Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Remembrance

I woke up this morning thinking about my grandpa Gus, and two of my great-grandpas, Thomas Patrick and Ernie.
Portrait of Gus Caponi in WWII uniform
Gus Caponi, WWII
 We've been working on genealogy off and on for a number of years, but I hadn't really looked at the family tree much recently. But Saturday, when Chris's parents were here, he wanted to show them a few neat things he had found, so we pulled up our tree on Ancestry. And down the rabbit hole we went.
A full length snap shot of Ernest Simpson in WWI uniform.
Ernest Simpson, WWI
Add to that looking through old family photos last week, picking a selection to share with Sam's teacher (they are learning how things change and I have a LOT of old photos with old cars, old tvs, old clothes....). You can see why the past has been on my mind. 

And then today is Veterans' Day. 

Full length portrait of Thomas Patrick Cuber in WWI uniform.
Thomas Patrick Cuber, WWI

Both of my grandfathers served in WWII. Two of my great-grandfathers served in WWI. There have been one or two others in my family, like Gus's brother (more than one brother?). But military service hasn't been a big thing in my family, unlike Chris's family.

Portrait of Thomas Cuber in WWII uniform.
Thomas Cuber, WWII
Chris can trace his line back to the 1600s, to the first surviving white child born in the colony of Rhode Island. There have been many with military careers on his side of the family, dating back to the Revolutionary War. His father and grandfather both served in the Air Force.

I've always appreciated the folks who choose to serve. But those of my ancestors who served did so at times when the majority of the country was involved. They fought in the Great War, in the World Wars. 

But I woke up this morning thinking about Gus, and Ernie, and Thomas Patrick. Their pictures have been floating in my mind. We attended the Veterans' Day program at the boys' school, where each grade sang a patriotic song. The relatives attending who are veterans or current military were asked to come to the front and be recognized. A service medley was played on the piano as they walked to the stage, and their kids joined them. 

And it hit me in the feels. 

Thank you to all the service members, past, present, and future. 

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