It is 11:15 a.m. and a crowd of Bryn Athynites have gathered at the flag pole in Boro Park to honor our nation's veterans. From atop its knoll, the cathedral looks over the valley, across to the ceremonies.
I
miss the ceremony. Every Veteran's Day, Pete
and I would get the kids ready, load up the buggy if there was a little one,
and off we would go, up Alden Road, up the Black Path, to South Avenue and
across to the park.
Now,
as back then, there are speeches, the Boys Scouts march, the Girls Club leaves
a wreath at the memorial; everyone will join in singing the national anthem, a
group from a near by VFW post will fire off a volley in memory of those who
fell. Someone will play Taps in the distance, and there will be a moment of
silence. I am with them all today,
if only in my heart.
For
some still inexplicable reason, one year they asked Elsa to speak. She wasn't a veteran, wasn't a teacher or
a sports coach or a community leader. Apparently, the person
scheduled to speak fell through and the head of the selection committee worked
at Prudential and so did Elsa and they ran into each other at the elevator and
the other person saw her opportunity and took it. Elsa, never one to turn down a chance at a
"jolly pulpit," came on board.
Elsa
was 8-years old when Mike joined the Navy.
He served in the Reserve while in high school and got his active uniform
almost as soon as he got his diploma.
The slogan is "Join the Navy and see the world." Mike did.
He had the great good fortune to be a plank owner (original crew) of the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, on which he made two tours of
duty of the Mediterranean. But what
stopped our hearts back home was when the "Big E" took part in the Cuban
Blockade during the Cuban missile crisis.
Scary would be an understatement.
Mike
and his shipmates were part of a nuclear-powers showdown on our very doorstep
that had us on the brink of unimaginable war.
Like we had in the Great War and World War II, back home we waited and
prayed.
Elsa’s
talk focused on those uncertain times, times which most of the adults standing
around the flag pole could remember in some way, and how it was for those of us
~ waiting, waiting, waiting.
She threw in
her favorite bits of Lincoln including doing right as we see the right, and
then she did a gutsy thing - she led the gathering in song.
Elsa
does not have a pitch-perfect voice and I was startled when she came out with
the request to sing. She got us all into
singing the round, Dona Nobis Pacem. It was pretty raggy, but we did it.
As
soon as we heard Elsa invite everyone to join in, Mim and I knew that it was more than simply appropriate to
the moment, that the it replicated a moment pulled from a family-favorite (click Dear Sis) M*A*S*H. episode that honored Father Mulcahey, who was having a spiritual crisis, and his work of peace in the middle of the ravages
of war.
It gave me goose bumps, standing there amidst the singing amidst the singing; it
gives me goose bumps remembering it now.
May
you all have a memorable Veteran's Day, whatever flag your service men and
woman serve under.
May the Lord continue to "Give us peace."
Love – Mum L.
<< My thanks to Lori Nelson (and loving
thoughts of her parents, especially Lou) for the words to Taps ~ "Day is done, gone the sun, from the lake,from the hills,
from the sky. All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh..." >>
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