Category Archives: Uncategorized

Funeral in Seneca

Today we travelled to Seneca, about 3 hours away, to attend the funeral of Linda’s Uncle Melvin (husband of her mother’s oldest sister). Coming from such a small family, I’m always amazed at the number of family members there are on the maternal side of Linda’s family.

It was a touching service in the beautiful older church, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. The music was provided by the Knights of Columbus mens choir (Melvin was a fellow Knight). This was followed by a bitterly cold graveside blessing that lasted approximately 5 minutes; 19 degrees and 30mph winds hastened the retreat to our cars. Finally, we reconvened back at the parish hall for a nice lunch prepared by the volunteer women of the church.

The priest noted during the homily that we normally are celebrating and joyous at this time of year; however, we were meeting to mourn the loss of a beloved family member. However, there is comfort knowing that Melvin will be waiting for us when we come to the end of our earthy journey. Although a sad occasion, it was wonderful meeting up with all of the family.

***Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him***

Cats at The Sprint Center

Last night we went to The Sprint Center to watch the Kansas State Wildcats basketball to take on #8 Florida Gators. After losing earlier in the season to #4 Michigan and #14 Gonzaga, I think most everyone assumed the Cats would lose this game. However, we won 67-61.

We were pleasantly surprised with a hard-fighting squad, led by hometown hero, junior Will Spradling. The place was loud with lots of cheering and clapping. There was also a lot of booing as the referees somehow had trouble spotting obvious fouls. As you can see by the view from our seat in the rafters, fouls apparent to us should’ve been seen by those standing right there. I did my part and yelled as loud as I could (not really a good thing to do if one is singing for church the next morning).

We had an awesome time. In fact, the four of us were joined by Ed, Elaine, Connor, and Helen. Linda tried to snap a quick picture of us as we were getting ready to enter the arena:

KC Symphony Chorus Christmas Festival

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You’ll notice that there was, yet again, another break in the posts on this blog. Since Linda’s birthday, I was busy with work and also performing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus and the Christmas Festival. We had rehearsal on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – with shows on Thursday, Friday, and then two shows on Saturday and again on Sunday. Needless to say, I was exhausted.

Despite being exhausting, it was a wonderful concert with music from the Kansas City Symphony, the Symphony Chorus, the Allegro Children’s Choir, and the Rezound Handbell Choir. It truly was an amazing show – with numerous opportunities for getting misty-eyed.

I’m enjoying time off now and spending time with the family. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Linda and the girls. The Christmas season is about to arrive and we’re thankful that we’ll get to spend it with all of Linda’s family.

Procrastination…

You’ll notice my last blog post was exclaiming the news that K-State was number 1 in the BCS polls. That lasted a whole week – because we got BEAT by Baylor the following Saturday and fell from our lofty pedestal all the way down to number 6.

I knew the right thing to do was to post about the loss, especially since I’d been posting every win all season long. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept meaning to – but it never happened. Seems that if I didn’t write about it, I wouldn’t have to really think about it.

Then, I got very busy. I had a lot of rehearsals and performances at that time for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. The night of the Baylor game found me at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts singing Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Linda and the girls were there, too. Fortunately, we did not witness the destruction of our beloved Wildcats because we were immersed in voices and percussion. Check out the video clip of our dress rehearsal:

Finally, the good news is that K-State won their last game of the season at home against Texas and are now the Big XII Champions. Last time we did that was 2003 at Arrowhead Stadium against Oklahoma (a game that Linda and I attended). Now, we will be playing against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3. Watch party at my house?

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By the way, there were some piano recitals and other musical events for the girls in the past 2 weeks. I plan to post those here in the next few days.

Wildcats are #1 in BCS

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Despite being ranked number 2 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls, Kansas State is ranked number 1 in the BCS.

Now – we just need to play well at Baylor this coming Saturday. We get a week to rest and then host Texas at home for Senior Night. Looks to be a good close to the season.

Go Cats! EMAW!

Veterans Day

Many of you may see the picture above and assume it is me – in fact, I even think it looks like me. However, this is my grandfather, Jack Lyndon Featherston Sr at 17 years of age. This photo was taken December 7, 1941; note that he is listening to the large radio behind him – he’s listening to the broadcast of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a flight navigator in both the European and Pacific theatres. He also served during the Korean War.

Unfortunately, my grandfather died in 1998 and my girls didn’t get the chance to get to him. He had lots of stories – but the ones I loved best were the ones about his adventures during World War II. I can still hear him telling them now.

My father is also a veteran; more than 20 years active duty in the US Army. He was a fabulous NCO and was a role model to many men – including me.

My years in the military had a profound effect on me – they shaped who I am today. I’m proud of my military service, but I’m even more proud that I come from a family of men that have served the United States of America.

My sister, Lynette, and her husband, Lee, were also members of the US Army.

Thank you to all the veterans for your sacrifice and duty.

Pacesetters Dance Clinic

Emily attended the Pacesetters Dance Clinic today with several friends. This is the dance team for the local high school and Emily is really hoping to be part of it when she starts attending there.

Enjoy a little clip of what they worked on for about 2 hours before they showed all the parents what they learned.