{"id":3263,"date":"2011-05-31T18:07:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html"},"modified":"2011-05-31T18:07:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T18:07:00","slug":"memorial-day-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.\u00a0 For the first time, I had someone to visit.\u00a0 My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago \u2013 though it seems forever \u2013 was a veteran from the Korean War era.\u00a0 He served on the home front, and was in the 3rd Armored out of Fort Knox, and later Fort Hood, Texas.\u00a0 He left when his discharge came up, and returned to spend the rest of his life working for the Railroad.\u00a0 First the Erie Railroad, then later the Erie Lackawanna, and finally, the Consolidated Rail Corporation, or Conrail.\u00a0 In those two institutions were much of what informed my Dad, and defined him as I knew him. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This Memorial Day then, was a chance for me to go for the first time and visit his grave.\u00a0 It was a strange moment.\u00a0 I had moved on in many ways, with only the occasional fleeting memory coming over me, or waking me at night as I realize he is gone.\u00a0 But there, looking down at that plot of freshly seeded grass growing, I understood what death meant.\u00a0 Possibly for the first time.\u00a0 There he was, down there, under the ground.\u00a0 The man who had taken me sledding, held me on his shoulders, taught me to hunt, to drive, to be responsible.\u00a0 That same man was now separated from me for the rest of this life by all of that dirt and sod.\u00a0 <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

My family was there, of course.\u00a0 My wife and boys.\u00a0 The boys took it at varying levels.\u00a0 While there was a moment they all came to me and comforted me, they also went about their own ways, looking around and trying to find the best way to see this moment.\u00a0 My 12 year old, noticing that his grave faced the old railroad yard in which he worked so many of his best years, commented that it was fitting.\u00a0 The setting, near a small picturesque pond, was also mentioned.\u00a0 <\/div>\n

Then one of them noticed a flower vase on a nearby grave had fallen over.\u00a0 First one, then all four, went over to fix it and set it up again.\u00a0 They worked hard, but alas, it was broken and would not stay on that blustery day.\u00a0 Still, I thought it was kind.\u00a0 Nice that they would see the need of someone they didn\u2019t know, or would never know.\u00a0 And out there, somewhere, was someone who would not know four young boys taking time away from their own family and its needs, to help a perfect stranger.\u00a0 Somehow that made it all seem OK, like this is what we are made for. Not the fleeting and often superficial things we worry about, but for one another.\u00a0 And if that\u2019s the case, then I am fully confident in my Dad\u2019s own well being, for he spent a lifetime helping and being there for those around him.\u00a0 Even if he didn\u2019t know who they were.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And that seems to be the essence of what we remember about Memorial Day, if anything is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The older two continue working to fix the broken vase, while our youngest prompts an impromptu run by our 10 year old<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.\u00a0 For the first time, I had someone to visit.\u00a0 My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago \u2013 though it seems forever \u2013 was a veteran from the Korean War era.\u00a0 He served on the home front, and was in the 3rd Armored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMemorial Day 2011<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memorial Day 2011\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-i3vz6AshGsc\/TeVk2ilS_mI\/AAAAAAAAAd8\/eiWJLs4PM4U\/s640\/IMG_20110528_180902.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html\",\"name\":\"Memorial Day 2011\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Memorial Day 2011\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Memorial Day 2011","description":"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Memorial Day 2011","og_description":"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-i3vz6AshGsc\/TeVk2ilS_mI\/AAAAAAAAAd8\/eiWJLs4PM4U\/s640\/IMG_20110528_180902.jpg"}],"author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html","name":"Memorial Day 2011","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-31T18:07:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"This memorial day marked a new turn in my life.  For the first time, I had someone to visit.  My Dad, who passed away just a few months ago -","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/05\/memorial-day-2011.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Memorial Day 2011"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}