Remembering the Coming Back, and not Crying About the Leaving..

That's a line from a Lyle Lovett song, and it was in my head all day yesterday.

I spent the day in a beautiful place, with the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, honoring the bravest and most generous people on earth for Memorial Day.

All generosity must be measured against the sacrifice of the uniformed. I know of no human sacrifice that comes close, and so we all reflect on that this weekend.

We were here...

With patriotic little ones.

Larger than life ones.

The bright future.

The glorious past.

It was quite something to see all these things together - the ones who fought our battles with the ones who fight our battles with the ones who will fight our battles.

It was almost as if you could see the torch passing in real time.

There were bowed heads, and there were just bows.

There were flowers, in a Texas star.

A rally around the flag.

A pause for silence.

A salute.

A fierce blue line.

They read the names of each man and woman who had served in each war from the Civil War forward from this little community. I was surprised to hear so many names three times for men who served in three consecutive wars. There were many, many names from the same families who gave sons and daughters again and again. And of course there were the names of cousins and uncles and uncles' cousins and cousins' uncles, all of which made the Civil War seem not nearly as long ago as it seemed on any other day. None of these people are famous, and yet there are no people on earth more essential to the quality of our every day lives. Nice to have that in perspective whenever you can.

After the ceremony, we did what families and congregations do best. We headed inside to eat.

Now this place is quite famous for the meals prepared at the church. The church ladies in Westphalia, TX are no ordinary church ladies. They have a divine gift, and they are not afraid to use it. As we waited in line for the main event, we were taunted by their baking skills.

 This is the sort of emotion these cakes produce.

However, for our fortitude in resisting these treasures in line, we were rewarded with the best, most legendary fried chicken on EARTH. Yes, on earth. I may or may not know one of the special elements of this famous chicken, but I will go to my grave with that secret unless I'm given special dispensation by the Pope to reveal it. Let's just say, it's Pope-worthy chicken.

After lunch, we popped across the street to the Old Store. Yes, it's called the Old Store.

Then, we got to pick out some home grown tomatoes. I think you might be jealous now.

With all this going on, Nemo really needed a place to hide.

He's such a sweetie, and he's the buddy of our beloved veteran and checkers champion, Rupert Boeselt. Apparently, to celebrate Memorial Day, he jumped out the window yesterday, right through the screen and all. Veterans' dogs are just as fierce as their owners.

Stamps: Land of the Free Ink: Basic Black, Cool Caribbean, Poppy Parade Paper: Whisper White

Remember.