Monday, March 27, 2006

Be still, my patriotic heart...

And dang it, where WAS my camera????

We were playing in the park after I picked Hannah up from preschool. Scotty was being cute, peeking through the trees and just having a good time. Hannah's friends, Ashlyn and Alyssa, were there, so Hannah was all set.

First, I set about picking up the pieces of the wagon that were strewn all over the place (you can read about this HERE - it's the second half of the post)...and I proceeded to yell at all the kids in the playground. I told them that if I found out who did it, I was going to call the MP's on them for destruction of property. I told them that the playground was designed for little kids, not big bullies, and that they should pass the message on. Of course, none of THEM did it...but they all started speculating about who MIGHT have done it..."it was these two girls, one from there and one from here"..."I'll bet it was those other guys that were here"...blah, blah...whatever. If you KNOW who did it, pass the message on...Mean Mom on the loose.

One very fine young man set about helping me and my friend Sandra pick up the pieces. Not only were there about a million little pieces of this wagon all over the place...we found the remnants of an office chair and several other toys like buckets and shovels...all barely idetifiable. I did this for the better part of an hour. Of the 10 or so kids there (not including my kids) only ONE bothered to help, and as he was helping, one of the older kids, a really tomboyish girl, said to him, "You DON'T have to pick up, you know...YOU didn't do it." To his credit, the great young man answered, "Yeah, I know, but I want to help her...you should SEE how much stuff there really is!"

Anway, I've COMPLETELY digressed off my topic, which was my patriotic heart and how it skipped a beat.

Remember...we live on a military post...and I've COMPLAINED about Reveille being played. They play Reveille at 6:30 a.m. every morning...and they play Retreat and To The Colors every evening at 5:00 p.m. I even had a laugh the evening they played Retreat/To The Colors SIX times in a row...had EVERYONE confused.

You see, when Retreat is played, the post comes to a standstill. A complete HALT. Military members in and out of uniform stop whatever they are doing...including driving cars...and face the direction of the flagpole. At this time, at the flagpole, the flag is being lowered quite ceremoniously. Most other people go about their business, but for some reason, kids are most enthralled by it.

Today was no different...Retreat sounded at 5:00 p.m. on the button. Sandra and I stopped, Hannah and her friends stopped (and saluted, lol)...and here's where MY heart dropped to the floor.

Scotty stopped...put his right hand up to salute...but decided it wasn't right...he TOOK OFF HIS BALL CAP, then rendered his salute. And stayed that way for both Retreat AND To The Colors. Where oh WHERE was my camera today????

Only on a military base do you see kids who know, at AGE TWO, that this is a very serious time and one must follow the protocol. He's seen his daddy do it, and he knows it's the right thing to do.

8 comments:

Sue said...

OMG Linda that is so awesome -- brought tears to my eyes :)

Free to Be said...

That was so sweet! Hello from Michele's.

Anonymous said...

WOW, that's pretty cool of the little guy to immitate and learn so well.

Liked your article link on breastfeeding at Michele's. That was a surprise.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh! I love when every night at 5 the boys both stop what they're doing and salute and stand still.

Anonymous said...

man, that makes me feel all HOOAH and everything.

ARMY life isn't for everyone, but I love it. Your post just hammers it home!

God Bless our men and women in uniform and those who love them!

My float said...

That's very sweet. Taught him well!

Robin said...

awww! I know what you mean, I never have a camera when I need one and my phone even HAS a camera! I'm here from Michele's today!

Kara said...

Funny, I just did on post on this myself. I'm an army brat and my father was a lifer. an E9. My earliest memories are of mom or dad stopping the car and we all piled out and saluted the flag, or just held our hands over our heart if we couldn't see the flag. One of my best memories actually.