Please join me in celebrating a life well lived.
I just had a conversation with my dad who informed me that his sister, my aunt, has passed away. She was around 85 or 86 years old and died on Guam where she has resided since shortly after the US seized it from Japan in WWII. Her husband had been on a majority tour in the US Navy, sometimes now known as a "kiddy cruise", where he would be discharged upon his 21st birthday on 17 December 1941. He was stationed in paradise - Pearl Harbor HI and had 10 days to go on his tour, with his young wife living just off base, when their world, along with most of the world, changed forever. He stayed on for 27 more years and they settled on Guam. She is survived by my uncle, now around 88 years old and my first cousin. She was preceeded in death by my other first cousin around two years ago. She was extremely intelligent and astute and became quite a character - bright, ascerbic, sometimes ruthless, always fiercely loyal and patriotic.
My aunt was a war-time bride - they were young folks who made great sacrifices. They lived on the front of a great war. They lived the great war day in and day out for its duration. It turned out that they became quite well to do due to their wise investments and foresight in picking The Island Of Thieves as their little piece of paradise, but their sacrifices, and those of their entire generation should never be forgotten.
Join me now in toasting her; join me now in toasting all her survivors; join me now in toasting those who did not survive.
Join me now in toasting the memory of a great, and fading, generation. Never let the memory of what they did fade in our minds.
Cheers - and thank you.
Now, I weep.
I just had a conversation with my dad who informed me that his sister, my aunt, has passed away. She was around 85 or 86 years old and died on Guam where she has resided since shortly after the US seized it from Japan in WWII. Her husband had been on a majority tour in the US Navy, sometimes now known as a "kiddy cruise", where he would be discharged upon his 21st birthday on 17 December 1941. He was stationed in paradise - Pearl Harbor HI and had 10 days to go on his tour, with his young wife living just off base, when their world, along with most of the world, changed forever. He stayed on for 27 more years and they settled on Guam. She is survived by my uncle, now around 88 years old and my first cousin. She was preceeded in death by my other first cousin around two years ago. She was extremely intelligent and astute and became quite a character - bright, ascerbic, sometimes ruthless, always fiercely loyal and patriotic.
My aunt was a war-time bride - they were young folks who made great sacrifices. They lived on the front of a great war. They lived the great war day in and day out for its duration. It turned out that they became quite well to do due to their wise investments and foresight in picking The Island Of Thieves as their little piece of paradise, but their sacrifices, and those of their entire generation should never be forgotten.
Join me now in toasting her; join me now in toasting all her survivors; join me now in toasting those who did not survive.
Join me now in toasting the memory of a great, and fading, generation. Never let the memory of what they did fade in our minds.
Cheers - and thank you.
Now, I weep.
.
