Heroes and Regular People

I've been thinking about my father and how difficult the last few years have been - particularly this last year, with his advancing vascular dementia and all of its accompanying indignities. And, I've been thinking a lot about how the day-to-day life that, under some circumstances, allows you to accomplish heroic things is the very same day-to-day life that eventually wears you down.

Our perception of people is based on our own experiences and yet, there are other perceptions. Your peers often view you in a different light than your family. My friend Anita's significant other, Don, read Dad's obituary and said "Wow, this guy was a war hero!" But what kid, over the age of five, ever thinks of a parent as a hero? We located and framed the war medals when we moved Mom and Dad out of their long-time home, but there was little time for reflection. Don, as a combat veteran in Vietnam, had a better understanding of what those men experienced and it was a good reminder for me to look at things in a different light.

So Dad, this one's for you and all the brave men who served in the "China-Burma-India Theatre" during WWII. The names and positions were illegible on the back of the photo, but Dad is first row, far left. Not sure of the date, but it would have been in 1942 - their plane "Little Mike" was new and the men looked young.



I like this picture because he looked happy - in recent years, he spoke often about his time in the military and although we didn't understand the stories, it was obvious that he had a great deal of respect and admiration for his fellow soldiers. It's also the only photo I've seen of him that looks like my brother, Ed.



I don't know where they were, but they look cold and miserable out on a tarmac. Dad's far right in this shot.



We don't know a lot about his unit, but in this photo the "Little Mike" proudly boasts twelve camels - earned one at a time for each successful bombing flight over the Himalayas, or as the soldiers called it "the Hump". Needless to say, they look older and less naive. Dad is back in his position - first row, far left - and it's possible the photo was taken in 1945.



He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal as an Aerial Engineer Gunner in B-17 and B-29 bombers - the "Little Mike" was a B-29. He also received an Air Medal with two clusters, the Southwest Pacific Ribbon and the Asiatic Pacific Ribbon with four battle stars.

I found this article, saved from a 2000 Houston Chronicle, documenting the death of the Hiroshima bombardier who was also part of their "C-B-I Theatre" unit. It was kept with these photos in a file with his military papers. Having known all these guys, this was something close to Dad's heart even in his later years.

Running the Rock

Sunday, December 4th, was Melissa's 40th birthday and to celebrate (huh?) she decided to enter the 5-man relay - part of the Dallas White Rock Marathon - and invited us to join her, Jason and Jennifer in the challenge.

Our team name - Mel's Birthday Brigade:



Next, we needed a logo and official t-shirts. Enter the crack design team at BrewerETC Marketing Group. LOL!



The birthday girl with all the kids and their jingle bells - provided by Melissa's mom. Melissa's parents, Paul and Loraine, came up from Kingwood to support the team and I'm not sure we could have pulled it off without them - the relay creates a few logistical challenges!



The girls bought matching running skirts and we were all grateful for the built in leggings because it was C-O-L-D and wet.



Boys modeling the back of the t-shirts



The catalyst of this great adventure was Mel's brother-in-law, John Vickers, who is an avid runner and was competing in the half-marathon (again). I don't know why I don't have any photos of John, but it might have been because John and Jerry left the house before 6am to get to Fair Park and work their way into the appropriate "starting pens".

It was raining when they left the house and it was raining at 8am when they started running. It rained all day, with the temperature dropping from a whopping high of 46 degrees to about 41 when we finished five hours later.

Jerry on the course ...



Jason ran the second leg and unfortunately we didn't have a way to capture any photos of his journey. Mel and I waited at the next transition point, freezing in the cold drizzle.



Jason handing off the "team tracker" to Melissa



... and she's off!



It's so rare that official race photos turn out good, but this is a great shot of Melissa. It looks like she's really making tracks!



Melissa covered one side of White Rock Lake and I covered the other - here we are at the hand off point.



Securing the tracker in my pocket and getting some info on course conditions (cold and wet)



Jennifer, Paul, Loraine and all the kids made it out to meet Jason and Melissa at the next hand-off point, where I would get to stop running up hill and pass the tracker to Jennifer. I think Melissa was smiling because she was finished!



Here I come, running into the transition area ...



red-faced from the cold wind, and lungs burning from running that last grade.

Jason made the observation that he had felt kind of powerful during his run, because the relay participants are mixed in with the marathoners and as they're starting to feel tired, you're just getting going. Well, my segment ended just after mile 21 - known to marathoners as "the wall". Race organizers almost always arrange the course so that "the wall" is located on a steep grade - just to test your will power. I wasn't running my best time up that last hill, but I passed a few marathoners - huffing and puffing - who provided the motivation to push on and made me feel like a better runner than I am.



I lucked out with my transition because Jason and Melissa met me and I was able to warm up in Jason's car on our way to the finish. We didn't see her cross the line, but I snagged these photos from the race photographer. Pretty impressive!



She looks happy and might have been thinking about the hot pancakes we were promised, but did not receive, at the post-race event!



Our official team photo ...



Aside from the weather, it was fun and Jerry and I were happy to be part of Melissa's big birthday. It's something we will all remember for a long, long time!

Everyone Loves a Parade!

Saturday morning, we headed out to our reserved bleacher seats (yeah!) to meet Jason, Melissa and Mel's sister, Jennifer, and her family from Kingwood. As we were waiting, a gentleman who we believe could be the "real Santa" came walking by. Zach wanted to double check the information he had gotten from Mrs. Claus the night before. Yep ... nice list!



He asked Santa to take a picture with him and he was very agreeable. Luke snuck into the background, but didn't confirm his status.



Zach, monkeying around with Jerry



There are many cool things about this parade, but the clowns are awesome. Tons of clowns are hanging around the bleachers, playing tricks on the kids and taking pictures.



We're all here ... when does this start?



Starbucks? Check. Reindeer antlers? Check.



Here comes Thomas the Train



Dancing cowboys and cowgirls



Old McDonald had a farm ...



Llama, Llama Red Pajamas ...



I have to be honest, I don't have a clue who this character is, but the colors were good!



And then the Star Wars characters arrived on the scene ...



Storm Troopers ...



Imperial Guard (I think)



Darth Vader ...



Captain America ...



And who wouldn't love a Dolly Parton gingerbread cookie?



Here's a whole troop of gingerbread men ...



Bob the Builder - YES we CAN!



This bat character looks a lot cuter than the creatures living next door!



The Adolphus float ...



The Green Lantern ...



Elmo and a fish bowl



These white horses were pretty impressive



The Hardin Band - these guys are good



For a while, we were surrounded by "men in yellow hats"! Zach had hung out with Curious George at the party the night before.



Everyone had a good time with the passing of the Bubble Train



And here is the conductor ...



Giant nutcracker!



This clown was part of the dinner act and he was trying to get something going with the beauty queen, which gave his wife a reason to "plank him" with a board.



The high-kicking Kilgore Rangerettes ...



Here comes Santa Claus ...



but not the same Santa who visited with us before the parade.



It was a fun time and we learned that investing in bleacher seats is the way to go!