Remembering
Today is Veteran's day. A day to honor all Veterans. Although, I feel that they should be honored every day, all day. But, I was talking to one of my friends today and she said that she has seen a lot of posts on facebook and other places about Veterans and people saying thank you to them. She told me that since she didn't have any Veterans on her page as friends she was not going to post anything about today and the meaning of today. I asked her how did she know that nobody on her friends list were Veterans and she said oh she knows. I told her that she might know that for a fact but what is the harm in saying thank you to all the brave men and women who served and continue to serve our country. She didn't have an answer.
I am not sure if any of my friends on my page are Veterans. I know that most of them know Veterans and most of them have Veterans in their family. I also know that my father was a Veteran. He served in Vietnam. He was in the Airforce. I remember when he was serving his country we lived, my mom and myself, at my grandmother's house in a small upstairs bedroom and I had some huge goldfish for pets. We didn't see him too often. I was very small then so I only have a few memories of actually seeing him before I was 4 when my sister was born. I do remember once he came home on leave and he gave me a dress. The dress had orange on the bottom and white on the top. It was a simple dress but it met the world to me. I wore that dress for a week straight before my mom could convince me to take it off so she could wash it. I wore that dress and my white dress shoes that my mom had given me to go with it. I don't remember him seeing after that for a long time. The next time I saw him he was home for good when my sister was born. After her birth we all moved into a place of our own, an apartment that ironically is not far from here where we live now. It is actually about ten minutes away or less. When I pass that way I can't help but glance at our old apartment, apartment A downstairs. From there we moved to a house on the other side of town and our final move together as a family of 4 came a few years later when we moved to our last apartment ten or fifteen minutes from the house we last lived in. The last apartment on a quiet street, most of the time it was quiet, I think that our apartment building that we lived in was the loudest place on the block sometimes. But, it was a fun place to live.
Then one day after about 5 years of living there my dad went to the hospital and never returned home. I remember sitting outside of the intensive care unit waiting for my mom to finish her visit with him. Back then kids couldn't go in the intensive care unit. We, my sister and I had to wait outside in the hallway next to it, holding hands as we sat on the floor. We had to be very quiet and wait. Just wait. Sometimes late at night the nurses would let us in just for a minute to see him. I couldn't thank them enough for that gift.
One morning after a late night visit to the hospital the phone rang early in the morning. My mom answered it and then she woke us up. I will never forget the look on her face when she did. It was the saddest look I have ever seen. I knew what happened she didn't have to tell me anything. I knew from the look on her face and the dream I had during the night that my dad had died. We all got in the car and headed to the hospital for one last time. When we got there we had to wait. More waiting. During the wait my mom asked me to call my grandmother. I did and she came right to the hospital within minutes. After she got there we all went into the hospital room and said good bye. It was the hardest thing I had to do in my young life, say good bye to my dad, the bravest man I knew.
So, on this day and all days, I salute him and all the other brave men and women and I say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I am not sure if any of my friends on my page are Veterans. I know that most of them know Veterans and most of them have Veterans in their family. I also know that my father was a Veteran. He served in Vietnam. He was in the Airforce. I remember when he was serving his country we lived, my mom and myself, at my grandmother's house in a small upstairs bedroom and I had some huge goldfish for pets. We didn't see him too often. I was very small then so I only have a few memories of actually seeing him before I was 4 when my sister was born. I do remember once he came home on leave and he gave me a dress. The dress had orange on the bottom and white on the top. It was a simple dress but it met the world to me. I wore that dress for a week straight before my mom could convince me to take it off so she could wash it. I wore that dress and my white dress shoes that my mom had given me to go with it. I don't remember him seeing after that for a long time. The next time I saw him he was home for good when my sister was born. After her birth we all moved into a place of our own, an apartment that ironically is not far from here where we live now. It is actually about ten minutes away or less. When I pass that way I can't help but glance at our old apartment, apartment A downstairs. From there we moved to a house on the other side of town and our final move together as a family of 4 came a few years later when we moved to our last apartment ten or fifteen minutes from the house we last lived in. The last apartment on a quiet street, most of the time it was quiet, I think that our apartment building that we lived in was the loudest place on the block sometimes. But, it was a fun place to live.
Then one day after about 5 years of living there my dad went to the hospital and never returned home. I remember sitting outside of the intensive care unit waiting for my mom to finish her visit with him. Back then kids couldn't go in the intensive care unit. We, my sister and I had to wait outside in the hallway next to it, holding hands as we sat on the floor. We had to be very quiet and wait. Just wait. Sometimes late at night the nurses would let us in just for a minute to see him. I couldn't thank them enough for that gift.
One morning after a late night visit to the hospital the phone rang early in the morning. My mom answered it and then she woke us up. I will never forget the look on her face when she did. It was the saddest look I have ever seen. I knew what happened she didn't have to tell me anything. I knew from the look on her face and the dream I had during the night that my dad had died. We all got in the car and headed to the hospital for one last time. When we got there we had to wait. More waiting. During the wait my mom asked me to call my grandmother. I did and she came right to the hospital within minutes. After she got there we all went into the hospital room and said good bye. It was the hardest thing I had to do in my young life, say good bye to my dad, the bravest man I knew.
So, on this day and all days, I salute him and all the other brave men and women and I say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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