Text 25514, 132 rader
Skriven 2009-06-30 09:27:06 av hap newsom (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Ruth Haffly
Ärende: RE: dad                                                      [1]
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Aloha Ruth!
-> 
-> ->  hn> All went very smoothly, a wonderful service
-> ->  hn> followed by a masonic rite of burial performed
-> 
-> -> Good, I presume there was was a military component (flag presentation 
to
-> -> your mom, etc) as well.  And now I see why you remember my name so
->  hn> well.
-> 
->  hn> The South Carolina service had the flag
->  hn> presentation, and the 21 gun salute
->  hn> and one of Pop's old friends played
->  hn> taps. The local fire dept (Pop started
->  hn> it and was the first fire captain and
->  hn> bought the first fire truck himself)
->  hn> did a "Last Call" honerary and gave
->  hn> Mom a Firefighter's flag as well. I missed
-> 
-> Nice tear jerker, the Last Call one.  Sounds like your dad did a lot in
-> the community.  You may have hard times with him while growing up but it
-> sounds like you're right proud of him now.
-> 
He was good at a lot of things...just not
so good a parenting. It was not something
he was equipped to do well. 

->  hn> that service but the one here in Tenn
->  hn> was tough enough...I have a hard
->  hn> time hearing taps in a graveyard.
-> 
-> After 26 years with the military it's hard to hear it anywhere.
->
And I've heard it too many times played
for friends and relatives.
-> 
->  hn> And yes...your name is easy
->  hn> to remember...I just have to
->  hn> remember to NOT type Aunt
->  hn> in front of it!(grin)
-> 
-> Well, I had an Aunt Ruth (my dad's only sister).  I heard plenty of
-> "Aunt Ruth" the past few days from nieces and nephews & great nieces 
and
-> nephews. (G)
->
My Aunt Ruth is my Dad's only sister too.

-> ->  hn> of the funeral ceremony a flock of white doves
-> ->  hn> was released, then an additional lone dove was
-> 
-> -> Pretty; they must have had hours of training to do that.
-> 
->  hn> White homing pigeons I think. A
->  hn> good PR thing for the funeral home
->  hn> as it does make a lasting emotional
->  hn> message for the family. It sure did
->  hn> for me.
-> 
-> 
-> Same as the "MIssing Man" fly over.  Most people don't realise what it
-> means but if you've had any sort of military connection........
-> 
-> ->  hn> beautiful. Afterwards we went to a local restaurant
-> ->  hn> for a buffet brunch. A small "shrine" had been
-> ->  hn> set up with pictures and articles written about
-> 
-> -> Nice way of remembering; I've seen that in the foyer of churches some
-> -> times.  It's fun when there are baby and very young childhood pictures,
-> -> especially when you've only known the person as an adult.
-> 
->  hn> Yep, lots of folks were surprised to see
->  hn> my dad without a beard..he's had one
->  hn> since he retired from the Airforce.
->  hn> My nephew's daughter (3 years old)
->  hn> said "That's NOT POPPA, his face
->  hn> is naked!" At three she's not fully
->  hn> aware of what happened but she
->  hn> knows her Poppa has gone to
->  hn> heaven where (she says) he'll
->  hn> be "fixing things that get
->  hn> broke"
-> 
-> Rather astute thinking for a 3 year old.  Robert was bossing some of his
-> older cousins around last week, much to the amusement of parents.  We
-> had a family get together at Steve's folks--as usual, lots of food but
-> also lots of people to eat it.
-> 
-> ->  hn> my aunt's home for dinner and "visiting".
-> 
-> -> Catching up on the years.  We got to see one of our nieces we'd not 
seen
-> -> in 9 years.  She now has 4 children; the youngest is 5 days younger 
than
-> -> Sarah.
-> 
->  hn> For me it was meeting some of
->  hn> my cousin's wives for the first
->  hn> time.
-> 
-> I don't think I've met all of Steve's cousins yet and we've been married
-> almost 34 years.
->
Only a smattering of family was able to make
it to the funeral, but enough to make it a good
sized gathering in any case.
 
-> ->  hn> My mom has been very strong and composed.
-> 
-> -> Good.  Is there a military widows group in the area where your mom
-> -> lives?  I knew of one at Fort Huachuca; from what I read, they were
-> 
->  hn> I don't know, I'm sure Mom does
->  hn> and if she wants to participate
->  hn> she may.
-> 
-> It may take her some time but she may eventually decide to join a group
-> like that.  If not, then she feels comfortable as is.  But, as you say,
-> after 60 years of marriage, it will be a rough time for a while.
->
Mom and Pop were married over 61 years and
I'm sure most of her habits run very deep and 
will be tough to deal with for a good while. I did
get a chance to sit and talk with her alone for
a bit and reinforced that she does not need to 
do everything right away. I hope she takes time
to relax and recover.
 
chat with you soon!
hap 
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