Quiet Moments

I'm sitting at my kitchen table, watching a soft snowfall. It's so soft that there was no school delay this morning -- so my sweet son had to walk up to the bus stop in it. I hope it was a blessing -- this late snow. I'm delighted I don't have to go out into it!

After he left I put on my lawyer voice and called the folks at Arlington National Cemetery.  THEY didn't know I was still tucked in my bed in my jammies!  Our family was a little confused as to the delay in Arlington's response to our funeral director in El Paso regarding my dad's subsequent interment at Arlington. We were concerned that she was getting the run-around, and not being a DC type of person, didn't know to push things.

Turns out they're just behind. They will call her by the end of this week to confirm dad's eligibility and schedule an interment for later this year. We know he's eligible and they have the documents -- it's just a matter of working through their pile since they receive so many. Seems like it would be quick to confirm, but such is military bureaucracy, even in death.

At any rate, as I sit here watching this snowfall, and appreciating the dusting, I can just imagine how beautiful it is over there this morning. My dad would be pleased that his final resting place will be amidst his brothers in arms, and on the land confiscated from his beloved Robert E. Lee. I'll be able to ride my bike over to visit his grave marker.

I think one of the things that appealed to him about serving in the Army for his career was that feeling of belonging to something bigger than himself. I know for myself, the fact that I served in uniform gives me a feeling of empathy and belonging to "our" troops that is at a different level. And having been a child of a military member and wife of a military member, I understand what the families experience in a very different way as well.

The photos are from my yard this morning -- a "powdered sugar" kind of snow indeed.