Memorial Day

Memorial Day makes me sad. Pine Hill always has a ceremony at the Monument, and my Dad loved it. Every year he rode his bike up to the Monument for the ceremony. Both last year and this year I managed to be going out and pass the crowd there, and it makes my heart ache for Dad.

Dad was a proud World War 2 vet. He was in the Navy, on several ships. He was on the Wasp for awhile. One time a ship he was on was rammed, and Mom didn't know for 3 days if he was alive or dead. He was discharged after WW2, and recalled for Korea, so he spent several years in the Navy.

Dad's father, PopPop Oehrl, was in the Navy in World War One. He didn't talk much about it to us, and I don't know where he served. He told me that he enlisted when he was 16, and he paid a bum on the street a dollar to say he was Pop's father and sign consent for him to enlist.

Ralph was also in the Navy, during Vietnam. He was in a division of the Navy called the Construction Battalion, or SeaBee's. He was never on a ship. He operated heavy machinery.

No one in our immediate family is in the service this generation. While I much admire those who serve, I'm glad my nephews are the wrong ages.

On a lighter note, Steph got home from Houston this afternoon, and she and Toast just left to go home to their apartment. It's heartwrenching when Toast leaves. She knows something is up when Steph starts loading the car, and she hides. She's such a social little creature, and she's always lived here, where there's someone home most of the time.

And back to work tomorrow! I have an all day inservice to go to on Wednesday. I hope it's not a waste of my time, as so many inservices are.

Holly