Woman Gets Letter and Purple Heart of Father She Never Met 70 Years Later (VIDEO)

zaterdag 21 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Maressa Brown 20 hours ago

After seven decades, a letter from a World War II veteran to his daughter will finally end up in its rightful owner's hands this weekend! Pfc. John Eddington was about to be deployed to Europe in World War II when he learned that his wife had given birth to a daughter named Peggy. He wrote a letter, telling the little girl how much he loved her and wanted to see her. But sadly, he never made it back from the war, and Peggy never met her father ... But his letter and Purple Heart medal both ended up in a box thousands of miles away from Peggy, much like a message in a bottle or a time capsule.

Thankfully, a Missouri woman named Donna Gregory found the box and made it her mission to find Peggy, too, reports the AP ...

Fourteen years ago, Donna was helping her then-husband clean out his grandparents' home in Arnold, Missouri when she stumbled upon a cardboard box filled with WWII memorabilia related to Eddington. No one can really explain what the box was doing there, as Eddington lived in a completely different "neck of the woods" 75 miles southwest of St. Louis. Still, somehow, this box had made its way to that home, and Donna discovered the War Department's message to Eddington's mother about his death in Italy in June 1944, four months after his daughter's birth, the Purple Heart, and the letter Eddington wrote to his daughter while stationed in Texas, just before he was sent overseas. Wow!

Over the course of the next almost decade and a half, Donna did everything she could to track down Peggy. But it wasn't until earlier this year when she started to reach out via Facebook -- oh, the miracle of Facebook! -- that she actually managed to touch base with Peggy Smith, living in Nevada now and of the belief her mother had lost the medal or given it away ... until Donna called.

"It was an unforgettable moment," Donna says, while Peggy could only describe her reaction as "stunned." Aww!

And instead of delivering it herself to Peggy, Donna decided to write a letter to the Patriot Guard Riders, the volunteer organization perhaps best known for patrolling funerals of soldiers to shield relatives from protesters. She said she thought it would be more special if perhaps veterans were to present the Purple Heart to Peggy.

So earlier this week, Donna, her sister, and a friend left St. Louis in an SUV, accompanied by about a dozen motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard. Along the route, different groups of riders are taking turns accompanying Donna. Tomorrow, a parade will begin in Carson City, Nevada and make the 15-mile trek to Dayton, where Peggy will be presented the medal and letter in a ceremony at the high school. Smith's children and most of her 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren will be there. Amazing!!

Though Peggy claims she's "not a big shindig person," she notes she'll be "crying the whole time." As will Donna who says:

I've cherished all of this for a very long time. I've waited for the finale of this journey for over a decade.

Simply incredible. When these two women meet for the first time face to face and Peggy is finally able to read that letter from her father and receive his Purple Heart, it will be such an emotional moment. Here's hoping a local news crew or two capture that moment, because it will be one that is sure to have us all wiping tears from our eyes.

In the meantime, here's a news report documenting Donna and Co. embarking on their journey to Peggy only a few days ago ...

What's your reaction to this amazing story?

Click "Like" if you love someone in the military! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maressa Brown

has enjoyed reporting and writing for a variety of entertainment and women's magazines and websites. More often than not, you'll find her blogging, hitting the gym, reading, researching something on her iPhone, laughing, chatting at an above-"normal" volume, or getting her caffeine fix.

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Kanye West Reveals How Krazy About Kim Kardashian He Is -- He DOES Have a Heart!

woensdag 21 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Nicole Fabian-Weber 17 hours ago

Yeezy's happy faceI'm not saying I thought Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's relationship was a complete sham, but ... let's just say if Bill Shakespeare were still alive, I don't think he'd be writing a play about their undying love. However, as of today, my thoughts on their relationship have changed. I actually think Kanye West might really love Kim Kardashian, you guys. Like, a lot. Like, almost as much as that Kanye West mural he had painted in Baby North's room.

 Almost.

West, who's notorious for hating the spotlight unless it's tailored exactly to his liking and taste, is set to be the final guest on Kris Jenner's talk show when it ends its trial run on Friday. The rapper has already taped the segment with his baby-mama-in-law, and he reportedly "really brought it". He apparently talks about North, living with Kris, and how he "loves Kim so much he even thought about playing sports."

Kanye? Is that you? Are you ... joking around? Are you exhibiting that fun little trait most refer to as a "sense of humor"? Perhaps fatherhood has softened you a bit. Made you a little less, eh, how you say ... ridiculous? (I always turn into a foreigner when I talk to Kanye.)

The fact that Kanye appeared on Kris's show speaks volumes. After all, Kanye is an ah-tist. He's obsessed best friends with Jay Z. He holds listening parties in Switzerland. He lives in gay Paree. Going on Kris almost seems "beneath him". So it says a lot about how he feels about Kim.

Will I be tuning into to Kris on Friday to catch Kanye's interview? No. I have a job. And, okay I'll be honest, even if I didn't, I probably wouldn't. But I'll likely watch the clip online afterward if I can find it. But I might not be able to if he's smiling on the show. How will I recognize him without his signature scowl?

Do you think Kim and Kanye's relationship is legit?

Image via Splash

Click the "Like" button below if you're Krazy for the Kardashians!
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Robert Pattinson Wild Partying Can't Disguse His Broken Heart

maandag 19 augustus 2013

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by Kiri Blakeley 6 hours ago

Wow, it looks like Robert Pattinson had quite the wild weekend. He was caught living it up in Los Angeles, and even socked a security guard in the face as he woozily exited one party scene. Considering Rob has gotten a bachelor pad in Beverly Hills, and is hanging with a bunch of new women (Mischa Barton, Katy Perry, Michelle Rodriguez, etc.), and is now apparently raising the roofs on every club in town, it's almost enough to make you wonder if some party animal took over sweet, lovable Rob's body.

Hollywood Life reports that the latest gang Rob was with when he cuffed a security guard was an "unfamiliar" one and that his usually low-key ways have given rise to some disturbing bad boy antics.

Well, this is all to be expected. Rob is following the post-breakup template to a T. A source tells Hollywood Life:

Rob is missing Kristen like crazy. He thought by moving to Beverly Hills and hanging out with his new friends it would take his mind off Kristen, but it has done the complete opposite. His distractions are only making him miss Kristen more. He is lonely and sad. He’s in a new home, but it doesn’t matter, having Kristen not around isn’t the same. He used to laugh with Kristen and things just aren’t the same with her not around.

Ugh, isn't that always the way when you break up with someone? You're miserable in the relationship, so you get out. Then, you expect that you'll be thrilled and happy! Instead, you're miserable in a whole new unexpected way.

Often the solution seems to be to drown your sorrows in booze and bury your lonelies in another body (hopefully responsibly in both cases). But those only serve to make you forget HIM or HER for a moment. And then the memory of HIM or HER comes rushing back even stronger than before.

The reality is that partying and hooking up is like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping, bloody, festering wound. It only works for like a microsecond.

Unfortunately getting over someone takes a lot of time. A lot of work. A lot of healing. And, yes, a lot of sitting around crying and missing that person and mourning your dreams and what you once had. And it sucks.

Partying just delays the inevitable. But sometimes the pain is so bad, that a little delay can be a good thing. So let's cut Rob some slack for now. And hope he's not still doing the same thing in a year, or he'll be the next one on Oprah Winfrey's couch.

Have you ever partied hard after a breakup?

Image via Splash News

Click the "Like" button below if you're a fan of Robert Pattinson. Click the "Like" button below if you're a fan of Kristen Stewart.
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Woman Blames Heart Attack on Hair Dye Job Gone Wrong

woensdag 7 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Maressa Brown 2 hours ago

We've all had a haircut or dye job go wrong and leave us in tears. Okay, maaaaybe occasionally we've suffered a panic attack or meltdown of some sort, too. Hey, hair can be a very personal, sensitive thing! For one Missouri woman named Catherine Oldham, a dye job gone wrong led to a heart attack and eight days on life support, she says. And now she's suing Geoffred's Hair Salon and stylist DeShone Love.

Oldham told the court she went in for a haircut and a condition, and Love persuaded her to add some color to the gray in her hair. The complaint states that "when the time came to neutralize the hair coloring agent on plaintiff's hair, defendant DeShone Love borrowed an unmarked bottle from a neighboring cosmetologist's lane and applied the solution." Oldham says that the next day her scalp began itching, and two days later, blisters formed. She ended up in the E.R., where she was given pain meds, antibiotics, and steroids.

Eventually, from talking to Love over the phone, Oldham deduced that no rinse and neutralizing agent had been applied to her hair. Instead, she had been treated with two acidic hair colors one after the next and apparently developed a bacterial infection due to the scalp wounds, which led her to having to get her hair cut off. Ugh.

But here's where it gets complicated ... (I know, as if it didn't already sound totally involved!) Oldham apparently woke up with severe pain and nausea only a couple of weeks after the dye job. She fainted and went into cardiac arrest. Then, after being on life support for eight days, she reportedly "went through numerous surgeries and was then implanted with an internal defibrillator to keep her heart rhythm regular." Now, she says she's in constant pain and will be forever limited in daily activities due to the defibrillator she has to have for the rest of her life. She will also need to have surgery every five to six years for defibrillator maintenance.

Hmmm. Something about this just doesn't add up, you know? I believe it's totally possible that she got a bad allergic reaction and possibly even a bacterial infection from the dye job. But to blame the heart attack on it? I dunno ... Seems more like Oldham was so worked up about what happened with the dye job and downstream effects of it that she basically made herself sick and gave herself a heart attack. 

This seems to me a perfect illustrated example of why we need to be aware of just how much our stress response and emotional health can influence our physical well-being.

With hope, Oldham is able to regain a higher quality of life after this harrowing, traumatic incident. But blaming what happened to her wholly on a chemical reaction seems sadly misguided.

What do you make of this? Do you agree her heart attack was probably more related to her emotional state in the wake of the dye job?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maressa Brown

has enjoyed reporting and writing for a variety of entertainment and women's magazines and websites. More often than not, you'll find her blogging, hitting the gym, reading, researching something on her iPhone, laughing, chatting at an above-"normal" volume, or getting her caffeine fix.

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reacties | | Read More...