5 years

Flashback Friday...Remembering Dad with pride.

I've always known there was something about my family that is special.

I don't remember a particular time when we learned it, or if we were ever sat down and taught about it.
But it's always been there.

It is there when we see a flag.
It is there when we say the pledge of allegiance.
It is there at a ballgame when the National Anthem is played.
It is there when we see a man or woman in a military uniform.
It is there when we look at a purple heart medal or unfold and examine an aged telegram.
It is there when we hear those few notes on a trumpet.

Pride.
Not the prideful, can't be wrong type of pride.
Just simple American pride.
And it was instilled, however silently, by knowing what our Dad sacrificed for us and our country.
It is such a special feeling.
I wish he never would have had to endure what he did at such a young age, but he did.
And we are so glad to have called this American hero,
Dad.

Here is what Susie said at the closing of Dad's service:

Peace on earth...
That's what our dad fought for.
He left in peace and we are grateful for that.

We are thankful for the staff at Whittenberg that took such good care of him the last few years.

When your roles reverse and you become the parent to your parent and their quality of life diminishes, we cannot be sad that they have left this world and now have eternal life with those who have gone before them.

In our service today we have tried to celebrate the life of our Dad, our American hero.

Many of you know that Mom's sister, Mary, lived in Washington DC and in our visits there Dad would always grumble that there was nothing for the World War II vets....There was a Korean Memorial, there was a Vietnam Memorial.
So when we heard that they were building the World War II Memorial, I just prayed that Dad would be able to live long enough to visit there. We watched anxiously as they began to build it and they dedicated it on Memorial day 2004.
The world war II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, the more than 400,000 who died and all who supported the war effort from home.

Dad was living in assisted living in Whittenberg and the following year 16 of us took him to see the Memorial. Like Dave said he was so touched when strangers came up to him and thanked him for his service. It was one of the proudest days that we had with our Dad.The next year I found this video by Dr. Sam Bierstock. We'd like to close with that. it was made for those men and women who served our country in World War II, the greatest war, to whom we owe so much. We want to share this with you and thank any of you who have served and those that are serving. Dad has a grandson now, James, we appreciate your service, James; And to all those great grand kids to come may you share those stories. Conner asked me last night, somebody said something about Dad being a hero, he says "was he a hero?" We need to share those stories with all those great grand kids that will follow.

So please watch this video and may Dad go in peace.

We closed the service with this song that left us on our feet standing next to our hero:

"If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA."

Say a prayer.

Keep praying for Aunt Gladys.
They initially were told that the surgery went well, but Pam said she took a turn for the worse in the afternoon and had a lot of pain and is on oxygen and it was "touch and go" most of the day.

Got an email from Pam today.

Susie and I talked to Aunt Glady's tonight..Please pray for her and that all goes well tomorrow morning.

From Pam:

"Just a quick note for you and to pass on to your family. Mom will have carotid artery surgery tomorrow morning. We have to be at the hospital at 6 but the surgery may not be until 10:30. Hope all is well with everyone. Tell them all hello. Love Pam"

Go...

Go!

Directions to here:
About the view...well...
I was sure it was the view from Dad's side of the bed. What he would have seen every morning and every night.
But after all the discussion and looking at other pictures of the house and the placement of the tree, I'm confused.
I'm still pretty sure it's from Mom and Dad's room.

Flashback Friday...Remembering Dad some more.

Thanks to all of you for stopping by.
Sorry I've been missing in action in blog land.
I've thought about writing everyday and there are lots of great pictures to post.
But I've just been....

Anyway, I owe you a couple flashbacks so here we go.
Do you know how sometimes you remember being at an event even if you weren't there, because you saw the pictures?
For example, Susie was convinced that she remembered being at Aunt Mary's wedding. Well, maybe she was, but she was like 2 weeks old. After talking about it she said she feels like she remembers, but she's probably just remembering seeing the pictures.

I remember events and important dates by images, visuals and pictures.
If I want to know what happened in July of 2006, I think about what pictures are in that folder. I think that's why I'm such a Rainman when it comes to the "what year was it?" game.
But have you ever looked at someone else's pictures from the same event?
It throws a completely different angle on how you remembered the event.
I noticed this when I was at Aunt Mary's and was looking thru her pictures. There were pictures from events that we both have pictures of, but her pictures were different.
It's as tho they were taken "from the other side of the room."
It made me remember things I hadn't before.

So it is and was with remembering Dad.
As you remember and for those of you who weren't at the funeral, we had a time for anyone to share a memory of Dad.
I'm so glad we did this.
It was touching and wonderful to hear what made Dad special to each individual. It was great to hear familiar stories told from someone else's perspective. It made me think of all new images and pictures and gave me an deeper appreciation for my Dad and his relationship to our family, and his friends and the way he lived his life.

Thank you all for sharing.
I may post some of your stories here in the future.
I know there are others who had memories and stories to tell.
And I think all of us would love to hear them.
If you write them down or tell them to me, I'll post them here.

I'd love to hear many more stories taken from "the other side of the room."

Directions to here:
leave a comment or send an email: justagirlon66@yahoo.com

and by the way...
i did end up adding more pictures to the previous post, in case you missed them the first time!
Also can anybody guess who's view this picture was?

Yes....
I'm ok.
Yes...I will catch up.