I had this gloriously written bunch of verbiage all set to be placed in this spot. Here and there were adjectives of insurmountable - oops there one slipped in when I wasn't paying attention. All I really wanted to say is this was a crappy week for me. And next week will be as well... November of every year for more than the last few has not been the time for celebration of family and friendship and all that gooey feel good stuff for me. November stinks! In my opinion...
Veterans Day - an awesome day - one that I truly enjoy and participate in every year. No one on this planet deserves more recognition than those who have or who are serving our nation in the armed forces. With the protection of our liberty and freedom solidly in their hands we have survived for decades, and God willing will for many more. I relish in the fact that I am a member of that select group of American service men and women. Yet amongst the glory are scattered the stories and horrors of those who gave all that they had, as well as the bitter taste left from the way I and my buddies were treated when we returned from the Viet Nam war. 40+ years have not dissipated the agony and emotions of war.
Anniversary of JFK's assassination - hardly a celebratory day. A memorial to a man who led this country through a cataclysm of internal political and social issues while staving off the likelihood of world wide nuclear war. A man who did not quake at the massiveness of any job ahead of him nor from the calculated rhetoric and actions of our cold war enemies or his political foes. A hero of mine whose life was ended all too abruptly, altering greatly the future of America and the world.
Anniversary of my fathers death. I'm not going to elaborate much on this one. Suffice it to say that my Dad and I were the best of friends in the later years of his life. To this day I wish that I had listened to his words during the first 40 years of my life as well as I did the last 10 years of his. I learned enough in the beginning to serve me well and make him proud. He was a man educated in the "school of hard knocks", a man who worked with his hands as well as his mind from the time he was 15 years old. A man who cherished greatly what he had earned through his sacrifices. Stoic and gruff and hard fisted as he was on the outside there was an inner being that I don't believe he shared with many - not even my mother. I was lucky enough to be part of that. He fought his cancer with all that he had, with that same work ethic that had served him so well before. And he won for the longest time. Another hero of mine whose life came to an end all too soon.
Thanksgiving - another splendid celebration. Certainly we ALL need to step back and at least take part of a day to survey what we have, where we are and who we are and then give thanks. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to get into when you live alone. In the last few years this holiday has taken on a deeper meaning for me - even beyond Christmas. It doesn't really matter whether I have PBnJ on toast or a pork roast or turkey bacon n eggs for dinner on Thursday. What matters is that I am here to make that choice and it's not so much about what I have received over the last year but what I have given. I am most grateful and blessed to be able to have shared whatever I have had with those who were in need. From things as simple as a smile, to a phone call or email, to contributing to lessening the cost of putting a household back together. It was all about family a few years back and now it's all about me? No I think not... Still I'd love to smell Grandma's gravy bubbling away on the stove as it mixes with the aroma of "all the fixins" and the freshly sliced turkey again. I'd love to hold hands around the table an hear Dad repeat the same words - "Thank God for all the blessings that our family and friends enjoy. And for those you have given to others." I will try again to be most thankful for those things I have been able to share with others.
That about sums it up for me... ha - best thing about November? Movember! I don't have to shave for a whole month!!!! And I haven't!
Veterans Day - an awesome day - one that I truly enjoy and participate in every year. No one on this planet deserves more recognition than those who have or who are serving our nation in the armed forces. With the protection of our liberty and freedom solidly in their hands we have survived for decades, and God willing will for many more. I relish in the fact that I am a member of that select group of American service men and women. Yet amongst the glory are scattered the stories and horrors of those who gave all that they had, as well as the bitter taste left from the way I and my buddies were treated when we returned from the Viet Nam war. 40+ years have not dissipated the agony and emotions of war.
Anniversary of JFK's assassination - hardly a celebratory day. A memorial to a man who led this country through a cataclysm of internal political and social issues while staving off the likelihood of world wide nuclear war. A man who did not quake at the massiveness of any job ahead of him nor from the calculated rhetoric and actions of our cold war enemies or his political foes. A hero of mine whose life was ended all too abruptly, altering greatly the future of America and the world.
Anniversary of my fathers death. I'm not going to elaborate much on this one. Suffice it to say that my Dad and I were the best of friends in the later years of his life. To this day I wish that I had listened to his words during the first 40 years of my life as well as I did the last 10 years of his. I learned enough in the beginning to serve me well and make him proud. He was a man educated in the "school of hard knocks", a man who worked with his hands as well as his mind from the time he was 15 years old. A man who cherished greatly what he had earned through his sacrifices. Stoic and gruff and hard fisted as he was on the outside there was an inner being that I don't believe he shared with many - not even my mother. I was lucky enough to be part of that. He fought his cancer with all that he had, with that same work ethic that had served him so well before. And he won for the longest time. Another hero of mine whose life came to an end all too soon.
Thanksgiving - another splendid celebration. Certainly we ALL need to step back and at least take part of a day to survey what we have, where we are and who we are and then give thanks. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to get into when you live alone. In the last few years this holiday has taken on a deeper meaning for me - even beyond Christmas. It doesn't really matter whether I have PBnJ on toast or a pork roast or turkey bacon n eggs for dinner on Thursday. What matters is that I am here to make that choice and it's not so much about what I have received over the last year but what I have given. I am most grateful and blessed to be able to have shared whatever I have had with those who were in need. From things as simple as a smile, to a phone call or email, to contributing to lessening the cost of putting a household back together. It was all about family a few years back and now it's all about me? No I think not... Still I'd love to smell Grandma's gravy bubbling away on the stove as it mixes with the aroma of "all the fixins" and the freshly sliced turkey again. I'd love to hold hands around the table an hear Dad repeat the same words - "Thank God for all the blessings that our family and friends enjoy. And for those you have given to others." I will try again to be most thankful for those things I have been able to share with others.
That about sums it up for me... ha - best thing about November? Movember! I don't have to shave for a whole month!!!! And I haven't!
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