A Sense of Doubt blog post #3922 - Letter to Dad #10 - Veteran's Day (reprint) and Stuff

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3922 - Letter to Dad #10 - Veteran's Day and Stuff

Hi Dad, Two days after Veteran's Day but then I had another post I wanted to make.

Last year's belated Veteran's Day post is reprinted below.

That photo above. You and I look so much alike when you were that age that it could have been a photo of me.

I don't know why I didn't start this letters to you last year. I guess I was trying to be different. When Mom died, all the posts were written to her. I wanted to look like I had made progress with my grief. Doing the same thing felt like a crutch, like something without progress.

But grieving isn't like that. It's not really progress and trying to get rid of a crutch. It's learning to hold it, to fit it into one's life, to keep living despite losing someone. That loss changes everything. That person is gone, and there's a void.

Ever since Mom fell into that coma, we all have been coping with death, the looming presence of it, the very real possibility of it.

I am not as fearful of my own death as the deaths of those I love: you and Mom, My sister, my wife, my kids, my dogs. Those losses will be difficult, but losing you and Mom has shown me that my life will contain the grief and that I have healthy coping strategies that are uniquely mine.

Anyway... quick recap and then I have things to do.

I have handled my bathroom sink drain issue for now. I have not yet replaced the metal stopper, but my jury rigged plug in the drain pipe is working. I have bought a rubber stopper and a mesh cover for the drain. I take off my wedding ring to shower, and I have a few other little things on the bathroom counter that I was worried would fall into the sink and down the drain. I am not prepared and may not be capable of opening a drain pipe to retrieve something that has fallen in. I started leaving my wedding ring in the bedroom rather than on the bathroom counter. But the mesh cover fit perfectly. I am proud of my navigation of this household dilemma.

Quiet week. Trying to do things around the house. Cooking. I adapted the lemon-butter-garlic skillet for shrimp last night and then like the chicken of a few days before, I fry rice in the left over juice and scorched meat. So I have two containers of this butter-lemon rice. The chicken makes it meatier than shrimp. Also, I bought tamales from the "tamale lady" who sells from a tent down by the truck stop but she's not out all the time. Very delicious!

Some writing, some job applications, work for my job, this and that; however, I never feel like I am doing enough because the to do list is quite long. I have to do a bunch of work to prepare for Thanksgiving which is two weeks from today.

I like sharing all this with you, Big Guy, but it's not the same as talking to you. I miss hugs with you and Mom. I am probably never going to get used to you two being gone.

Oh. And Uncle Ward died.

Maybe I should have led with that?

Sad to see him go and sent my love to my cousins.

And so a reprint of last year's Veteran's Day post.

I was proud of your service, Dad, even though I probably shouldn't have said that you joined the Guard to avoid being deployed to Korea at your Memorial. Though some reactions that I saw almost made it worth it. :-)

Love you!

More next week.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3556 - Happy Veteran's Day (Yesterday)

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3556 - Happy Veteran's Day (Yesterday)

My dad was a veteran.

My father-in-law is a veteran.

My brother-in-law is a veteran.

My grandfathers and great uncles were veterans.

Many of my students at both schools where I teach are veterans or at one school, currently serving and often deployed.

How many people you know are veterans?

It should be common practice to thank our veterans on this day and every day all year.

Thanks for tuning in.


FROM Barack Obama

On Veterans Day, we owe our veterans and their families our thanks, our respect, and our freedom. To all those who bravely served, thank you for your service to our country. pic.twitter.com/IlWKtEYqTi

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 11, 2024

Happy Veteran's Day.     

It’s Veteran’s Day! (yesterday)

 

I celebrate Veteran’s Day every semester at one of my schools given the number of currently serving and veterans in my classes.

Since I know many students are current military or veterans, I want to acknowledge all those who have served our country. I have never had the pleasure to serve, but I am deeply grateful to all those who have served and do serve, especially those who died in service or suffer lasting effects from their time in service. Thank you. One day is hardly acknowledgment enough.

 

VETERANS - THANK YOU

 

One of my favorite authors said it best:

 

“On this Veteran's Day and 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I (last year), I give thanks and honor to the people who have served in our armed forces, in war and in peace. May their service not be forgotten” (@scalzi, Twitter).

 

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2411.12 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 3420 days ago & DAD = 076 days ago

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2511.13 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3787 days ago & DAD = 441 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.