Thanks for posting, even though it made me cry. My DH graduated from high school and promptly joined the navy. He said it looked cleaner than other branches. He was in CA waiting to ship out when the war ended. His Mother told me she was so thankful, as her other son was already "over there". He is buried at Ft. Sam Houston. I had a cousin who was a spy during WWII. He was also with a group that liberated one of the Jewish camps. He once told me it was so horrible that he blanked the memories out for the rest of his life. When he was getting security clearance, some one went to his aunt's house in Vermont. She was hoarding sugar. When the maid told her it was the FBI, she thought that was what it was about. There has been a member of my family in the military in every war, including this one. My granddaughter went to the middle east in 2006 and my GS is probably over there now. Another proud American

There were 23 FEMA lots in New Hartford after the flood of 2008 ... people in these homes could either not afford to rebuild or have enough insurance to rebuild or just gave up on another flooded home...it means they took a 'buy-out' from FEMA ...so those lots can never be built on again...this was a 500-yr flood & affected many homes that never ever have flooded...but many of those that took the buy-out had flooded before ...but not on the main levels like this 2008 flood! So, when FEMA buys you out ...say like $25,000 or something I think may have been an avg (I don't know for sure)...then it becomes property of the city but cannot be built on to live in or have a business. The lots we are restoring have been this Vets Memorial, 4 Season Perennial Garden, Town Square Gazebo lot & a Community Gardens lot. We have written grants, raised money ...many of it donations & that's how we are doing it...we are wearing down as it is many retired people working long & hard...but we promised our community that we would have the 3 lots done by 1st week of June for the local yearly 'Beaver Creek Days.' It's all very worthwhile to all of us & brings a sense of pride back into the community. Thanks for asking, luvs & I appreciate all the comments from you 'Holiday-ers!' Jeanne S.

No, flatbed scanners can't be counted on to accommodate negatives. You need to find one that has settings and physical properties that will allow negative scanning. Scanning negatives requires backlighting. I was recently on the phone with a Canon techie, and he mentioned that my scanner was so great because it takes negatives of different sizes, and it was the only one Canon made that would do that. Unfortunately, it's not being manufactured now. I took a look on Amazon and found this one, which will scan slides, negatives and medium-format panoramic film up to 6 x 22 cm. I usually have the negative holder on my scanner set to an opening of 2x3". If I want to scan a 2x2" negative, I just set it in the opening, leaving blank space around it. The preview will come up as a black rectangle, but if I draw a crop box inside the rectangle, my image will show up. I can then adjust the crop to include what I want before I click Scan. Perhaps the DPReview people can recommend other scanners. I'm also wondering if you could use a light box to "scan" the negatives with your camera. Scanning is basically the same as taking a picture. I've handled some slides this way. Because these slides were damaged (mounted under glass and now stuck to the glass--and even worse in some cases), and because I'm not using a tripod, the results aren't wonderful. But I think I could do a lot better if I put some thought into this and started out with better slides.

Thank you for your responses. Emma, I can't help but remember that the home my grandparents built in probably the 1930's was sold for the sake of his new wife. But, I in no way harp on the fact of the home it's way in the past. I just brought it up in the post as part of the things that have gone on since he met his wife. It probably bothers me more that she has many of my grandmothers belongings displayed throughout her house & never has bothered to ask me if I would like anything that belonged to my family! The room that she once made her mothers room (she has since passed away) consisted of an antique wood bedroom set that belonged to my father & his brother as children. Justmetoo, I have always given her respect for her continued care of my dad. It's probably one of the main reasons for never disrespecting her besides keeping peace & being able to see my dad. If I had fought with her all these years I would have never been able to build any memories for my daughter. My daughter told me recently that the times I sent her for a few days to stay with my dad when she was younger,he would take her home with him to give me a break i worked full time & was a single mom. his wife would treat her like she was a grow up instead of a little girl. They took her to a water park & told her (at 8 years old) that she didnt need sunblock she was too pale n needed some color! My daughter is an auburn-redhead! very fair skinned. The kids here get summer reading & his wife told my daughter that she always winds up with all the cr*p no one wants to do because she had to write a summary of the books & I would send her with her book to read & if she finished it she would have to write the report. My son is only 3 & will more then likely never know him or remember anything about him. He has only seen him maybe 5 or 6 times since he has been born. I think my dad forgets he exists at times. We call his forgetfulness Chemo-brain as a jest but since the cancer he has never been the same. Aside from his body slowly giving way he is constantly depressed. I spoke to him yesterday a quick call to see how he was doing. I told him I'm just calling to see how you're feeling cause I don't want you talking too much. I would love to go see him next week for Father's Day but I know my daughter will look to see her dad & it's her grandmothers bday as well. I hate to go see him without her so I guess I will make another day to celebrate with him. I'm sure his stepson will be there & it's hard for me to be in the house with his wife. Last time I saw him I drove up & took him to lunch with my kids & drove home again. It was a nice afternoon, just wish I had more time with him. Your right, I would walk over hot coals to be there for him & will continue to do so as much as I can. I'm lucky I still have a tongue I've bitten it or years! Lol. My baby's blood disorder makes it very difficult to go anywhere without fear of him getting sick, he's like the boy in the plastic bubble just not as severe. I know my dad doesn't have many years left & I hope I can hang on to our relationship that i thought was once an unbreakable bond. Thanks again for listening & letting me vent. I don't confide in people or go on like this to anyone I feel it may annoy them & I speak to my daughter as much as I can but don't really get into things that will upset her. She is on to college in sept & need her to focus on getting her career together. The last thing I need is her being more upset then she already is at everything that goes on.