Memorial Day 2013

Today marks consecutive daily reprieve number 6,560. This time of year, and specifically Memorial Day, still remains particularly challenging for my husband and I. We both have loved ones in Arlington National Cemetery. Also, a few days from now will be the 18th anniversary of when Tommy left this plane for The Big Meeting. A few weeks ago I learned from another beloved old-timer that at least one of the Capitol Beltway's other Recovery Warriors has joined him.

It's been said time and again that life's two constants are death and taxes. Sometimes I gotta wonder though, how dead is dead? I mean, think about this for a moment. If a message, an idea, or an action remains in play, it's not really extinct, now is it? The recovery equivalent of this concept is that an activity cannot be called an "old behavior" if it's still a regular occurrence. Same logic applies similarly to subjective concepts such as ideas and messages. So, how "dead is dead" again?

Here's the part of this entry which explains its selected images. History is full of unsung heroes. It usually isn't until some time after their passing that they get their due recognition, at least indirectly. On this Memorial Day, in addition to our late, upstanding American service personnel, I'd like to pay tribute to another distinguished individual who still means the world to me.

Wiley, or "Pop-pop" to my cousins and I, was the best grandfather any kid could ever hope for. If there's anything to genetics, it is he who remains my first true mentor.

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For the clueless wonders, Rotors: I,II,III, Start positions: B,D,G
If that's still not enough, read this entry's source. Got it? Good.

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The blockquote below is a mildly redacted copy-and-paste of a September 2008 email from one of my uncles.

I just got off the phone with [name redacted], one of dad's pals from the intelligence/crypto days.

I am in tears of relief because i can reveal to all of you what i have been trying to find out... What our father did to be awarded the Legion of Merit that he was so proud of.

I had written to Senator Nelson for the answer, but his response was that a fire in the late 1980s destroyed all records from WW2!

[redacted] has just confirmed that our father, a sargeant in the army, was the one who broke the japanese diplomatic/naval codes and most likely, by himself alone, caused the triumph in world war 2 !!!

I can't tell you how proud i am of him...how he could carry that tremendous accomplishment to his grave shows what a great man he was.

I couldn't wait to share this with all of you. Thank God for people like him. Now he can rest in peace knowing how much we admire him as a Father, Husband and true Patriot.

Now, I too, can rest in peace...[uncle]

Perspectives on Being Of Service

Many years ago, a much beloved old-timer (I'll call him "Tommy") was chairing a meeting of a group in which several members were facing some critical life circumstances. A couple of these affected folks were very active in "service positions" that they honestly couldn't perform during the height of their respective challenges. For them being unable, at that point, to carry out their fellowship responsibilities was like adding insult to injury.

Tommy, now sharing his ES&H on powerlessness in conjunction with service "positions", bowed his head for a moment while he weighed this dilemma. As he raised his head, he slowly took in a deep breath. He scanned the room, appearing to take mental stock of newcomers and established members alike. Another few moments of silence passed as he closed his eyes, and again slowly drew a long, deep breath.

He looked around the room again, this time in a loving and reassured manner. He nodded as if acknowledging some message transmitted only to him. Tommy then got a special gleam in his eye, as was his habit when he'd struck upon something akin to gold. Thank goodness he shared it with the rest of us.

"Who here in this GROUP has a service position?" Tommy asked, already knowing. "Raise your hands, folks. Raise 'em high." Hands started drifting upwards, some more enthusiastically than the others.

"Ok, good. Keep 'em up there. Now, who in this meeting has any sort of service position outside of this group?" About a half-dozen hands joined those already raised. The gleam in Tommy's eyes was now accompanied by an emerging grin he was trying to suppress. The wily old coot wasn't quite finished.

Arms began to droop as Tommy wrangled the message he'd received into physical manifestation. "Don't you let those hands down yet- and if you don't know what "yet" means, it's You're Eligible Too!" He scanned our faces again. Some of us had begun to smile because we knew he was about to deliver his coup de grâce.

"Now, you kids who don't have your hands up, this is your YET. These guys getting sore arms may have 'service positions', but they're just like you. Why? Because what we do here ain't all about earning fellowship Brownie points. It's about being here for our brothers and sisters. Sometimes the way any of us can be of service is by letting our family be of service to us- and that goes for all you 'service junkies' too!" Tommy paused momentarily, letting the message take root.

"Ok. By now some of your arms might be tired enough to where you can't throw a punch at me for making you keep your hands raised for so long." Tommy heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief. It was met with appreciative laughter. "Alright, lower 'em. One last thing though, before we wrap up this discussion. It's a question. Will everyone here who is willing to be 'of service' please stand up?"

Every seat was devoid of a fanny.

Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness. We who are about recovery are about being Of Service because it's essential to HOW it works.