Please forgive me if this isnt quite perfect...in formatting/computereese...i have been without a working computer for a while...my sons have fixed it. hopefully.....thankfully, but its all new...google chrome..etc..so bear with me I just want to add a bit to this thread...some of you now that my hubby is in Afghanistan now...has been since January..we had a lovely 2 weeks vacation in march...anyhow, last week he told me he may not be home in august..some snafu....he may have to stay longer..this was the same day I heard there were people killed in Kabul..two weeks prior to this in the camp where he is living there was that suicide shooter who took , I believe, nine American lives.
Last evening at work(seniors home) they were watching the memorial day ceremonies, and boy, it really hit home...
So I feel the pain you have had...and although I'm a Canadian...you know, we apologise for everything....ha..I am so proud of hubby, but at the same time lonely and scared...But you are so right..let's never forget.....
Yesterday did not go as planned but turned out well. We did go to the wreath laying ceremony at the river... lovely, well done and moving. dh says he wants to go again next year. I was so relieved that he found it comforting and pleased he wants to go again. Next year we will make a wreath for M and participate in the ceremony instead of just watching. Did not make it to the cemetery... just seemed like too much. Went out to breakfast which was a treat. Then was invited to barbeque at my daughter's inlaws' house. It was just family, very relaxed and enjoyable. A good day.... great progress from the past few years. I feel relaxed, calm & empowered somehow. Good stuff
It should be a lovely ceremony and service..I am so glad to hear that you and your husband will be going to the ceremony together....
As for me it is still hard feeling the emotions..I wasn't planning on posting about memorial day but while I was reading your post all the memories and feelings started flooding back again...
Like I say they may be gone but will never be forgotten....
The ceremonies are tomorrow and dh has agreed to go with me to the wreath laying at the river and then the veterans ceremony at the cemetery. Earlier today we watched the Indy 500 car races... M was a big race car fan... of course we were thinking of him with sorrow, but it also was a race he would have been very excited about so we really felt like we were sort of watching it for/with him.... it was good. Being "with" your emotions is pretty exhausting.... but OK... ya know? ... there is an ebb and flow.... grief is hard, but doable. I just had built it into such a "I can't do this" thing and spent so much energy avoiding it. I guess it is ok to feel... imagine that.
Thanks for the encouragement to go to the ceremonies. Thank you Red for sharing your own memories around Memorial Day. Thanks guys for being here. It helps.
My late husband and I went to a memorial service at the veterans memorial here where I live..He was very sick at the time with the ptsd and dementia..I bought him a hat, ball cap type with Vietnam Veterans on the front of it from the Vietnam Veterans of America...We later put his medals on it and he wore it proudly..
I later went to a service at the same veterans memorial after he passed and spent the day listening to them read off all the names of the fallen soldiers who lost the lives in the Vietnam...It was a very somber service and day...I always felt that they should have included his name in that service because he lost his life because of his time in service..There are thousands that have since passed away after coming home because of there service to there country..So on memorial day I remember all of those who have lost there lives fighting for what the believe in and all the families who have been left behind.
I went through grief groups at the veterans memorial center...These were different than the other grief groups I attended..
They are open to all family members who have lost a loved one because of there service in a war....
When my husband was alive he would spent memorial day weekend watching the different memorial services on tv every year and he would spend the day shedding tears for his fallen comrades...I have not been able to watch them since his passing.. I get all choked up when I think of him and how much he loved his country...I shed the tears that he is no longer here to shed....
Not sure where this post should go... just sharing some thoughts... I don't guess these would be categorized as positive and upbeat... but I don't necessary think they are negative thoughts either.... maybe they just are...
This is Memorial Day weekend in the US. Seems like everyone is wrapped up in vacation plans, outdoor barbeques, big sales at the stores, family gatherings, celebration. Since M's death in Iraq we have spent Memorial Days in a fog... no celebrations, no memorials... just trying to get through it and move on. For the first time, I feel like I can stay present this year. Perhaps we will go to some of the memorial ceremonies put on by the local veterans groups. I don't know if dh is up for it, but I could probably go by myself. Not sure what I'll do but I don't expect staying present is going to be fun. It will be sad. Terribly sad. I hope I can be with the sad and then let it flow on out to mingle with the other families who celebrate, honor, and mourn the lives of our fallen soldiers... our heroes.
just some thoughts on the Sunday before Memorial Day...
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