I missed the Memorial Day ceremony on the Cook County courthouse lawn this year. I was a bit sad because I have attended the ceremony every year for the last 14 years. But I did something else patriotic—I went to visit my former Navy Seabee sister to celebrate her 50th birthday.
My husband Chuck and I have made it to the American Legion ceremony almost every year since we moved “home” in 1995. It means a lot to both of us. As an almost 22-year Army family, we became accustomed to the formality surrounding the military. To the soldiers who are ready at any moment to put themselves in harm’s way and their families, the morning reveille and evening retreat ceremonies are more than just pomp and circumstance. These dignified moments in the daily routine have special meaning. Every day is Memorial Day for our Armed Forces. Every day marks remembrance of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.
Driving past the parade field on any post at dawn or dusk means a brief traffic stop. Everyone on post— privates and generals, civilians and family members—stop their cars and stand respectfully as the bugle song rings out. Some posts, as Fort Ord, California did when we lived there, follow the song with the firing of a cannon.
So the Cook County service on the courthouse lawn means a lot to us.
I think my sister and I were predestined to be patriotic. We have very special birthdays. I was born when my dad was serving in the Army at Fort Carson, Colorado. The day I was born was Armed Forces Day, May 17. It is a holiday no longer celebrated except on military bases. But when I was born, 55 years ago, on my mom’s lunch tray was a cupcake with a little American flag, in recognition of the day. The flag has a special spot in my baby keepsake book.
By the time my sister Rhodelle was born five years later, my dad was out of the Army and our family was back in Grand Marais. Rhodelle was born at Cook County North Shore Hospital—on May 30, Memorial Day! At that time, Memorial Day was always May 30, not the last Monday in May. In honor of the day, when my mom received her lunch tray, guess what was there? Another tiny American flag has a special spot in Rhodelle’s baby book.
We led normal North Shore childhoods, not thinking too much about the significance of our special birthdates. Then I married my soldier sweetheart Chuck and embarked on a 20-year-plus career of military spouse. Rhodelle graduated from Cook County High School, tried a variety of jobs, and then decided to join the Navy. She ended up in the Naval Construction Battalion—the Seabees—and met her husband, J.R. Allman, who was also in the Navy. They had an interesting romance— they both served at McMurdo Station, Antarctica!
They now live on a ranch in Missouri where Rhodelle gets to put her Seabee “Can do!” spirit in action quite a bit. I don’t get to see too much of my little sister, so we decided to make the trip south on the occasion of her 50th birthday. My snowbird parents were there visiting as well, so we had a really nice time. We took in my nephew Jacob’s ball game and enjoyed seeing the horses, cows, chickens and now burros at their ranch. And we relaxed by the hotel pool in the 90-degree heat and went to a movie in a wonderfully air-conditioned theater.
And I got to spend Memorial Day with some of my favorite veterans— my husband, my dad, my brotherin law and my little sister. Happy birthday, Delle. A blessed Memorial Day everyone.
A man’s country is not a certain
area of land, of mountains, rivers,
and woods, but it is a principle; and
patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
George William Curtis
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