"Welcome Home"

On Sunday, November 2, my husband and I went to Hartford to see the Veteran's Day Parade. We went last year for the first time and actually my attitude was, "been there, done that". I really did not want to go again, but then I realized how important it is to my husband. He is a Vietnam Vet.

It was a little warmer than last year, but not a lot. I bundled up with a blanket on my lap while I sat on a lawn chair watching one Veteran group after another and school bands and fife and drum corps pass by for nearly two hours. We were given signs to hold up which said "Thank you" to the Veterans as they went by. Every war or conflict was represented. Some Veterans walked with companies they work for now, some with veteran groups for their particular nationality, some by branch of the service and some just riding their motorcycles. There were groups representing the Civil War and Daughters of the American Revolution and even a group dressed up as the members of the 4077th from the MASH TV show. A replica of the Wall was wheeled by.

My husband wore his Vietnam Veteran cap, therefore, as those marching were honored, many of them, likewise acknowledged him on the side lines. He got a few "thank yous and a couple of "welcome homes". The one that touched me most and brought tears to my eyes was the black man who said, "Welcome home, brother."

How much my husband had wanted such a reception when he came home from Vietnam. How much we would have liked a "thank you" for risking his life. It is very important to my husband even now, to hear "thank you" for things he does now. He was forever effected by the negative way he and the other veterans were treated.

To this day, he feels bitter feelings toward Jane Fonda and other protesters. We researched and tried to send packages to every enlisted person from Barkhamsted two years ago. I know, though, as he watches ceremonies welcoming home soldiers now, he feels jealous. Who can blame him?

I was mentioning his feelings to someone and he said, "oh, get over it." Wrong choice of words this person was a proud descendant of American Indians and had been verbal about their mistreatment. I told him I could say the same to him about his feelings for his ancestors--He got the point.

Likewise, I wonder what it will take...hundreds of thousands of men died and fought brother against brother for the freedom of slaves in the Civil War. Why then, are all white Americans lumped into a category of basically, "them vs us"? Groups started up special scholarships for minorities, businesses established quotas for hiring minorities, government made a holiday for one of the most beloved leaders for racial equality, Martin Luther King Jr. Now we have a black president. Somehow, like my husband's long awaited "thank you", I just don't think it will be enough for some.

At least my husband's thorn in the side is one that he lived through--not something that happened over one hundred years ago. No doubt, there were still racial issues more recent than that, but I do believe such situations are only brought on by the people themselves, not by the nationality. Not every white man is a member of the KKK and not every black is a member of the Black Panthers and therefore, feel that way.

I'll admit, I will always feel uncomfortable if I am the only white person in a room of black people, though, likewise I would feel the same in a room of all men, all Asian or all Spanish. White people have not been the minority and therefore, those scenarios are unusual.

I have had a couple of black friends in my life. We saw past the racial issue. Yet I also worked with a mean black lady who hated whites and showed it any time she looked at us and was threatening to us. Some people can't get past it. Many people voted for Obama just because he was black. I'm sure, likewise, many people voted for McCain because he was a veteran and Palin, because she was a woman.

I can see when a person who's heritage is a minority and becomes the leader of our country, that would invoke pride in those people. I hope they too can now proudly put an American flag on their house. "This land is your land, this land is my land." Let's remember that fact is due to hundreds of thousands of men who fought in the Civil War and all the wars before and since, whether you agreed with the war or not. Just as minorities want respect, these men and women deserve respect.

It is a time of change. So, whether you supported the past wars, or the present, remember, these are individuals doing this for our country. Give them the respect they deserve and the thank you that they deserve. I was very touched when my husband came home from the grocery store one day and he said this little girl came up to him. He did not know her and thought she must have thought that he was someone else. He had his Vietnam cap on and this little child came up and said, "Thank you." He looked up and saw the mother watching. What a wonderful thing to instill in a child--gratitude for those who have served for us.

Surely in the next couple of days, you will see a veteran somewhere, take the time and thank them--and just don't do it on veteran's day. It will probably never be enough to erase the scars, but it certainly is a start. We have many things to be thankful for especially our freedom. When was the last time you said, "thank you"?

To any veterans reading this, I thank you.

If my husband wants, I will go to the parade again next year, and the year after and the year after....

Obama: Living under a black cloud?

I have to admit, I am not always a good judge of character. I will see a customer and get one impression of them at first and then realize later that I was entirely wrong. Maybe, just maybe, I've been too critical of Obama. Maybe he's just had a string of terrible bad luck.

Poor guy did not know that William Ayers and his wife were former Weathermen. He did not know when he donated $800,000. to Acorn that they were illegally committing voter fraud, he did not know when he sat in Wright's church that he was going to keep delivering the same type of message for over 20 years, he did not know that his aunt (who he mentioned in his book) was an illegal immigrant and living in government housing. He did not know that she showed up at his campaigns and that she contributed a couple of hundred dollars. He did not know the felons that he was hanging around with and even helping.

Wow. What horrible luck. If someone is living under such a black cloud, do we want that cloud over the White House and therefore, over us?

Six more days...

Okay, I can't contain myself any more. There are only six days left and I just can't do it. I have tried to keep this a happy place, a mostly non-controversial blog--no politics. I did not want to step on toes, or perhaps I did not want to take a stand. Political choices are personal. This has truly been the most interesting and most covered election that I have ever seen. At times I've been fascinated and at times so sick of the whole thing. My husband, a political and history junky, is going to have withdrawal when it is all over. He's relished this and if his guy wins, it will be a sweet victory. He will be shouting just like he did when the Red Sox looked like they were going to make it to the World Series. The Red Sox disappointed him and time will tell if the election disappoints him too.

I am registered independent, however I am conservative. I have tried to watch different TV stations to see the biases and how different people react to the debates and speeches, etc. I even caught part of a special on the history channel that I can't wait until they rerun. It was on body language. I have been naive and was so disappointed to learn that besides speech making, all the candidates learn body language too. However, there are times when they cannot control their body language. I believe I heard them say (but I want to see it again) that McCain's body language was honest whereas Obama's was less so. In my gut, I did not need a history channel special to tell me so. From the last debate, I felt like Obama had a smug smirk which reminded me of another presidential candidate that I did not like.

What bothered me first was the Rev. Wright issue. I debated a friend about this. I could not understand how someone could continue going to a church and hear such things if they did not believe the same. My friend told me that she continued to go to a church when she didn't believe everything they said. Ah, there's the difference. She opened my eyes. I never realized that some people do that. My husband and I jump ship whenever a church starts preaching something we don't feel is right. Perhaps we take our religion more seriously? Besides that, Obama didn't just go to church there, he said Rev. Wright was his spiritual advisor. Of course, he has since denounced him, but only due to public pressure. He would never have done that otherwise.

Then there's Bill Ayers. It amazes me that this man is a professor. What a liberal world we live in. I saw the video of his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, praising the Charles Manson murders in horrible words. After 9/11/2001 Bill Ayers still said he had no regrets for any of the Weatherman's bombings and only wish they had done more. If any of you have been to the Spy Museum in Washington, DC (I highly recommend it), there was a large special section on terrorism in the USA and the weatherman were among the terrorists. It was quite educational.

I see that Bernadine Dohrn is still fighting against the government and here Obama was in their home when his candidacy was decided? Shouldn't this bother people?

Obama is close friends with Tony Rezko, a felon, who helped launch his political career. Tony Rezko was a global arms dealer who worked with Sadamm Hussein. Doesn't this worry people?

Obama clearly gave money to Acorn and they clearly have deliberately forged absentee ballots. I haven't heard that these are not going to be counted. It sounded like it would be too much of a hassle to do that--yet when Florida's ballot was questioned, we waited for that to be settled.

I never understood how Obama did not feel the need to pledge to the flag when this is the flag of the country that he wants to "reign" over. I would be so proud of the flag of my country. To be honest, often when I watch a parade and our flag is being carried and the patriotic music playing, my eyes well up. I am so proud of our country and happy to live here.

I will say that I was listening to NPR radio the other day and they were commenting on different neighborhoods and that they discovered that black neighborhoods were less likely to fly the American flag. They interviewed some black people and they said they still did not feel like this was their country. I find that very sad. I don't know what has to be done to change that. I wish they would consider the hundreds of thousands of white men who gave their lives for their freedom. Is this taught in the schools? America has developed special scholarships for black children and other minorities. I don't know what it is like for them, but I cannot understand how they still feel unAmerican.

Anyway, the list goes on and on of the company that Obama keeps. He has been in the company of some pretty scary people. If I could draw, I would draw a political cartoon of the White House with Obama in there and all these questionable characters looking out of the White House windows and of course, no American flag.

I also have heard on TV that people don't care about who his friends are. They care about the issues. Well, being conservative, I have to go the other way. Yet, if that were a supposed conservative candidate with all those acquaintances, I would think twice. To me, character is just as important as the issues. I've heard Obama change his mind on the issues several times. How can you know what he will do?

To be honest, he kind of scares me. I know he's not the anti-Christ, but I wonder about him. He does not seem to be a proud American (his wife certainly wasn't), yet I feel he is smug and has too many dangerous and questionable associates. I want someone running for president who is proud of our country. I haven't seen that in him.

He is urging people to take off election day. Excuse me, this is the man who is supposed to understand the middle class...how many middle class workers can just take the day off? Or want to when they have only a couple of weeks vacation days?

Well, there I did it. I have surely offended or disappointed some--to which I say, get your own blog. It's free and very easy to do.

No matter what, pray for our country because it needs it.