GRAVEYARD WALK IN A GARDEN OF STONE

My father is buried in the veteran’s section of a Klamath Falls graveyard.

I voted for the Willamette National Cemetery but he lived near Klamath Falls so it made sense.

The last time I visited was a dark, rainy, day with the irrigation pipes laid out and sprinklers helicoptering around.

I got out there in a raincoat the looked for his tombstone.

Where was it?

Soaking wet after twenty minutes of a futile search I stood back for a moment of silent remembrance. (Hey Daddy)

On the way back to the car I passed a brick marker with the veteran’s names spelled out in brass wire and fastened to the brick mortar.

His name was loose. I could either take it with me, or pack it back in there.

I packed it back into the wall using toothpicks for tighteners.

My wife rolled the window down to ask what I was doing.

I shushed her like we were in church.

 

Reverence For The Dead, And Near Dead

I visited a Spanish hospital with two beer taps in the cafeteria, a front lawn carpeted by cigarette butts, and smoking allowed inside.

The room I visited included some elderly women on oxygen who didn’t look right.

Their families waited in the hallway, smoking, and taking turns going in and shaking the old ladies in their beds and yelling at them.

I thought it was weird and didn’t understand until a few years later I was the sickie in bed and my family took turns yelling at me.

I had to get better just to shut them up, so that’s what I did.

Medical miracles happen every day, so do reminders of proper decorum.

 

If you ever visit a national memorial kind of graveyard, like Arlington in Virginia, and take a moment to reflect at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, do so in silence or you’ll get this.

If you take note of the guard’s tone of voice, the message is unmistakable: It’s not a polite request, and he will drop you if you don’t comply.

Some people take their serious duty seriously. The guard was all of that and more, making his point with unmistakeable clarity.

One of my Facebook friends, and fellow veteran, gets it right with:

While all of Arlington Cemetery is hallowed ground and maybe our most precious memorial that includes our murdered President Kennedy and his brother Robert.

I remember first visiting there when 15 and the dirt on brother Bobby’s grave was still mounded and moist.

 

Millennials Take Note 

The time is coming fast when you are the keepers of the gates.

The gates are what you choose, so what kind of keeper will you be?

A ‘who gives a damn’ keeper?

We can’t be bothered with the bullshit, let’s go.

An ‘it’s not important enough’ keeper?

I have my priorities and that’s not one of them.

An ‘image’ keeper?

Sir, you look very commanding and in charge with your new hair wave and make up.

 

You’ll learn that people make mistakes, the sort of mistakes those new to a job make, and you must learn to accept both the people and their mistakes.

Let’s hope you own your mistakes and learn from them. That’s a life goal for many.

While some folks life goals include everything they can lay claim to, valid or not, others are not so needy.

The big man doesn’t tell anyone he’s the big man. Those who need to know already know.

They weren’t born the big man, they grew into it, and those in their circle know the difference between fact and fiction.

Dear Millennials, when you get to the big man status, don’t show up in tight suits and loose lips.

Just show up.

 

The Graveyard Walk

The Gardens Of Stone plot from wiki:

 

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, Sergeant First Class Clell Hazard is a hardened veteran of Korea and Vietnam who would rather be an instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning to train soldiers for Vietnam but instead is assigned to the 1st Battalion 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia, which provides the ceremonial honor guard for the funerals of fallen soldiers and guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hazard calls them the “toy soldiers” and hates his job until Jackie Willow, the son of an old friend and fellow soldier, is assigned to his platoon; Hazard sees in him an opportunity to make sure at least one man comes home from Vietnam alive.

 

Pay your respects the way you were raised to pay respect.

Honors your parents, your education, and your decency.

If you make a mistake, apologize and learn from it.

That’s how society works, no matter what kind of jackass decides they know better.

They don’t.

 

PS:

When you have a job that includes ceremonial duties, pay attention.

You’re not in the spotlight to sing and dance. You’re in the light to show others how to behave, a representative figure for millions upon millions.

I like people who understand their job and how to do it.

 

PSS:

When you take your graveyard walk in a garden of stone be mindful of who else is there.

If there are noisy people, try and be quiet.

If there are quiet people, be like them.

It’s a graveyard walk, not a mall stroll.

Baby boomers have had their share of walks with millennials warming up on the sidelines.

“Why are you so solemn?”

“Because it’s a graveyard.”