Vacation Recap

It is another Monday, and I just want to crawl back into bed! It was a long weekend. Last weekend, I went on a much needed vacation.

If you can call driving over 1000 miles and running a 10k a vacation.

I went to visit a friend and her family, we are very close and we all went to a condo in Westport, to celebrate her dad's birthday and Memorial day.

Mariners Baseball game, I drove from home straight to the game!

US Coast Guard Station from 1939-74, now a museum.

Sea lions hanging out on a slip, we could get really close!

But, Memorial Day is much more than vacations. At Westport we attended a Memorial service for those lost at sea from this small port community. My friend's Dad, served in the Navy, and it was wonderful to see him honoring those who served and us as family and friends honoring him for serving.

Memorial Day also reminds me of this experience I had a few years ago:


I am going to take a moment and break from the normal banter of my life. The other day, I had an wonderful experience and want the world to experience it also! Now, I am the one to criticize the government and complain about how I feel about these drawn out wars (or occupations or whatever they want to call them), and how they seem to be ridiculous. But, on the same hand, I will never ever degrade those that served, have served or will serve to protect my freedom and rights, even the right I have to post this. This is to everyone, those that have, will, or are serving, those married, engaged, dating, children, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, friends, enemies, everyone.


I drove my sister to Spokane for an eye doctor appointment the other day. We were running a little late (just about 15 minutes). We went it, she was looked at, and then send out back out to the waiting room, I think they were low on rooms. As we were sitting in the waiting area, there was an elderly couple and another elderly man. They had a conversation that went more or less like this  (names are not real, we never actually caught what they were...)


Jerry: To other elderly man, Bob "You still Driving?"
Bob: Yes, how about you?
Jerry: Yes, how old are you?
Bob: 90, you?
Jerry: 86. Did you serve?
Bob: Yes, all three.
Jerry's Wife: All three?! Jerry served in WWII and Korea.
Bob: I served in Italy during the big war, during Korea, and in Nam (he never once said Veitnam, only Nam.)
Jerry: I served in Europe, where did you serve?
Bob: Italy. I flew B-29's. I flew through Korea and in Nam.
Jerry: I was in the amphibious attack at (did not catch the place) he is then called into the doctor's office.
Jerry's Wife: What did you do in Korea? I didn't know they had fighters?
Bob: I didn't fly in Korea. I flew missions to Russia during the Cold War.
Jerry's Wife: Oh. What did you do in Nam?
Bob: I flew. It is horrible. We would lose 10 at a time. One plane would go down, and we would lose them all. We stopped saying how many men we lost, and starting talking how many planes.
Jerry's Wife: You are very lucky.
Bob: I served from '41 to '75. I never came out of a mission with a scratch. On time I bullet came through the side of the plane and hit my boot, but it just fell to the ground.


The conversation went to about how their friends are dieing, and how the reunions for the their groups are dwindling. It was a very humbling experience to be apart of, listening to those men talk about their past. I was able to tell Bob, thank you for serving, I am not sure he heard me, I started to tear up as I did.

To all of those service members, Thank you. To my Grandfather, who served in WWII; Papa, who served in Vietnam; to my Aunt, who is serving now; and to my Cousin, who is currently in the Middle East, Thank you! (When this was written back in the beginning of 2011, my cousin was serving in the Middle East, he is now home safe with his family!)