There Was A Star Danced...

• Today is the 266th day of 2004, leaving exactly 100 days remaining.
• Today marks the autumnal equinox, where day and night are equal.
• The sun moves from Virgo into Libra today.
  
  
• Notable Events in History: 

  1776	American patriot Nathan Hale was hanged for spying on British troops. As he was led to the gallows, Hale proclaimed, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
  1780	Capt William Lynch’s name was immortalized when he issued a proclamation in Virginia, saying that if citizens believed the official course of justice was not strong enough, they should take the law into their own hands. While horse-whipping was the general punishment, hanging did take place – hence the word "lynching".
  1789	The position of United States Postmaster General was established.
  1863	President Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation.
  1931	Author C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity after a talk with his close friend J.R.R. Tolkien three days earlier on September 19th.
  1949	The Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon.
  1961	The Peace Corps was formed.
  1973	Henry Kissinger took the oath as U.S. Secretary of State. This was the first time a naturalized citizen had held this office.
  1975	Sara Jane Moore tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
  1980	Iraq invades Iran.

But the most notable September 22nd event in my life occurred long before I was born, on September 22, 1928, the day that Patricia Kathleen Berg entered this world.

Last year on August 24, a little more than two weeks before our lives turned upside down forever, I prepared a letter for my mother, for her upcoming surprise birthday party. I'm going to recycle it for her again this year.

Mom, I love you.

You are the most beautiful woman I ever saw.

Sophocles said that children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. I am not sure that he got it right, I believe it may well be the other way around, that my mother is the anchor that holds me to life.

Being the proud and stubborn sort of person I am (wonder where I got that from), I may not always call or tell you what’s on my mind, but when the chips are down, the knowledge that I could call you and you’d be there for me any time I need it has sustained and continues to sustain me through more tribulations than you will ever realize.

Thank you for being there for me. I hope I can follow your example and that my children feel the same way about me after they leave home.

The unconditional love of a mother is one of life’s great gifts.

There was a star danced, and under that were you born.
-- William Shakespeare

Happy Birthday, Mom, from the bottom of my heart.

-- Kathleen