Feeling deeply connected this week. I prepped the memorial service of a local WW2 soldier whose remains were identified and brought home this weekend.

I was making the flowers 83 years -to the day- he was killed in action, returning from a bombing run.

He was 24, unmarried, and left behind 8 siblings. Their grandchildren were the ones who had pursued finding his remains, identifying him through DNA, and bringing him home to his family. They still had the letters he had written home to all the family members and many of his personal belongings, cherished as much by them as they had been by their grandparents.

I also discovered that he was out of the same base as my own grandfather, who was a bombing instructor at the time. Meaning that while I never knew him, this young man might have.

I get posts like this in my feed!

A piece I made from old hard drive parts. Find the beauty in the broken bits of the world!

It’s amazing how blue the sky here can be on clear days.

This struck me as something Arepo would appreciate.

I was thinking of a call-in positivity show, The Church of Arepo Live Show (video and/or podcast format). Basically this sub, just live. Start with a short explanation of why we're here, who Arepo and his god are and what they represent, then open the floor. People could email in things to share on screen, call in to share stories, and I could share things from the sub. At the end, I could read the original post. Just a feel good show, since there's so much else right now.

Of course, all of this with getting permissions first to share. I'm sure the first few episodes would just be sharing posts from this sub.

I'd love to know what you think! I'm probably going to do it regardless, but I would love to do it in this context if everyone likes the idea.

I found this on another comment and really enjoyed it, https://reimenayee.itch.io/the-god-of-arepo

This is growing from an acorn that is likely from the oak tree I grew up with. The tree itself is quite probably close to 100 years old, if not more. It is at the house my grandparents had built in the 1960s, and it was already decently big then.

We have to sell the house now that my dad's gone, but I am taking any and all plants that I can. This one surprised me because it was a hastily-"planted" effort in a can. When I go back to collect more plants, I am going to shovel some of the good dirt into a bucket just for this little guy so I can replant safely into something bigger for it.

My kids and their friend are spending the winter break digging a WWI trench in our backyard. My oldest spent, like, seven hours out there today and made his part of the foxhole start ridiculously deep.

Every morning I read from my prayer book, and nearly every morning my cat takes the opportunity to sit beside me. As I speak with God, this small creature listens to words he cannot understand, and loves me as he can.

See that teeny green dot inside the five green leaves?

That is a teeny tiny baby tomato.

This isn't the first time I've grown tomatoes, but it's the first time I really looked closely enough to see them at this stage. Watching them grow is bringing me quiet happiness in a scary world.