My father was a newlywed when he decided to join the Navy during the Vietnam war draft because he wanted a better chance of surviving to see his new wife and newborn son ( me ). I want him to know how much I admire him, and how thankful I am that I’m able to live where I do because of his service. We do not always agree, but I know that because of all those that served in the armed forces, I have the freedom to express my thoughts & opinions. My Grandpa, Side bottom Barnes ( cross my heart that’s his name) also served in WWI with the Australian army. Although I never met him, I am proud of this lineage as well.
This Memorial Day also allows those of us who have lost loved ones to commemorate their life as well.
As I arrived at the cemetery, I was overwhelmed with the scenic beauty. As I placed flowers at your grave and sat at your grave stone, I pulled out a book to read, Einstein’s Dreams
. I remember first telling you about this book many years ago, and I wonder if you ever had a chance to read it……
. I remember first telling you about this book many years ago, and I wonder if you ever had a chance to read it……
The book is a fictional account of what Einstein’s dreams may have been about before he came up with his theory of relativity. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I randomly opened and started to read….
excerpt : page 102
*2 JUNE 1905
A mushy, brown peach is lifted from the garbage and placed on the table to pinken. It pinkens, it turns hard, it is carried in a shopping sack to the grocer’s, put on a shelf, removed and crated, returned to the tree with pink blossoms. In this world, time flows backward.
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excerpt : page 106
A man stands at the graveside of his friend, throws a handful of dirt on the coffin, feels the cold April rain on his face. But he does not weep. He looks ahead to the day when his friend’s lungs will be strong, when his friend will be out of his bed and laughing, when the two of them will drink ale together, go sailing, talk. He does not weep. He waits longingly for a particular day he remembers in the future when he and his friend will have sandwiches on a low flat table, when he will describe his fear of growing old and unloved and his friend will nod gently, when the rain will slide down the glass of the window.
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I have another memory of you, Darin and Janae, and I going to the movies. You pick Finding Neverland
. We laugh in the car, listening to Pete Yorn. I am reminded of when you first tell me about his music as we are crossing the Hoover Dam on my move to Arizona. As the movie is almost over, you and I look at each other with big smiles and water filled eyes, trying to fight the tears that are only seconds away. You grab my jacket to wipe your face…..
. We laugh in the car, listening to Pete Yorn. I am reminded of when you first tell me about his music as we are crossing the Hoover Dam on my move to Arizona. As the movie is almost over, you and I look at each other with big smiles and water filled eyes, trying to fight the tears that are only seconds away. You grab my jacket to wipe your face…..
It has been a little over three years now, and I will watch the movie again tonight. I need a good cry to cleanse my soul.
