What's your definition of a Hero?

When it comes to email, my dad doesn't often forward anything and for a while I just thought he didn't know how to (no offense Dad) but he literally just sent this email and I couldn't just let this one get lost in the Inbox.

All my dad wrote in the email was :
I only fwd this because it was fwd for someone that deserves respect!

I agree Dad and he's got my respect. I'm not sure what people consider a hero anymore and that is a sad thing.

I understand that some people have opinions about past wars and the current war, Trust me, I want them out of there just as much as the next person but what people don't understand is that these soldiers are risking THEIR lives for OURS.
That's a hero in my eyes.

Dad being a Vietnam Vet I have the utmost respect for him, the men that served before him and after him.

Here is what the email said:

We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.
I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy

Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st
Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the
History Channel , you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10
episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them..

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't
know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having
trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was
at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of
the 101st Airborne, on his hat.


Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne
or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the
101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served,
and how many jumps he made.


Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so,
and was in until sometime in 1945 .. . . " at which point my heart
skipped.


At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training
jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know
where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.


I told him "yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what
D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump into
Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . ..
and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of
D-Day..


I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said
"Yes. And it's real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are
left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart
was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.


I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in
Coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to
get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came
forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have
it, that I'd take his in coach.


He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are
still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to
make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it.
And mine are brimming up now as I write this.


Shifty died on June 17, 2009 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.
No big event in Staples Center .
No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
And that's not right.


Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet
way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the
veterans.


Rest in peace, Shifty.

I'm not saying go and enlist, just show more respect to the men and woman serving our country, You'd be surprised at how much that means to the Veterans.

Emily, the strongest kid I know

When my little cousin was born 20 months ago, we were all ecstatic, another Driscoll baby to add to the crew but after only a few hours of life she suffered a stroke and lost almost all functions of the left side of her brain. Doctors gave her hours to live but Emily has yet to give up.

When you hear of these types of stories, you never think that it could happen to your own family but since it has happened to ours you begin to realize how powerful family truly is. I give my cousin Peter and his wife Anne all the credit in the world, they have more strength than I think I would have in this situation. As you'll read below, Emily is always doing something to improve her life. She works harder than a lot of people I know, including myself and she's not even 2. She is a role model to me, to work hard for your goal, to never give up, to fight.

Here is her story:

Emily entered this world on January 18, 2008. When she was born, no one knows why, she suffered a massive stroke affecting almost the whole left side of her brain. The doctors told us that she probably wasn't going to live- but she did! Having her stroke began life's journey of challenges for Emily and our family. As a result of the stroke Emily suffers from hemiplegia, cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, half vision in each eye and other developmental delays.

Emily receives physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, vision therapy, special education and other service every day. At 20 months old she has a busier schedule than most adults. She works so hard every day so that one day she can walk and talk and do all the things that other kids do. She WILL do these things but it will be her way and not until she's good and ready.

Emily is the sweetest, happiest and most loving little girl around. She is a gift straight from the heavens and is a blessing to our family.

The most recent update for Emily is that she was supposed to be getting brain surgery on November 18th but it looks like that is being postponed due to her contracting the Swine Flu. This little girl cannot catch a break.

I guess the reason I am writing this is to have everyone say a prayer for her. I am not a very religious person but I will ask for your well wishes to this little one, she has put up an amazing fight and deserves to live a happy and healthy life full of play groups and friends not doctors and tests.

Check out her website for updates and if at all possible make a donation to help out!!

Check Emily out here

Jamaica No Problem

It's been a while since I last posted something, a few things have been going on since then, one being I went on another great vacation to Jamaica with a few friends of mine and the other being, hmmm I guess that is the only thing I can think of...

This was my second trip to Jamaica and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. No, a doctor didn't really tell me to go away but if I saw him, he would have told me to. We went for 6 days, a little too short for my liking but just enough to come back nice and refreshed. We didn't stay in a huge all inclusive hotel full of tourists, we stayed at the wonderful Oh Boy Villa in Silver Sands, Jamaica. Kelly's family owns a villa there and therefor we would not have experienced this amazing trip without her. I think the total amount of people that were there that week were about 20-25 tops. Granted it was the off season but it was still nice to have a house to stay in and the beach all to ourselves.

In the days we were there, we went snorkeling around a huge reef off the coast, here you'll see some wild life we found there...oh wait that's Ryan and Kat.



We played tennis on grass courts at the Georgia club in the middle of fields with cows surrounding us, cheering us on. It was actually one of the coolest experiences I have had because we were hanging out with the locals who have been going to this "club" their entire lives, playing every Saturday for years. The tradition and the history that we saw and heard there was incredible. As you can see, the club was a bit of a fix me upper but if those walls could talk we would most likely hear stories for hours.

The Georgie Club


Kelly and Kat getting their asses handed to them by two women well into their 70's.



Surrounded by cows








This one was a bit bored of the game and needed a bathroom break.













Being that it was Halloween while we were down there, naturally we dressed up.




We went fishing on Sunday morning.
Fishing is one of my most favorite things to do and the chance to do so in this amazingly beautiful water was very satisfying to me. We didn't go out on a touristy boat with a bunch of other "tourist" we went with a family friend of Kelly's family, a local man by the name of David. We caught one fish in the entire four hours but that didn't bother us, a day out on the water was good enough for me!



The beach was allllll ours.





I wasn't lying when I said we had the beach to ourselves...





More but not many pictures can be found on my Tumblr


Thank you Kelly McCormick for an amazing trip! Can't wait to go back next year