What a nice message. I salute your mom and you! 🫡 
Yesterday while checking out at a store (okay it was a liquor store) I noticed the guy next to me was wearing a Vietnam hat. We shook hands and thanked him for his service. He turned out to be a chatty guy so we ended up talking for a bit. I’m unashamedly patriotic and proud of our country and count my blessings to have been born here to reap the benefits.
Went to the soul less sterile grim Penna liquor store today too. For board room spirits ginger vodka. Took a wee sip. Holy moley. Thanks for the compliment. I live near Lansdale Pa and there is a large ish park called memorial park. There is a big memorial to vets and I remember driving past the memorial on my way home from the daycare where I worked. It was veteran’s day and raining and chill and almost dark. As I drove closer to the memorial I could feel energy and I looked over at it. A group of vets were huddled against the cold and saying prayers.
To honor their fallen comrades who were not there with them I think. My mom did put out a big flag for flag day on that hot noon time flag day. I wrote in a regretfully lengthy comment to Jim Leff about my cousin’s army hat that he wore on the beaches of Wildwood NJ that summer. That hat made him the king of the beach and I am glad to hear that you took time to talk to that vet. The hat was also to cover up the steel plate in his head. He and his comrade hit a land mine and the comrade was killed instantly. I get a little twichy when people hold forth about the sixties but white out the Vietnam War. A woman named Ceil would hang out at my dad and mom’s bar and sometimes cry when she had had a few because her son died in Vietnam. Ceil was after my dad and wanted him to divorce my mom and marry her. My mom knew this but still felt very sorry for Ceil’s loss. My mom had a great generosity of spirit which I can only dream of achieving.
Yes. It’s reminiscent of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Miserables.
There’s a grief that can’t be spoken
There’s a pain goes on and on
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone
Your mother seems very well grounded and a wonderful person. As for Ceil, life can be very difficult.
I spent six months in Cape May and made a couple trips to the Wildwood boardwalk. I was about 20 then and have very fond memories of the beaches. Oh, those beaches. 
Maybe your father tossed me out of his bar. 
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My mom had a troubled relationship with her own mother who was an extreme introvert named Esther. Esther had a powerhouse of an intellect. My mom was pretty extroverted and the two of them just did not get each other. I greatly appreciated my grandmother and think of her often. My mom was determined to have a good relationship with her own daughter so I profited greatly from this. My mom’s mantra was keep the lines of communications open always no matter what. Ha ha ha naw the bar was in Lansdale Pa. My grandparents had houses in stone harbor and Dennisville NJ. My SO and I were welcome to stay at the one Dennisville house and did so. Our late night splurge was the Cape May Courthouse diner. We mostly pointed the car to stone harbor but once in awhile went to cape may. And of course Wildwood.
Some Italian families have a tradition of of one empty chair on Christmas Eve for a lost loved one. And the feast of the seven fishes cannot begin until someone sees the first star come out. My dad had a business partner named Joe who was like a second father to me. He would have done the bouncing. He taught me how to box. Very shortly after he died I fell asleep thinking of Joe. I dreamed that I asked him if he loved me. I was very upset. I stood in line at the register and looked behind me and there he was. He looked at me gently and sadly. The very next day his sister handed me a wallet sized picture of me she had found in Joe’s wallet. Her name was Rose. She was a little bit annoyed as she said “there were no other pictures in his wallet but this one.”
Happy Pride Month Everyone!
The US embassy in Berlin is flying the rainbow colors 
Warriors…
Hello Everyone:
Something is on my mind that I’m not able to shake.
There have been some interesting interpretations/ perceptions happening since about a week ago on the platforms and the full moon (Strawberry Super Moon) is tonight !
There have been unwelcoming nasty comments made and it is not the first time.
It is true that people attach the emotion to whatever is posted.
When someone has been made to feel unwelcome and many take that opportunity to pile on the nasty…
Well, I take that personally then I don’t feel welcome either !
If someone is being made to feel unwelcome and people 
those comments.
It’s the equivelent of “high fiving” and riduculing that person.
Why can’t people just put their device down and walk away for awhile?
Food for thought:
Respectfully,
Olunia
P.S.
Just a reminder:
I agree for the most part, but I don’t understand this part.
What I meant by that is it doesn’t matter what you write or how you write it.
You could think that you wrote something nice yet the person on the receiving end “attaches the emotion” through interpretation.
When you meet face to face you have body language, facial expression and tone of voice to gauge the meaning of the words.
On the internet one just has the words of the sender to make their perception with.
What does that mean? I look fat in this suit. Is that what you are trying to hint at with that comment? I look like a fat cow in a pinstripe suit, that’s what you are really saying here right?
Did you inadvertently insult someone?
If you are referring to someone making a suggestion and others egos getting in the way then perhaps yes.
That’s not what my post is about.
I’m not. It’s hard to tell from your post whether you were on the receiving end of unpleasantness, or you were the accidental deliverer of it.
I was an observer to the abuse and that makes me feel unwelcome.
Ah, okay.
