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veterans' day memory. |
11.11.2003 |
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today is my fifteenth veterans' day. and also the eleventh anniversary of the first time i had macaroni and cheese. funny how things like that coincide. back to veterans' day... although i'm sure they were all very memorable, i really can't remember any particular veterans' days... except one.
my great uncle never fought in a war. regardless, veterans' day was his favorite holiday. one veterans' day, when i was ten or eleven, he took it upon himself to, as he said, "teach some of the bastard youth some american patriotism."
so, on veterans' eve of that year, my great uncle took me caroling. we would visit local veterans' homes, knock on their doors, and sing carols. the ones i remember were: "oh little town of saigon", "away in some danger", "over the rhine, and through the bretton woods", "i thought i'd be home for christmas", and the "do you hear what i hear? [12.7.1941 remix]".
after we sang at one house, the nice old lady behind the screen door told us that there wasn't a veteran at that house. only a veterinarian. regardless, she invited us inside for some hot cocoa. you know how everyone's house has a distinctive smell? well, her's smelled a little like burning quiche. handing us some cocoa, she began telling us stories, just like how old ladies do. as it turned out, at the time the troops stormed the beach at normandy, she was sunbathing, nude! It was a hilarious story. apparently, some kind soldier swept her up off the beach and kissed her. at that moment a photographer's flashbulb went off. sadly, she told us she never found out who that young man was, despite how famous the photograph of that kiss has become. unfortunately, our visit was cut short because quiche was burning in her oven.
at this point in the night... we were itchin' to see some heroism. so at the next house, my great uncle pulled out this big amp that he still had from his days in a lynyrd skynyrd tribute band, and played a sound effects tape of semi-automatic gunfire and exploding bombs. it was so loud! then, we hid behind shrubs and watched the veteran come storming out of his house. after a few minutes, we stepped out from behind the shrub and showed him how it was only a recording. afterwards, we had planned to share some of the cereal that we had brought along to snack on... but the guy seemed kind of pissed and told us something like we had thirty seconds to get off his property. it's kind of a shame that some veterans want to bury their past, and not relive past glory.
this veterans' eve was followed by veterans' morning. my great uncle had hidden plastic "land mines" around the house, and when i got up i had to hunt for them. the best part was there were chocolates inside some of the plastic mines!
the following year, my great uncle passed away on the day before veterans' day. as usual, he was hanging a string of old trench lanterns along the top of his house when he fell off the roof of the garage. despite being nearly ninety, his fall was broken as by an eerily well-placed old mattress. however, it was when he started somersaulting around after falling that he bit the dust. my dad said that sometimes when super old people somersault a lot their insides get all mashed up and they just die. the coroner standing behind my father nodded.
he's still in my heart somewhere every veterans' day.
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| 6:13 am |
xander said this. |
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| more frequent updates? |
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| POLL |
last night, phrensick polled the current 40-man roster of the MILWAUKEE BREWERS to find out their favorite and least favorite posts.
2003 Milwaukee Brewers favorite post:
XANDER'S "Owimoweh, Owimoweh."
2003 Milwaukee Brewers least favorite post:
SUI GENERIS'S "Popcorn Carts."
(poll was taken of the seven players that returned their questionnaires) |
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| response to POLL |
all i have to say to the milwaukee brewers: sarcasm and base hits... who would've guessed the brew crew couldn't get either?
~sui generis |
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