TheBanyanTree: Rumbly beginnings...

[Sachet]

Very poignant, sash. I love your dad.

On 11/11/2010 4:22 PM, auntiesash wrote:
> The motorcycle cops are first... although the tank that rolled past about
> and hour ago put us all on warning.
>
> Every year, the Veteran's Day parade goes right by my window.  Scores of
> vets on motorcycles, riding in jeeps.  Herds of boy scouts, several marching
> bands.
>
> Lots of flags.
>
> Every year, about this time, I think "Why didn't I just bring dad to work
> with me this morning??  He could have seen the parade."  I think he would
> like it.  One time he told me "being a soldier was something I did, not
> something I AM"  When he talks about WWII, he tells me about Italian women
> and fig trees.  Clever devices they used to keep the salt water out of the
> oil.  I think we should have sent my dad to the oil spill last year.  I bet
> he could have rigged up something.
>
> It's a cold clear November day and I will mostly sit with my back to the
> parade for the next two hours.  Now and then I will stop and look out the
> window and I'll tear up.  For soldiers and for war and for my dad and for
> wondering if I'll remember next year...or if there will be a next year for
> him.
>
> Happy Veteran's Day...if happy is the word that we need there....
>