One of my favorite memories from childhood were the monthly visits to my great uncles Andrew and Joseph at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital north of Chicago. My Mom would stuff my brothers and I into the Olds station wagon, pick up my Grandma (whom I adored) and off wed go, always stopping along the way at a huge Salvation Army store (my Mom never bought retail). Both Andrew and Joseph had returned from WWI very much changed from the bright-eyed boys whose innocent cheeks their sister, my grandma, had kissed goodbye not so long before. Whether it was mustard gas or shell-shock, I dont know; only that they were never themselves again and lived out their lives in that Vet hospital north of Chicago. Never a month went by without a visit. We all decamped at a park on the hospital grounds and after a picnic lunch, my grandma would cut her brothers hair with manual clippers, sweetly chattering non-stop the whole time updating her brothers on all matters familial, political and inconsequential. Their vacant stares never gave her pause. Meanwhile my brothers and I would wreak havok on the swing sets and see-saws, eating as much ice cream and candy that we could put in our mouths. Looking back, I find great happiness in my grandmothers love for and devotion to her much altered brothers, and I feel such deep gratitude to my great uncles for sacrificing the normalcy of their lives that I (and the rest of us) might enjoy the goodness of the lives we live now. Thank you, Uncles. I hope you are happy with what I have done with my life, always striving to be worthy of your sacrifice.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:07:19 +0000
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