Veteran's Day.
Nov. 11th, 2012 03:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dodger_sisterI am headed off in a bit here to go see Gigi and Papa. You know, we never called them that when we were kids. All of our great-grandparents had passed on, so we just called our grandparents the standard ‘Grandma & Grandpa’. And we used their first names to distinguish between the two sets of grandparents.
The Guy Cousin was the first to have a kid and both of his children referred to our grandparents - their great-grandparents - as Grandma & Grandpa At The Farm. But when my other cousin had her two boys, they referred to them as ‘Gigi & Papa’. Which confused the hell out of the Guy Cousin’s children who were like, “Who the heck are Gigi & Papa?” But now it’s pretty universal that everyone refers to them as Gigi & Papa and even I find myself doing it as well. In this new era where the elderly live so long that we have grandparents, great-grandparents and even sometimes great-great-grandparents all still living at once - we have to get creative with our nicknames!
Anyways, going to see my WWII veteran grandfather on Veteran’s Day seemed like a good thing to do. He used to tell us all the best stories about being in the Navy. My Grandma would always say, “Oh quiet, they don’t want to hear that story. Leave those kids alone,” but I always loved Grandpa’s stories. I honestly think he is where I get my storytelling abilities from - he would have made a great traveling bard.
I stole this image from someone named Longshot over on Wordpress - it was too beautiful to pass up. In his post he talks about his father’s ship, the USS Tennessee, which logged over 170,073 miles in the war. My grandpa was in the Navy as well, and he was on one of the first ships to come into Pearl Harbor after the attack, where the Tennessee was. His stories of the aftermath are both horrifying and filled with astounding acts of kindness. It’s a shame he never wrote a book.
Thank you to all our veterans.
The Guy Cousin was the first to have a kid and both of his children referred to our grandparents - their great-grandparents - as Grandma & Grandpa At The Farm. But when my other cousin had her two boys, they referred to them as ‘Gigi & Papa’. Which confused the hell out of the Guy Cousin’s children who were like, “Who the heck are Gigi & Papa?” But now it’s pretty universal that everyone refers to them as Gigi & Papa and even I find myself doing it as well. In this new era where the elderly live so long that we have grandparents, great-grandparents and even sometimes great-great-grandparents all still living at once - we have to get creative with our nicknames!
Anyways, going to see my WWII veteran grandfather on Veteran’s Day seemed like a good thing to do. He used to tell us all the best stories about being in the Navy. My Grandma would always say, “Oh quiet, they don’t want to hear that story. Leave those kids alone,” but I always loved Grandpa’s stories. I honestly think he is where I get my storytelling abilities from - he would have made a great traveling bard.
I stole this image from someone named Longshot over on Wordpress - it was too beautiful to pass up. In his post he talks about his father’s ship, the USS Tennessee, which logged over 170,073 miles in the war. My grandpa was in the Navy as well, and he was on one of the first ships to come into Pearl Harbor after the attack, where the Tennessee was. His stories of the aftermath are both horrifying and filled with astounding acts of kindness. It’s a shame he never wrote a book.
Thank you to all our veterans.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-11 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-12 02:04 am (UTC)BTW, I saw Teen!vengers is up!!! You should have seen the weird body-spasm I had when I saw that. But it's been a go-go-go day, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I am so stupidly excited - I didn't expect it to be done so soon after our last conversation about it!! I am sure I will leave you a long rambley comment of squeesploding after I read it. <3
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Date: 2012-11-12 02:34 am (UTC)Go you on the Xmas shopping - I was thinking of emailing the sis in law who always does the gift draw for us each year to get her on that before all the good sales start. The more time, the better!
I only posted half of it, because I was finishing it today and I just couldn't wait to at least get SOME of it up there. I can't wait to see what you think!
*smooches* Sleep well!
no subject
Date: 2012-11-12 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 08:04 pm (UTC)I repainted it to look like an immigrant storage chest for my American Girl doll when I was younger. I've also read letters and gotten a lot of history from both my parents.
And ugh, I hate this stupid sickness I've got, all I want to do is fall over. But I should be getting my internet installed today, so I can go home earlish and drink tea and eat toast as I wait.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 08:18 pm (UTC)You know, that stupid sickness has probably been coming under all that stress you've had the last few months. Doesn't it always feel like that - you are bogged down under stress and the second you finally start to wade through it and get it all sorted out, you suddenly fall over sick?
Ugh.../pats your sick head/ Feel better, darling!
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Date: 2012-11-13 08:23 pm (UTC)My plan is to leave work in about ten or fifteen minutes, go home and curl up as I wait for the cable people to arrive. Once I have my net set up, my place will feel even more like I can come home and just be after work.
Also there's this added stress with trying to sort out these issues about gaming in the library. I'm part of the conversation but at this point, its gone beyond me and everyone has many feelings, its a lot.
Oh and I lost a contact this morning and don't have any replacements left, so I'm wearing my glasses which have an old prescription. If the cable guys are quick, I might even be able to go and get eye stuff sorted tonight. I think wearing glasses hasn't been helping with feeling better.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-14 01:38 pm (UTC)I have a new contact lens prescription and its wonderful, wearing old glasses while recovering from being sick was a horrible idea.
Oh and I just had a great meeting with student government about gaming stuff, sometimes things really do work. I'm looking forward to telling you the saga of trying to find a compromise for gaming in the library.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 09:12 pm (UTC)Oh yes! I love the drama of teenagers! Or is it faculty? Either way, I want to hear it!