It Is About Love
I read this post yesterday while eating a sandwich in the corporate offices. I had a few minutes to myself and was meandering about the tubes, and stumbled on to this post.
It starts out slowly, and it is wonderful post on so many levels because it’s about love, fear, letting go and threads of all of those things combined into a lovely, yet lonely quilt.
The house is very dark and very quiet all around me. It is also missing something that has been here for the last 19 years, my oldest son.
I read the post and thought of so many things. I think about the parents. As a person who never had children, I can relate on other levels because I look for connections even with folks I don’t always agree with on a political level.
I can relate to a lot of folks on a human level.
Blue Collar Muse joins a lot of my friends who have seen their children join the military, and then are ultimately deployed. I have seen their eyes, interviewed parents who have seen their children board buses. Most of them come back, others do not. I have met with friends who joined the National Guard never expecting to go to war.
But they did.
In my office, there is a photo of my grandfather, handsome and smiling, in his Marine uniform with a devil-may-care twinkle in his eyes. Man, he was gorgeous. I don’t have to defend myself in believing in the troops, but not approving of the war because he taught me that. He is the one that joined just days after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He’s the one that turned his back on a football scholarship to UT because he felt he needed to defend his country (Ned McWherter is actually the one who told me they called him Doll Baby when he was on the football field. I can’t imagine anyone calling Chad Clifton or Justin Harrell Doll Baby in this day and age, but I digress.) He was also the one that worked several jobs to get my uncle into school. He didn’t like the Vietnam War, and he didn’t want his son to go. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.
My grandfather made sacrifices on a lot of levels.
I don’t like this war in the least, but I do respect the people making sacrifices. People like Rack9, BCM’s son, countless others. The list is long and varied and is real people making real decisions.
You see, the common thread is love. And love knows no political affiliation. It is something we all can relate to.
NC -
Caught your trackback when I logged in. Thank you so much for your post and your thoughts for my son.
Since we’re total strangers, I’m pretty sure you meant I joined a group that also contained some of your friends as opposed to the group that consists of your friends. I appreciate the fact that we have a relationship of any sort and hope that the future finds us friends.
As you so eloquently noted, love knows no political affiliation. We likely do not share many political positions but I approve wholeheartedly of you! I’ve enjoyed your thoughts, views and opinions for months. I mentioned once I was surprising to find that you even knew who I was. If that was surprising, it was delightful to find your post this afternoon.
I’ve been privileged to meet several of my fellow TN bloggers so far but the pleasure of making your acquaintance remains at the top of my “Bloggers I Wanna Meet’ list. Next time you’re heading down to NashVegas, drop me a line if you have some extry time. There’s bound to be a StarBucks somewhere close to where you’ll be.
Thanks again for your kind words and warm thoughts. The Much Younger Trophy Wife and I have felt much support and love from so many people in all of this. What a blessing to count you among them.
Blue Collar Muse
Blue Collar Muse,
I look forward to meeting you as well.
I’m always up for a Starbucks.
And thank you for your kind words.
They mean a lot and brightened a very weary day.