Thanks Marly.    John and his family have been in my thoughts and prayers for awhile now.  

I forget how Wiseass and I made cyber-friends.  Pretty soon we got into a long conversation about his family dumplings.  A Czech heritage! The Groh's kids had made off with the leftovers on Thanksgiving, I think, last year.  So John set out to make a big batch just for himself and his wonderful wife. 

I sent Wiseass dumpling recipes with pix.  We were weighing the relative merits.  I could tell he had a certain standard in mind. Turns out Wiseass knew what he was doing in the kitchen all along.  John said he was going to use the dumpling recipe handed down from his family!

Wiseass remembers his boyhood.  A wonderful way of life!

"My grand mother and father were both Czech.  She made her dumplings with just raw potatoe grated fine as applesauce. and flour.  They are heavy and sink to the bottom of the pot.  My grandfather and uncles used to call them sinkers.  When they floated they were done.

I can't recall if she added an egg or not.  I will have to try that to see if there is any differance.

I used to watch my grandmother and mother make those things when I was a baby. We only  had them on the Holidays so they were always a treat.  Served with onions and gravy.  The onions simmered in butter until clear.   MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM !

When I was growing up we had my grand folks across the street with the garden and the fresh meat.  And living behind me was an old man with a bunch of bee hives in his back yard.  He sold the honey from his house.   It was great.  But my sister and I were always getting stung growing up.  Those damn bees loved the little white flowers that grew in our lawn and my mother had a lot of flower gardens for them to play in."

Constantly in my Prayers, John!!!

Marly, give us an update on how he is doing whenever you can. Thanks!!

I will, 36TR.

And here is a quote Wiseass sent to his friends along with a lot of great nature photography.  It's so...WISEASS!

"Be who you are and say what you feel...

Because those that matter...

don't mind...

And those that mind....

don't matter."

 Best wishes and mulitple prayers for John. Chin up, my good man !!      

prayers are with him

 Thoughts and prayers going out to John and his family...

 John and his family have been in my prayers ever since this whole thing started and will continue to be even after he's back with us.  I have been trying to find out if he's still in the hospital but haven't been able to make contact.  John was one of the first people to friend me here when I started back in 09 and we continued to talk daily.  Since we both started around the same time frame, it was easy for us to relate to each other's war stories of the way things used to be.  If there was ever a man that I know I could have counted on as a partner, it was John and I told him that on many occasions.  I am hoping to make my way through Maryland one of these days soon and I hope to be able to see my partner John.  Wiseass indeed.  We all love you John and want you back with us quickly.

Marly if you hear anything please let us know?

My prayers to John and his famiy.   Speedy recovery, WISEASS! 

John, miss you on here.  I know you have been having a difficult time.  My prayers continue to be with you and your family.  As BigNTS says, "Fight the good fight".  You are strong... don't forget it!

 I have never meet John..I come from a small Island called Malta, in Europe and John lives in the Grand USA !! Ever since we became friends, we came to know and undferstand each other. We talked about our familys, work and many other subjects!! We became close, and used to correspond on a regular basis . He got me stated on my Challenge Coin collection, and he was always willing to send me new items for my police collection !!

We made a promose that one day we will meet and have a few drinks, so John you have a promise to take care of, so hang in there and be strong !!

We all love you !!

Your Brother in Malta

Joe

 I haven't had the pleasure of getting to know John, but a brother is need always deserves the support and prayers of his family. Keeping John in my thoughts and prayers.

John is a great friend. We got your back bro. Prayers sent!

I started a new forum to apprise members regarding Wiseass/John.

Continued prayers for John and his family.