This cemetery is located above Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.

These crosses mark the graves of all the young Americans who fought and died for the liberation of France.

I knew one of the young boys who was in the first wave attacking Omaha Beach on D-Day.

He was 18 years old.

His friends were dying all around him.

As he waded through the water, he was crying because he feared he would be dead too.

He was spared and came home, married his sweetheart, raised a family and had his own barber shop.

Please never forget those boys who will remain in France forever!

Having a baby is energetically much more expensive than commonly thought, according to new research.

In fact, over the course of a pregnancy, creating and carrying a little one takes 49,753 dietary calories — the equivalent of 199 Snickers candy bars each containing 250 calories, said Dr. Dustin Marshall, a coauthor of the study published May 16 in the journal Science.

For the meta-analysis, Marshall, a professor of evolutionary biology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a team of researchers used data from thousands of existing scientific articles to look at the energy cost of several species.

“We found that the total energy it takes to reproduce is much more substantial than previously considered.”

The bulk of the additional energy a pregnant person needs goes toward developing and carrying the fetus, Ginther added.

“Most of (the) energy that mammals put into reproduction is ‘boiled off’ as metabolic heat, only 10% ends up in the actual baby,” Marshall said in an email. “When both lactation and metabolic loads are accounted for, the baby itself represents less than 1/20th of the total reproductive investment.”

The research could make a big difference in perceptions of pregnancy needs, said Dr. Eve Feinberg, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She was not involved in the research.

“I think this study is groundbreaking,” she said. “Any working pregnant woman could tell you the sheer level of exhaustion when you are pregnant … and how it consumes your life.”

You are NEVER TOO BUSY to get an annual physical!

I think many of you say, “I feel fine!”

Don’t kid yourself, pain or lack thereof are not accurate indicators of your health.

You have an obligation to yourself and to loved ones to get a physical each year.

An easy way to remember may be to get one on your birthday month.

That way you won’t forget.

Get an annual physical!

Perhaps “birdbrained” isn’t such an insult after all –– crows, the ubiquitous urban bird, can vocally count up to four, the latest research has found.

Not only can the inquisitive creatures count, but they can match the number of calls they make when shown a numeral, according to a new study.

It was led by a team of researchers with the University of Tübingen’s animal physiology lab in Germany.

The way the birds recognize and react to numbers is similar to a process we humans use, both to learn to count as toddlers and quickly recognize how many objects we’re looking at.

The findings, published Thursday in the journal Science, deepen our growing understanding of crow intelligence. (CNN)

Let’s use an example from yesterday.

It’s the Detroit Tigers versus the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the 9th inning the score is tied at 11 and 11.

Matt Vierling of the Tigers steps up to the plate with a man on 2nd and a man on 3rd.

There are two outs and he has 2 strikes on him.

He has already hit a home run in this game, so he’ll probably strike out this time.

No, instead, he hits another home run into the left field stands for a 14 to 11 walk off WIN!

So, don’t lose hope!

Jesus did not discriminate.

Whoever approached him for help was welcomed.

The lowliest people in society suffered from leprosy.

To the astonishment of His followers, he welcomed them.

Do we discriminate?

I think we do every day.

We are certainly wary of strangers.

And there are certain ethnic groups we try to avoid.

Just because a person is different than us, does that make them lesser?

Our world would be much better off if we, “Loved one another!”

If not today, when?

All of us have made mistakes, large and small.

The real question is; do you carry them around with you?

It is a choice, you know.

If we’re being honest, we must admit that it’s hard to set aside the big ones.

You can’t remake the past, but today and tomorrow are in your hands!

What kind of person will you be today?

Don’t cripple yourself with regrets of past mistakes!

Give yourself a break.

You have suffered enough!

If not today, when?

Many people think people remain poor because they’re lazy.

In reality, the odds are stacked against them.

I have spent many years working with people in our inner city.

Most families don’t own a car.

Because of the high theft rate, auto insurance rates are through the roof.

So, many of those who find employment must rely on the local bus system.

The inner city schools don’t have the resources of the suburban schools.

Gaining a college degree requires a herculean effort.

Most colleges require inner city high school graduates to take college preparation classes before they are admitted.

I know two recent college graduates who required ten years to make it happen.

It is possible for some to make it out of poverty.

The obstacles, however, are overwelming.

The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Italy.

Cristofori was unsatisfied by the lack of control that musicians had over the volume level of the harpsichord.

He is credited for switching out the plucking mechanism with a hammer to create the modern piano in around the year 1700.

Wow! What a contribution to the world of music!

We are in short supply of kindness.

There has never been a moment when we are in need of being kind to one another.

There is so much stress and divisiveness.

Are you just naturally a kind person?

Or can you become one?

Life will become easier for you if you treat everyone kindly.

And your encouters with strangers will be a more pleasant experience for both of you.

Teach your kids to be kind.

It will make their day go easier.

There is no such thing as too much kindness!

If not today, when?