I have seen so many mentions of D-Day
today on the news and in social media.
One of my favorite thoughts said, “Their day at the beach made it
possible for our days at the beach.” I
take time each year to think about the day and some of the connections I have
to it. Today matters to me for a much
deeper reason.
Today my paternal
Grandfather, the one who comes up so often in my writing would have turned 109 (you
can read about him in Sheetrock on the Road). This year also marks the fiftieth year since
his reaching the clearing at the end of the path. I miss him in some way almost every day.
He once talked to me
about his time in the service. He said
he could not discuss what he had done to serve because he had promised not to
talk about when he left the service. My
Grandfather kept his promises.
He did talk about
D-Day. It was his birthday and we were
eating coconut cake and homemade peach ice-cream. I told him happy birthday and he said, “It is
D-Day and that is more important. Those
boys on that beach gave today real meaning.”
Then tears formed in his eyes and he continued, “I wish I could have
been there with them. By then I had
another job to do.”
That was all he said
about and he changed the subject by giving me another scoop of ice-cream made
with Georgia Peaches frozen the previous season and cream from his North
Georgia farm. That was the last we ever
talked about the war or had peach ice-cream together.
There are many times
throughout the last fifty years that I have wished my Grandfather could tell me
what to do or guide me in a decision. I
long to see him, go fishing together, or just sit in the cool of the evening sipping
sweet tea together. I miss hearing him
sing old gospel songs, preach with fire about love and grace, and speak kindly
to everyone he met.
Today I think about
the fact that I have more years behind me than ahead of and that I am at the
same age he was when he passed. My goals
are still in place and I am working to live every minute to honor God and the
things my Grandfather taught me about him.
He used to say that
he was sure I would outlive him. He
promised he would save me a seat at “the big dinner”. He also knew I would find faith and follow
Jesus. I will introduce you when we
catch up to him Dear Reader. You will
like him too.
For
F.F.B. – Michael Card
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner.
He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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