Last Monday we celebrated Veteran's Day. I thought of the men in my family who have served in the Armed Forces-- my father and my uncles in WWII, my cousins in Vietnam, and then male and female acquaintances in more recent wars. When I see the news coverage of war I wonder what it feels … Continue reading Different Kinds of Courage
Raven Rock State Park
Taking Time to Play
For the past ten years, I've spent Veteran's Day hiking with my favorite living veteran, my cousin, Danny. He's eleven years older than me, so when I was young and we had our big family gatherings at our Grandma Smith's, we didn't hang out. I thought of him like an older brother. Since I only … Continue reading Taking Time to Play
Second Chance to Know You
It was 1966 and he was home on leave for Thanksgiving. My cousin, Danny and my Grandma Smith hold his fresh catch from her farm pond. He'd just completed boot camp and was ready to serve on the USS Cacapon docked in Long Beach, California. I was an eleven-year-old kid looking up to my twenty-two-year … Continue reading Second Chance to Know You