Feelings

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a six-part series about war veterans who are members of UC Irvine’s Veterans Student Union .   Expecting to see family and friends soon, a unit of soldiers takes a break in front of a Post Exchange in an Iraqi base. But not all of them make it home. Mortar fire is common in Iraq. It’s random, the targeting is frantic, and most soldiers learn to live with it as an everyday occurrence. The blasts usually inflict more panic than harm.

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON "We think God's love rises and falls with our performance. It doesn't ... He loves you for who you are: you are his child." -- MAX LUCADO "Everyone was meant to share God's all-abiding love and care; He saw that we would need to know a way to let these feelings show...so God made hugs." -- JILL WOLF I loved being a child, I loved having children and now my husband Jon and I are realizing how much we love our little grandchild Mary.

"If your day is hemmed in prayer, it is less likely to unravel." -- UNKNOWN Support comes in many forms, especially during times of war. We can support our troops while they are overseas by putting pen to paper, e-mailing around the world and sending care packages allowed. People have responded with eager enthusiasm. Newspapers and televisions show unbelievable photos of fires, fierce winds and faces of fear, as well as the resolve of the young and old. Whenever I try to think what it must be like for those facing so many dangers, I realize that I can't possibly imagine their realities, so instead I pray.

This is the best holiday of all. It is noon on New Year's Day. I have just watched South Carolina bomb Ohio State in some bowl or other, and I will now watch Michigan and Auburn until the Rose Bowl comes on. And after that, I will watch Oregon State and Notre Dame. I will have a beer soon and probably another during the Rose Bowl. I will have cheese and crackers and maybe a bowl of chili. My head will be filled with mush and footballs and peace because I don't really care who wins.

EDITOR'S NOTE: We asked. You answered. How did you meet that special someone, that person of your dreams, the love of your life? All the cliches that are so appropriate as Valentine's Day approaches. The answers ranged from high school to well past the teenage years. Some loves went unfulfilled for decades. Some were complete surprises. All feel right. Sit back, maybe cuddle up to that special someone in your life, and enjoy your neighbors' tales of love. I met my loved one, Arthur Sheffield, in 1948 at Lake Warth High School in Florida.

Numerous national and international media outlets are reporting that golf superstar Tiger Woods, a part-time Corona del Mar resident, met with a self-alleged longtime mistress at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach for at least one of their 20 trysts. California cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, 24, claims that she has had an affair with Woods, 33, for 31 months, according to comments attributed to her in various news reports. Grubbs said the pair met most recently in October at the Island Hotel, where they watched “Angels and Demons” and then had sex. Grubbs claims Woods has sent her hundreds of racy text and voice messages, and has published some of them in US Weekly, a national magazine.

Proponents and opponents of the much debated beach fire rings aired their feelings about the matter before six South Coast Air Quality Management District staff members Thursday night. The debate wasn't unlike the back and forth that has been going on for the past few months between those who say the fire pits are a health hazard and those who defend them as a California tradition. It was the AQMD's second public hearing as it gathers information in preparation for a July 12 vote on a proposal that would deliver a mix of regulatory and local control over the wood-burning pits.

Lolita Harper Pat Huak is putting a little leisure back in her life. After vowing to work until her 80th birthday, the former toy store employee has surpassed her goal and now spends her time walking her scenic Corona del Mar neighborhood and attending as many sporting events as possible. With six grandsons in the area, all involved in various sporting events, that task in itself is a full time job, she joked. "I felt pretty good staying at Toy Boat until I was 80," Huak said.

The most sacred duty that any of us have as parents is to try and safeguard the emotional and physical health of our children. I pondered that protective instinct during prom pictures for the Corona del Mar High seniors with my youngest child, Katie, last week. Watching the physically blessed, vibrant young people in their last pre-graduation activity I had a bittersweet reaction. Excitement for the adventure they have ahead of them, and mild anxiety that they won't be close for us to help them.