Thank you to all who served and are still serving...You have my complete respect and gratitude for your service and bravery.
Memorial services at Lincoln Memorial Park, Aurora, IL.
We attended the services were my parents are laid to rest. The taps and the riffle salute still gives me goose bumps.
My father served in WWI and received the Purple Heart for his injuries. He was shot in the hip and arm, leaving him with a limp and a plate in his arm. I didn't know he had a plate in his arm until just a year ago through a conversation with my older sister. I didn't even know they did that back then.
My mother told me that someone he served with attended his funeral and told her that even after he was wounded, he kept on fighting.
He was 63 when I was born and died when I was 4; unfortunately I have very few memories of him and I really didn't know him.
A heartfelt full of thanks to your Father.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Man! :) You have so much to be proud of!
ReplyDeleteSmooches,
Sash
www.Sashmouth.com
"I didn't know he had a plate in his arm until just a year ago through a conversation with my older sister."
ReplyDeleteDoesn't that make ya CRAZY when years later ya suddenly find out stuff about yer family that ya really shoulda been knownin' all this damn time? I know it does ME. I always react like.....WHY didn't anybody TELL ME? Was it some big damn SECRET or somethin'? Sheesh, I'm always the last to know :-(
"He was 63 when I was born..."
Wow!
"and died when I was 4;"
That is so sad....and its all so very familiar, too. Our youngest daughter was the same age when my husband died. To this very day, 24 long years later, she still asks me many questions about her Daddy. Even tho they were thick as thieves when he was alive, just like you she doesn't remember much, if anything, about him. It kills me tho cuz my mind is just about shot, so I have a hard time rememberin' stuff for her. Well, I reckon age'll do that to ya ;-)
MDJ...I was just talking to my cousin this morning who is 20 years older than me. She was telling me a little about my grandparents. I only knew my maternal grandmother; the rest had long passed before I was born. I feel a little cheated hearing what wonderful people they were and never having the chance to know them.
ReplyDeleteI asked her about my dad and she said my mom's family was not happy about the age difference and was not fans of the marriage but they pushed aside their feelings because my dad made my mom happy.
The truth is, I don't know what it's like to have a father. I can't say I miss him, because I never knew him. I grew up missing having a father and wondered what it was like to have a dad. I got irritated with friends when they complained about their dads, because they had what I wanted and didn't appreciate it. They had no clue what they were saying. I made up my mind early on that I would never be with anyone more than 5 years my senior because I saw how lonely my mother was. I also decided no kids past 30.
My mom did the best she could with what she had and I loved her dearly for it. I'm sure your kids feel the same way toward you. It takes a very strong woman with a lot of moxy to raise two kids alone. Especially at her age. I can't imagine having a 14 year old boy and a 12 year old girl at my age. She did better than I could imagine doing myself.