I made this memorial a few years ago when Virgil asked me to make a double for him and his wife.  I recently had to finish it with the date of his death.  Virgil seem like an all right guy to me but when I was reading his obituary I came across an article about him too.  It was written by David Green and I changed it to read in the past tense.  It is a great article, I hope you will read it and remember all our veterans as you do so. 

Sixty-six years have passed since Virgil Sands was discharged from the U.S. Navy SeaBees. Virgil is one of a few dozen Northwest Ohio veterans who travelled  to the nation’s capital with Honor Flight, a non-profit organization that flies veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials.

For Virgil, 85,  the World War II memorial was  of primary interest.

“I just started my senior year in high school when I went in,” Virgil said.

He left for training on Oct. 6, 1943, the day he turned 18. He had enough credits to graduate, so his mother and sister obtained his diploma the following June at Chesterfield High School.

“I was in Australia when I got my diploma,” he said.

Virgil wanted to join the regular Navy but couldn’t get in, so he signed up with the Navy SeaBees instead. He spent more than two years in the Pacific Theatre in locations such as New Guinea, the East Indies and the Philippines. He was in the Philippines when the war ended, just before he was about to move out again on a new assignment.

“I was in a good outfit,” Virgil said. “If I had to do it over, I’d go right back with that outfit. It was a good experience. Well, I guess it was.”

He said it’s one of those experiences that are worth a million dollars, but one that he wouldn’t do again for a million dollars.

He learned about Honor Flight from a nurse that visits him. Actually, he said, she signed him up for the program before telling him about it.

That was about two years ago and Virgil was finally chosen to participate in the flight that left from Toledo Express Airport.

He didn’t know of any acquaintances who would be making the flight, but he would be delighted to run across someone from the past.

“We got to see the World War II memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean monument, and the changing of the guard,” he said.

Then it was back to Toledo by 9:30 p.m. to wrap up a long day.

“It makes for a busy schedule,” Virgil said.

Honor Flight was conceived by a physician assistant in Springfield, Ohio. He saw several veterans in his medical office and spoke with them about visiting the memorial. Since the first flight in 2005, more than 63,000 veterans have made the trip to Washington.

At this time, priority is given to World War II vets and to terminally ill veterans of any war.

The program is funded by donations from individuals and several organizations, including the American Legion. The trips come at no cost to the honored veterans.

The trip marked  Virgil’s first visit to Washington, D.C., but he said that spending the day with so many veterans and viewing the memorial was going to make him feel at home.

“It brought  back some memories,” he said

Mogus the little man 

 So it was about 3 weeks after Curly died that I was in Bryan driving down the street past a pet shop.  I happened to glance in and saw something black bouncing around inside. I was curious.  Just wanted to look.  So I went back and went in the store.  There were fish tanks everywhere and in the back they had 2 pens of puppies.  They were big puppies.  Like boxers or rots. There were 2 different kinds.   And then there was this black puppy running wild in the store.  He was everywhere.  I told him to get away from me.  He had the biggest brown eyes I had ever seen on a puppy.  They looked kind of sad too but he seemed happy enough.  Maybe hopeful was the look. 

 Well, I decided to check the fish out since I was there.   They were stacked about 3 high.  All kinds of fish.  Puppy still checking me out.  I told him to scram.  I had to stoop down to see the fish in the lowest tanks and of course the puppy had to check them out too.  So I’m squatted down trying to ignore him when he stands up on his hind feet and uses my leg to prop himself up.  I looked at him, he looked at me.  I asked him what he wanted.  I figured he wanted to see the fish on the top of the racks too.  So I did it.  I picked him up.  He tucked his head on my shoulder and settled in.  I loved him from that moment on.  I did not put him back down on the floor.    I took him to the register and paid.  I took him home and he became one of my best friends.   He is the guy that I bought Molly for.  Mogus Joseph and Molly Josephine,  My MJs.

 I still to this day miss Mogus.  He was with me through a lot.  We knew he had a heart murmur.  He had ears that were always getting infections.  He had a skin condition that could get smelly if not kept clean. He itched from it too and they put him on steroids for that.  Steroids are not good for little guys with heart murmurs I found out later.   He started having occasional seizures which the vet said not to be too concerned about unless he started having them frequently.  Well, when that happened, he didn’t last long.  The seizures turned to fainting spells and he just couldn’t go anymore.  I took him to the vet and was informed that he was dying.  I got medicine anyway and took him home.  That’s as far as it got.  I got him in the door and put him down and he started convulsing and was gone.  Molly grieved so long that I thought she would die also.  She didn’t know what to do with herself anymore.  She missed him just as much as I did if not more. 

 Maybe next time I will tell you what I did to help her get out of her grieving.  I don’t think she will ever forgive me for it!

Since I have so much trouble getting people to send me their stories about the memorials and rocks I am going to start posting from my other blog on here.  I appreciate the folks who have sent me their story and I will continue to post more if they arrive.  Thanks to all of you!

Here we go!

I have so many pets.  There are 4 cats and 2 dogs.  Molly is the oldest dog at 11 years 3 months.  I’ve had her since she was 6 weeks old.  She is a white shih tzu with brown ears and some brown on her sides.  She’s fat.  I had a little black shih tzu when I got her and he went with me to pick her out.  I needed to get him a playmate so he could quit following me around constantly.  So we got Molly and then I had 2 shih tzus following me around constantly.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved it.  They were great together.  So the 1st time she came into heat, I had to keep them separated.  That didn’t work out so good!  I was letting one in from the back yard so the other one could go out and get their business done when the phone rang.  I turned to get it and went right back to the door only to see the two of them hung up.  That quick!    So Molly had her 1st litter at 8 months of age.  I was worried so bad.  I got a book and read everything I could on the birth of puppies.  Did you know they carry the puppies in their fallopian tubes until right before they are born?  Neither did I!

When the big day arrived neither one of us was ready.  Molly had went out to the bathroom and came back in with some poo stuck to her fur.  So I lugged her to the bathroom and got her cleaned up in the tub and dried her off as much as I could.  Then we went to bed.  I was reading and she had crawled under the covers.  I figured she was chilled from the wet fur on her butt and she was trying to lick herself dry.  Well I figured wrong!  She was under my legs, I had them bent to hold my book up to read and finally I got tired of her jiggling the bed.  I was trying to read after all.  So I threw the covers back to make her move and saw a little black puppy all slimy and shiny laying there.  I grabbed a towel and moved Molly and the puppy onto it, trying to save my bed sheets and mattress.  Then I pulled them off and had them on the floor.  Puppy was still attached!  I jerked the sheets off the bed and ran for a wet cloth to clean the mattress.  Then I noticed Molly wasn’t doing anything.  She was just laying there.  She had went into shock I guess.  So I got  my scissors and cut the cord.  I wrapped the puppy up in a towel and started rubbing him to dry him off.  I threw some towels in the dryer to warm them up and then I got Molly covered up with them.  I got Molly moved over the her cage that she would be taking care of the puppies in and put the pup next to her and got him to start sucking. 

Thirty minutes later I noticed Molly’s side contracting.  She was still just laying there.  After about 3 contractions another puppy arrived.  Now I had to work in the cage.   I got the puppy up and cut that cord.  Grabbed my towel and started rubbing him real good to dry him off.  Put him beside the other one to start sucking.  I started rotating towels and making sure Molly stayed warm too.  I couldn’t believe she was just laying there.   Another 30 minutes and the third and last puppy was born.   Same routine with the towels and scissors.   I waited another hour and decided that was the last one and I knew from my reading that I needed to get Molly up and outside to use the restroom.  She was still just laying there.  So I wrapped the puppies up in a big warm towel and left them in the cage and took Molly out and put her on the ground.  She did stand up.  It was February and I think the cold air helped her out.  I tried to get her to walk around but she wasn’t interested.  It was cold, I was tired and I just wanted to get some sleep.  So I took her back in and put her in the cage with the puppies.  I got them out of the towel and put them back on her tits and she looked at them like “where did you come from?”  She got a little more alert then and when they started making puppy sounds she got interested in them. She started licking on them and I said “Good Night Molly, you are on your own!”   She had four more litters before I had her spayed and she has been a great dog for me. 

We’ll talk a little about my cats next time!  See ya soon I hope.

Kelly made a beautiful tribute!

I asked Kelly to give me a little story about her rock I made her.  She did better than that, she sent a pic of it on display.  I think it looks awesome.  This is what Kelly said:

O hEaghra is my maiden name O’Hara in Gaelic. My 2nd great grandparents Patrick and Jane O’Hara immigrated to America in 1860 with 2 children (my great grandpa William’s oldest brothers: John and David). The birdbath that I made a little garden around has Celtic knot patterns on it to display my Irish roots along with my clan’s name.

Last time I posted I showed Angel’s stone.  Well Angel had a little pal named Cody.  I think Cody was mostly my Dad’s dog and Angel was Audry’s.  But it was one big happy family either way.  Cody was a beautiful german shepherd that stayed in the yard and protected the people there.  This was one of the 1st stones I made.  I didn’t have my tile saw back then so I used the busted pieces and I picked this one out for Cody.

Cody looked ferocious but was really just a big baby.  I always gave her a hug cause she was big enough to take it.  Of course she could scare the shit out of ya too.  I heard there was some trouble with her one time when the EMS came to transport my dad.  I guess she didn’t want to let him go.  Maybe she knew what was coming even if the rest of us didn’t.   They were a great pair and you could see the love in their eyes for each other.  I hope they are together now wherever they are.

This stone was a very special stone.  My dad and stepmom found it in Indiana and decided to keep it for when their dog,  Angel,  passed away.  Audry said “This will be Angel’s stone”  And that was before I discovered sand blasting could be so much fun.  This rock definitely was not cooperating but I did get it to turn out nice.  I would have liked to put an angel on the top right corner but it just wasn’t flat enough.  It is a beautiful stone though and it sits at their home on her grave.  Angel lived about 17 or 18 years.  She was something else.  She could climb trees.  I think she was after squirrels but who knows.  I think she lived so long because she knew Audry would be alone (except for the cats) and she didn’t want to leave her.  Cody, their other dog died shortly after my dad did.   You can see Cody’s stone on my website at mosmemorials.com.

Well here it is February already.  Valentine’s Day is upon us.  I was trying to decide which stone to feature this month and while I was looking through my gallery I found this one.  I knew both of these people.  I met Ron when I was about 18 years old.  I met Anna a couple years later.  I worked with her for years.  If there was ever a woman who loved her man it was Anna.   I went to school with her oldest son Gary and I worked with hm and his brother Chuck too.  I don’t know why I have always felt connected to this family.  After Ron and Anna passed away I bought their house from the kids.  Now their daughter Darlene lives in the house so I know it will be taken care of.  I’m pretty sure she thinks of it as her house.  Which is fne with me.  Her sister Rhonda has brought me business for Mo’s Memorials.  They camp at Shepherd’s campground over by Defiance and I have made a couple stones for the people who camp there.  I hope someday to stop over there and take a look at their memory garden. 

Everybody have a great Valentine’ Day and let’s hope Spring gets here quick.

Here is the plaque I made for Wilma.  It is on a 12 x 12 piece of granite approximately 3/8″ thick.   Louise, who ordered the plaque, gave me the sentiment to put on, it says “The thread that held the quilt of our family together.”  I was told that her casket was white and then they draped some of her quilts over it to give it a colorful look.  Now how cool was that!