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7 December
Dec. 7th, 2007 07:30 pmToday is my mother's birthday.
I don't remember how old i was, but i remember that she explained to me that she was born on the 7th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, to help me remember.
That attack resulted in my then 13-year old maternal grandfather altering his birth certificate to show he was 16, so he could enilist in the US Navy, and defend that which wes right. Today, his left arm is all but useless from that service. I remember how happy he was when the VA finally gave him an arm brace with veclro insead of with buckles.
Grandma used to tell me about convincing her schoolmates to give their lunch money for war bonds. Shopping with her - at the grocery store, the drugstore, May Company, wherever - decades later, those people remembered her, and thanked her for that.
How things change.
I don't remember how old i was, but i remember that she explained to me that she was born on the 7th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, to help me remember.
That attack resulted in my then 13-year old maternal grandfather altering his birth certificate to show he was 16, so he could enilist in the US Navy, and defend that which wes right. Today, his left arm is all but useless from that service. I remember how happy he was when the VA finally gave him an arm brace with veclro insead of with buckles.
Grandma used to tell me about convincing her schoolmates to give their lunch money for war bonds. Shopping with her - at the grocery store, the drugstore, May Company, wherever - decades later, those people remembered her, and thanked her for that.
How things change.
Cette Noir, je t'écris
Nov. 10th, 2006 11:40 pmmais je ne t'écris pas une poésie ce soir, au lieu de cela, je t'écris ceci:
(Tu ne sus pas que je pourrais écrire dans le français, eh?)
Well, enough of that. At least i know i've not forgotten it all, even if it's really rusty. I should revisit L'étrange or Le Petit Prince for a basic refresher. Tomorrow, or more likely today when you may actually see this, is Armistice Day, known here in The States as Veterans Day. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany signed an armistice on the Western Front, ending the war with France, Britain, Belgium, Holland, Spain, the US, Canada, and The Commonwealth.
( My great-grandfather fought in that war for Germany, for which he won an Iron Cross. (cut for length) )
The memory of Uncle Fred weighs on me a little bit each Armistice Day; i wish it was still easy to buy poppies like it used to be. This year, with the current administration and the battles over whether people like me are people who deserve full rights or not, his memory and his stories haunt me more than usual this year.
So this year, i fondly, yet a bit melancholically, raise a glass in memory of my great-grandparents Schoenmann.
(Tu ne sus pas que je pourrais écrire dans le français, eh?)
Well, enough of that. At least i know i've not forgotten it all, even if it's really rusty. I should revisit L'étrange or Le Petit Prince for a basic refresher. Tomorrow, or more likely today when you may actually see this, is Armistice Day, known here in The States as Veterans Day. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany signed an armistice on the Western Front, ending the war with France, Britain, Belgium, Holland, Spain, the US, Canada, and The Commonwealth.
( My great-grandfather fought in that war for Germany, for which he won an Iron Cross. (cut for length) )
The memory of Uncle Fred weighs on me a little bit each Armistice Day; i wish it was still easy to buy poppies like it used to be. This year, with the current administration and the battles over whether people like me are people who deserve full rights or not, his memory and his stories haunt me more than usual this year.
So this year, i fondly, yet a bit melancholically, raise a glass in memory of my great-grandparents Schoenmann.
