JuneTravails as Well as Travels

As a rule I do not comment on national or international happenings.  However, last Sunday morning's shootings in Orlando has prompted me to speak up.  Let me first back-up before that horrific day and focus on a political advertisement which ABC has been showing in the past couple weeks. In that ad  a GOP gubernatorial candidate, Eric Greitens, fires an assault rifle and says: "I'll take dead aim at politics as usual".  When I first saw this I shuddered and thought: how insensitive; what about the many victims shot by guns and the families who are grieving the loss of their lives?  I am sure that they are not happy seeing a gun being fired on their television screen, hearing the noise, and seeing the explosion in the background at the end of the advertisement.   Enough already of guns in America!  And how can someone be barred from getting on a plane if he is on the government's watch list, yet still purchase a assault rifle in America?  Sadly the USA continues fails to act,  and 49 people have been killed in Orlando by a gun.

Now on to a much happier note.  Two weeks ago John and I drove to Dayton, Ohio to celebrate the graduation of our niece Bethany from high school.  In the above picture she is posing in front of the quilt her grandmother Mary Jo made for her.  It is quite an awesome work of art incorporating symbols of all the pieces of her life up until the present time.  Her Dad Mike served in the military until recently and his blue military shirts serve well for the background of the quilt.  Bethany has been active in track at school so the back of the quilt has a display of running shoes.  The rest of the details of the quilt escape me, but there are many of them.!

And this past weekend John and decided to take another trip, and that was to Chicago.  Our nephew Marcus graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master in Divinity.  He is pictured above with his wife Bekki.   It was the first time for John and I to see the University of Chicago where President Obama taught.  Over the 126 years  that it has been in existence it has kept the Gothic-style buildings characteristic of the campus. 

 Despite it been a very warm weekend, it was a good one what with visiting family as well as seeing new and old sights of the city.  More on our visit there in my next posting.