Honors and Memories

Like the title states, this blog is all about memories so it seems appropriate that this episode deals with memories not just of high school but of junior high school as well. I thought that this was going to be the final event of what turned out to be the culmination of a big project (the WVHS class directory), a big get together (in relative terms) and a little get together (the AWJHS reunion with the Piagets) which resounded with the sheer impact that it had on the attendees. Here's a link to the page: http://www.waynevalley67.net/html/awjhstalentshow.html

But like the late night pitchmen so love to say "But that isn't ALL!......." The Memorial Day events were followed up by Linda's Reitz reunion of nearly 200 attendees (120 classmates out of 300 surviving) a couple of weeks ago and the multi-event schedule that entailed (I emceed again but farmed out the photography this time) and then somehow I got roped into the photography for a classmate's spouse's reunion for another Evansville high school  a week later. Needless to say, I am glad we are not of the age where reunions need to take place annually (although the Reitz people endorsed the notion to do them every 2.5 years). I need a vacation to recover from all this reuniting.

This hiatus gives me a little time to think about what transpired this summer, what it really means to me and what I will do in the future regarding this group of classmates, some shared and some adopted. So I was sitting in the screened in portion of our back deck (my last refuge from swarms of little mosquitoes with big beaks who suddenly realized all at once that their favorite neighborhood food supply, i.e. me, was about to take to the indoors) when I hear the little dingy on my phone that sounds a lot like a Facebook notification.

Dave Spae's last journey, in honor of his service.

Sure enough, it was a post from Ruth Fox Spae's wall. Last week, she had posted a photo of what I had begun to think was Dave's memorial headstone but it was his urn which you can see being held by the marine on the left of the car. The ding was notice that Dave was finally being interred in Arlington National Cemetery with his USMC brothers after a long long wait since February. It was a really moving photo which I include here. And then Ruth really blew me away with her new profile picture: a close up of the marine who was holding Dave's flag held by the marine on the right. That is the photo that begins this installment.  Visit Ruth Fox Spae's wall and let her know that Dave is remembered, even if you didn't know him personally. He was one of us and served his country when it wasn't a real popular thing to do. God speed and farewell, big guy.