Replaced at Sister’s House…WHAT Are We Going to Do????

Home in Holiday / Tarpon Springs area, FL

  

Skruffy:  “WAIT JUST A MINUTE!  What are those BIRDS doing in OUR backyard?”

Bubba: “Now look Skruffy, this isn’t the first time that MONSTERS have been in Uncle Arny’s backyard.  Besides, I am surprised YOU can even see them the way YOUR eyes are going downhill.”

“Well, at least my snoring wouldn’t scare them out of the backyard…heck, I can hear your snoring all the way at the condo…and you are probably miles away.”

“Look Skruff, last year we shared the backyard with two or three monster Geese.  I am SURE Uncle Arny will let me stay again…as for you, well, that I just can’t guarantee…you know, Uncle Arny LOVES me, he only TOLLERATES you.”

“But Aunt Sandy picks me up and rubs my tummy…she NEVER rubs your tummy.”

“Maybe because NO ONE rubs my tummy…I don’t like that.  Anyway, don’t panic, I am POSITIVE we will be able to stay at Uncle Arny and Aunt Sandy’s house again this year.  Now, let’s plan our attack on these Turkeys…First thing, we need to call our cousins, you remember them don’t you?”

You mean the one that jumps a mile high, and the other one that looks like a Pharaoh?

Yes, our good ole pals, Parker and Charley …

Monday we celebrated our 8th anniversary.  We celebrated by…

No, not get in a fight…we went to our favorite Greek Restaurant…Mama Maria’s

This is Marcia’s brother Mike, taken while we sat drinking coffee before church a few years ago.  Mike was the Police Chief of Tarpon Springs before he retired awhile back.  Anyway, we got a call on Friday that he was in the hospital…fainted on his bed was the first prognosis.  By Sunday they felt pretty sure he had a mild heart attack…by Monday they said he had high blockage in three arteries.  Problem is that the hospital he is in does not do bypass surgery, so off to Clearwater he went today.  They say his case is “Urgent” but not a “Emergency”, and the Clearwater Hospital was busy over the weekend.  Tomorrow they will start testing his lungs, full blood work, etc. etc. in preparation of having his surgery.  We HOPE his surgery will be Thursday or Friday…but it might be next week since he really seems to be doing very well.  I am sure he would love to get out of that hospital bed…

Here that same day is Bob and Nancy sitting with Mike.  Nancy has been having problems too, and is in a Care Center, which is where they put people who need medical attention, but not hospitalization. 

We also got notification that my oldest Aunt, Vera, up in the Kansas City area, is in the hospital too.  Some days she is back to herself, other days she is very lethargic.  Wasn’t a stroke, but something just is not right.  Above is Vera with my cousin Cassie…taken I think last summer (stole off of Cassie’s Facebook page).

Winter is tough on the elderly.  Mom and Dad always seem to catch a cough each winter which lasts for a few weeks.  Saw where a fellow Rotarian passed away a few weeks ago in Arkansas, and another acquaintance is very sick. 

Luckily, Marcia and I have not been sick for a number of years now.  Oh there are days where we don’t feel our best…but overall we have been healthy.  Marcia completed her last yearly doctor’s appointments, and all is well.  I see my doctor in April while we are going through Arkansas, but overall I feel fine.  We sure hope you are staying away from the sick bug…if not, our thoughts and prayers go out to you too.

Marcia’s Father’s Fishing Boat -- a Piece of History

After Church we typically go out to eat with Marcia’ brother Mike.  He told us today that recently a lady had given him a picture and a partial newspaper article about a boat his father owned.  Pictured above is the boat “Teddy”, with Marcia’s father, John, at the front of the boat, and her brother Mike, in the center of the boat.  The newspaper article (below) says that the boat was once a lifeboat on the S.S. Ernie Pyle.   Mike had already scanned it, and an email was awaiting us when we got home.

If you click on the article above, you can read it much better.  Essentially it says that the boat was an old lifeboat from the “Ernie Pyle”.  Any good WW2 amateur historian knows that Ernie Pyle was probably the most famous war correspondent, covering the European conflict until Paris was liberated, then while covering the war in the Pacific, was killed by a Japanese sniper in April 1945 near Okinawa.  On Sunday June 24, 1945 the SS Ernie Pyle, a type C4 Class Cargo Ship was christened in honor of Ernie Pyle, who was one of the few civilians who received the Purple Heart, awarded to him in 1983.  Essentially it was a Military Transport/Cargo ship. 

With the fall of Europe came the need to deal with the many orphans, single mothers, and young families, many of Jewish descent.  The SS Ernie Pyle was converted into a different type of transport ship.  The cargo holds had cots placed in them for the men and older boys while the troop transport area held the women and young children.  The ship was one of many which brought these displaced people, many young children, some who were just babies, to America and Canada.

Above is a close-up of the lifeboats in the previous picture…looks a lot like the “Teddy” featured in the article and picture of Marcia’s father.

Here is a picture of the Ernie Pyle unloading some of the “cargo” in New York.  Many of the times the people were unloaded at Ellis Island, but sometimes they unloaded right at the port of New York.  Sometimes the ship continued to Canada, or went directly to Canada.  The ship could carry around 900 refuges at a time. 

 

If you do a Google search on “SS ERNIE PYLE ”, you will run into many accounts of refuge stories as people in the modern day are compiling family histories/genealogies.  Here is one powerful first hand account by Sylvia which I want to share:

1947 ,we sailed from Antwerp Belgium late at night on the Ernie Pyle, we ran into a severe storm and were strapped to our bunks. I shared a room with two other women who’s names I’m sorry to say can’t recall;. But the worst time we exsperienced happened only miles away from NY. We could not sail and lay in wait untill things calmed down. The good news was that a lttle boy was born that night whom they named after the Ernie pyle  (link)

I could have spent hours and hours doing research on this, but enough is enough.  Not sure how long the SS Ernie Pyle was in service.  It was NOT a U.S. Navy Ship, like most troop transports it was part of the United States Lines fleet, a transatlantic shipping company.   Found it very interesting how Marcia’s dad owned a piece of “history” -- a unique piece of history.  No one knows what became of the fishing boat that once was a lifeboat on the SS Ernie Pyle.  Her father John owned at least four boats while in Tarpon Springs, one of them is still in use at the Sponge Docks today.