgiving, after my disappointing loss at our favorite game Settlers, Loyd knelt down (on both knees) and told me how much he loved me, read me his poem all the way through then put his mothers ring on my finger and asked me to marry him. I said "maybe" :) the next night i gave him a resounding YES! here is my poem Loyd wrote for me:


An angel(a) twinkles in the evening sky.
Shining among many, but unique in my gaze.
A constant fixture in the celestial deep
Providing direction and purpose,
Though separated by distances wide.
How long have i desired to reach out and hold her,
To catch this monarch in my silk-woven net.
To be with her. To be with you.
I n my dreams, in sleep and wake, I jump
And reach for the heavens
Taking this star by the hand, pulling her to me.
Wingless and haloed in beauty,
She leaves me speechless and awed.
Can I, just for a moment, or a lifetime
Be blessed with her condescension
To hold her, to feel her touch, her kiss,
Her kindness, her love.
Can I share in the light she gives.
Can this dream be lived, to open my eyes
And witness the angelic before me.
Would she take my hand and lead me,
To guide and help me.
So that together we can shine in the heavens,
A constellation of two.

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I'm not sure why she has to rub it in that I was on both knees. I was a bit nervous as it was my first time proposing to anybody.

Letter from #43 to #44

Much ado has been made in the news about the traditional letter from the former President George W. Bush to the new President Barack H. Obama. While the contents of the letter were meant to be made private, I have recently come across a copy of the letter:

Dear Mr. President Obama,

I really scrooed things up pretty bad. Good luck fixin the economy and catching Bin Laden. Your awesome man.

Good Luck,
-G.W.

P.S. I keep a secret stash of Southern Comfort underneath the desk. There should be a little left. Don't let Laura find out.

Say amen — and amen.

Dr. Joseph Lowery's benediction at yesterday's Presidential Inauguration:
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God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand — true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we’ve shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you’re able and you’re willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won’t get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

Say amen — and amen.

Christmas in Texas and Louisiana