Tied Together

For me, and lots of other folks, two events in June are inexorably connected: Flag Day and Fathers Day. I am reminded on both of my father who was a Marine who fought and was wounded on Iwo Jima during WWII. Although I was only five years old, I remember the image of the raising of the flag on Mt. Surabachi which was in the newspapers and the movie newsreels at the time. We, my mother, my little sister, Donna, and I, did not know my father's fate. When Donna and I knelt down to say our bedtime prayers, "God bless Daddy" was always part of them. The man who returned from the war would not be like the one who departed for it. The war changed him. He did not talk about it, and when he first got home, suffered with nightmares that woke us frequently. I knew he had been wounded, but it was not until I was much older that I realized the wounds were not just physical. He had been hit by mortar fire and lost part of his knee and suffered wounds in his shoulder and back. When he finally came home, he was still on crutches. He was then, and always will be my hero: John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Superman, and Buck Rogers rolled into one. He passed away five years ago, and I wish we had more time together. I never got to tell him enought times how much I loved him. The things I learned from him I will never forget. The most important one being how to be a man. I hope I learned well.

I answered my own question

Last post I wondered when I got old. This post I think I can answer it. Last Tuesday was my 71st birthday. I did not celebrate it. Why would anyone celebrate getting old? If I could grow a year younger like Benjamin Button, THAT I WOULD CELEBRATE! The only thing on the plus side was that I received two neat birthday presents: Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volumes 1&2 from my Darling Judy, and a new digital camera from DDD. DDD is "Daddy's Darling Daughter," a.k.a., Karen. I love both of the gifts, but I love the givers more. My Darling Judy is omnipresent and the woman around whom my life revolves. Sadly, I do not see as much of Karen as I would like. She has her own life, and we only see each other a few times during the year. That's what happens when kids grow up and move away. Especially when there is a forty mile one-way trip to visit each other. I know she loves me, and she knows I love her, and that is what is important. As for the rest, c'est la vie!