November 2002 rediagnosed with a recurring tumor I am going to bring you through the whole fun thing
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This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
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Brain Tumor History And Other Rants
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003
11/18/03
So this past weekend I went to just outside D.C. with my parents to see my brother and his new wife. We got to tour around D.C. a little on Sunday we didn’t go into any of the buildings / museums but basically drove around a bunch and walked all the important monuments. Wouldn’t you know it we are standing on the steps of the Lincoln memorial and the president and his 3 choppers come up out of the white house and circle around us and fly off. So I am safely admitting to seeing the president now. Well it’s the closest I will ever come to meeting him.
It was almost surreal to see some buildings that you really only know from some dusty classroom history or from the back of money. We should all have to visit the capital when we are young to see how massive it is. But then again we wouldn’t appreciate it then anyway.
Certain things people my age will never understand. The way wars used to affect us in this country is one of them. I think the closest thing we can compare to the country wide passion for things is 9/11. That seems to have brought about an impact close to Pearl Harbor.
Even the Korean war, no one now knows about that. And the turmoil that society went through with the Vietnam war we will never know.
Nevertheless my father was drafted into the war and went over in 1968. It is not something that we talk about over meals. My father did what he had to do. The government called him and he went in and fought for us. Was my father the most famous soldier to go and come back. To most people no. To me he was. Think about it I wasn’t born until 1973. If he didn’t come back, I wouldn’t be writing to you now (I know you are on a long journey to get to my point here).
Like I said we don’t really talk about what happened there, it was a time that my father faced up to a responsibility and lived through a lifetime of experience in one year. My father was a hero in that war, and managed to come back and have a successful life her in America. A country he fought for, and he succeeded. He was a hero in combat and life. And for that my dad will always be my hero.
I bring this all up because this weekend we were walking around D.C. and went to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I think my father has always wanted to go. In some sense there is a piece of his life on that wall also. I had mixed feelings about it. I had pride for what my father had done, I felt terrible for what he had to live through also. Things I will never know about, and he has kept inside for over 30 years, and will always live with. We walked the wall and then came out one end where there were the books where they list the names on the wall. My father was going to look up a couple people then turned away. I felt horrible and went and hugged him and told him I was sorry, thanks for coming home.
Think about your own family and the past they have and never forget to thank them for doing it for you.
Who knows they might be your hero also. Just like my dad’s mine.
7:44 PM
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