Part 2 Gingerbread with Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sister-in-law gave me this nifty mini rolling pin. I used it to make little gingerbread pumpkins which I filled with the pumpkin ice cream.

Hudsonville Pumpkin Ice Cream

Hudsonville Ice Cream comes from Holland Michigan. It is some of the yummiest, creamiest ice cream available. They have a few limited editions available at the moment. Including this wonderful Pumpkin Ice Cream. The ice cream begs to be served with imagination. I put some of mine between my special gingerbread. My gingerbread is ultra soft and soulfully spicy.

I'll report later if these autumnal ice cream sandwiches make the grade during this true Indian Summer. It was in the low 60's today, and down-right hot in the sun if you were working.

This is a pic of Randy and me with Jeff at his LAST home game on November 6. It was a sad day for us. He isn't a starter, but he played. He hopes to be a coaching assistant next year. He has an analytical mind and understands the esoteric nature of the game. Yes he has a mullet. His hair was in cornrows, a fro etc. He likes to keep it interesting. I say get wild with it while you can you'll be growning up soon enough.

The Veteran I Knew was a Loyal Soldier to . . .

This year marked the tenth anniversary of my father's death. He has been on my mind a lot.

My family takes a lot of pride in my father's military career. They went with him as he zigzagged across the country and to Europe as he served and pursued a military career. Beyond visits to the post to buy groceries at the commissary and goods at the PX, I have no memories of life connected to military service. But I feel better off for knowing the man my father became after his military service and I know that his time in the Army helped to form the man he became.

When I think of my father I think of loyalty.

He was fiercely loyal to his country. In addition to his military service he was active in politics and served on the boards of many community organizations.

I knew him to be a soldier for Christ. He was fiercely loyal to his church and dedicated himself to cultivating a spiritual life. While he was a man of unique character (too few like him these days) he had his foibles. He had his sorrows and struggles which he owned with humility, and then tried to correct in the ways he knew best.

In the last years of his life he took the time to babysit my children. Those moments allowed us to have some spontaneous and soulful discussions over those things troubling me or him. Sometimes after bearing his soul he would apologize for burdening me with his concerns. I suppose I might have had a surprised expression on my face, only because I was feeling honored by his willingness to disclose his thoughts to me.

Kadie was only person I talked to on October 21. She quietly sent love to me. Like her grandmothers she remembers the important dates (I'm still a fledgling in such matters). Like her grandfather, Kadie is fiercely loyal to friends, family and God. Like him she is competitive, hardworking, and holds a deep abiding faith.

My father was given religious training growing up, and I once thought his military service, helped him to be courageous for Christ. It made him able to confront the spiritual enemy. Perhaps it was the other way around. Perhaps it was his faith in Christ that helped him to be a good American soldier. Certainly he was a better soldier at the end of his life, following his Commander courageously into death, knowing the battle was ending and that peace waited ahead.