Lots of thoughts while watching the ceremony for President Bush. He was a great man and a good man, kind and respectful to others, but willing to do hard things in pursuit of the good.
Personally, I think back to watching President Kennedy lying in state after his assassination, one of the important and sad events in my childhood.
I think of my father, also a WWII veteran and a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (in Vietnam), who has never once even mentioned anything having to do with combat and is as good a man as exists in this world.
I think of President Bush as a father and an letter of his regarding the death of his young daughter from leukemia when she was 3 years old, that I first read 10 or 15 years ago.
(Excerpts below)
"We need some starched crisp frocks to go with all our torn-kneed blue jeans and helmets. We need some soft blond hair to offset those crew cuts. We need a doll house to stand firm against our forts and rackets and thousand baseball cards... We need a little one who can kiss without leaving egg or jam or gum. We need a girl," he wrote.
"We had one once. She'd fight and cry and play and make her way just like the rest but there was about her a certain softness. She was patient. Her hugs were just a little less wiggly,"
"My Daddy" had a caress, a certain ownership, which touched a slightly different spot than the "Hi, Dad" I love so much.
"But she is still with us. We need her and yet we have her. We can't touch her and yet we can feel her. We hope she'll stay in our house for a long, long time,"
Personally, I think back to watching President Kennedy lying in state after his assassination, one of the important and sad events in my childhood.
I think of my father, also a WWII veteran and a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (in Vietnam), who has never once even mentioned anything having to do with combat and is as good a man as exists in this world.
I think of President Bush as a father and an letter of his regarding the death of his young daughter from leukemia when she was 3 years old, that I first read 10 or 15 years ago.
(Excerpts below)
"We need some starched crisp frocks to go with all our torn-kneed blue jeans and helmets. We need some soft blond hair to offset those crew cuts. We need a doll house to stand firm against our forts and rackets and thousand baseball cards... We need a little one who can kiss without leaving egg or jam or gum. We need a girl," he wrote.
"We had one once. She'd fight and cry and play and make her way just like the rest but there was about her a certain softness. She was patient. Her hugs were just a little less wiggly,"
"My Daddy" had a caress, a certain ownership, which touched a slightly different spot than the "Hi, Dad" I love so much.
"But she is still with us. We need her and yet we have her. We can't touch her and yet we can feel her. We hope she'll stay in our house for a long, long time,"
