Today, military families stay in touch via cell phones and e-mail. Reports about impending war appear day and night on television news.

It was a different situation during World War II, when families waited weeks, even months, to hear from or about their sons.

Cindy Fenus of Modesto has a reminder of that era -- a red, white and blue quilt the Naval Mothers Auxiliary made. Cindy's grandmother, the late Jessie May Lampley, led the group, which met monthly for mothers to offer support to one another and to the war effort.

The quilt bears the names of 43 local men serving at that time. Among them was Cindy's uncle and Jessie's son, Maurice "Pete" Lampley.

Pete served for four years on the USS Preble, a destroyer minelayer. He was away for three years without a visit home. Pete remembers his mother talking about the auxiliary and its projects.

Cindy, a 46-year-old postal worker, wasn't alive during the war, but she recalls one family story well: Her grandmother's hair turned white during the years she waited for -- and worried about -- her son.

BATTLES II: Emily Genzoli is waging another kind of fight -- against cancer. Naturally, friends and family of the 25-year-old from Hughson are worried.

After being inundated with phone calls and getting a little weary of repeating the same details over and over, Emily created a Web site (www.emilygenzoli.com) that provides the latest info on her health in a refreshingly candid way.

For example, on Dec. 10 she wrote about her first chemotherapy treatment: "The port site was pretty nasty-looking when the nurse took my bandage off this morning. I have a single stitch and four tiny staples closing up the incision.

"Because I'm thin, there isn't a whole lot of space (read, fat) to help accommodate the thickness of the gizmo itself. So, needless to say, my pasty whiteness was quite invaded by a somewhat nasty-looking hematoma.

"Lemme tell ya, if all this had started closer to Halloween, I could have gone as Frankenstein's Bride."

Emily says she's always been a positive person, even with a cancer diagnosis. She was all smiles as we talked last week.

"I have the support of family and friends and what seems like an entire town behind me," she explains. "If I can imagine myself well, and not let a shadow of a doubt even enter my mind maybe it won't enter the rest of me, either."

As well as her positive attitude, Emily brings the right skills to this kind of public journal keeping. She is computer-savvy, as required for her job as the art director for a technical school in Fresno, where she lives with her sister.

Emily also writes well. That's a plus, considering that her Web readers include former teachers in Hughson, where Genzolis have lived for four generations.

The latest from the "Emily Update" Web site: She's doing well, progress that she attributes in large part to a sunny outlook.

FREEDOM WAVES: Soon after 9-11, volunteers for the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency noticed that there was no flagpole at its headquarters on Scenic Drive, the former county hospital.

Volunteer Betty Radcliffe of Riverbank forged ahead with what everyone agreed was a good idea -- acquiring a flagpole. Tuesday, the 30-foot pole was dedicated in a ceremony that drew 100 people and uncounted tears.

The flag, which flew over the U.S. Capitol, was donated by Rep. George Radanovich, whose foothills-based district includes part of Stanislaus County.

HSA Volunteer Services, with about 150 members, paid for the $2,500 pole. Since 1996, the volunteers have raised almost $93,000, primarily through their gift shop. Most of the money goes to amenities and medical equipment for county health clinics.

This new flagpole is something our whole community can feel good about.

Judy Sly's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays in Local News. She can be reached at 578-2334 or jsly@modbee.com.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.