Today we checked off three things on the list. One I really wanted to do and two were something the kids wanted to do.

Years ago I lost the taste for meat which means we don’t eat a lot of it at home. My son is part dinosaur which means he could eat meat, and only meat, for every meal. When he turned 13 his grandparents gave him a charcoal grill so he could grill all the meat he wants.

Today he put that grill together so he could start cooking tomorrow. His goal is to figure out how to grill a steak medium. He is looking to create a somewhat bloody steak. I’m thinking one reason is Mom would be appalled.

The one thing I wanted to do this break was to check out the newly renovated soldiers memorial. There were a few things I saw today that really stuck out to me and made an impact.

There was this lighter and a medal, neither created by the military. I found it impressive that people were so moved to create these for those who had served. I would imagine the military has some rules against this now, they are very fond of rules. What would we create today to thank those who are serving? Maybe one of those coins?

I would assume this is a part of our local history that we have long since forgotten. There were more anti-German posters in the room and it just left me wondering how much more I don’t know. I am also positive we have replaced German with another group here in St. Louis today. Do we never learn? This had me rather frustrated and unsure how to help.

There was a tiny little pick me up when I rounded the corner to find this poster, I just love it. This comes from Belleau Wood in WWI where the Marines earned the title of Devil Dog. The Marines have this bark used for motivation, and false motivation, while doing pretty much everything a Marine will do. The bark unnerved the Germans so much they nicknamed us Devil Dogs as we sounded like hounds of hell. I will sometimes recreated that same historic bark for the kids just for fun. To be clear, my fun not theirs. Pretty sure it is embarrassing them.

We ended the day at Sugarfire, a BBQ restaurant that was on the kids short list of places they wanted to go during break.

Our family had a dinner with a senator last night. This wasn’t some big fundraiser or public event, it was our family and the senator.

He flew into Chicago and then hopped a Southwest flight to St. Louis. Not familiar with how Southwest boarding worked he was nearly the last on the plane leaving him at the very back of the plane.

Once on the ground everyone quickly stood to exit the jet as fast as possible, or so they thought. The pilot asked everyone to sit as they had two police officers boarding the plane. I’m positive the whole place fell silent as they looked out the window to see multiple vehicles with their lights flashing. I have been on countless jets and have never seen anything like that. The pilot asked the senator to come forward as his security detail waited to escort him to the hotel.

In St. Louis we have a pretty big St. Patrick’s day parade. When the weather is nice the attendance tops 250,000. The parade lasts maybe two to two and a half hours, so many floats and groups participate. They always have a special guest from Ireland, this year it was Aidan Davitt.

Here is the Senator Aidan Davitt with my son Aidan Davitt. To be more specific Senator Aidan Joseph Daivtt with Aidan Joseph Davitt.

While I am not 100% the exact blood connection, I’m thinking he is our second cousin.

We all had a great time talking about family, a little politics and sharing stories.

The restaurant sent two of these to our table. Sometimes it is nice to travel with a senator.

I think my Aidan had a great time although maybe his favorite time of the night came at the very end.

Everywhere in the city Senator Davitt went he had a security team with him. My Aidan got to ride around after dinner in the car. He sat in the front and played with the sirens as they speed through the city streets. I stood outside the restaurant hearing the sounds pop up here and there with a smile on my face, I knew Aidan was having the time of this life.

While I might not be able to relate to the long distances Ernie is running I can understand his why.

I could not embed this video so check it out here on the CBS site.

Ernie talks of the gray lady, LST 325, and this epic journey he is on is to help preserve her. This was the type of ship he was on during WWII and it was a part of his soul.

There is only one left. Only one out of over 1,000. A tiny bit of history this Navy man wants so desperately to perverve.

I can understand. Something about living on a ship seeps into your soul.

I love the idea of this, so dedicated to something you give your all.

There are brothers of blood and then there are those that are forged out of something entirely different.

Parades always bring me back to another life. While you may see kids, dancers and high school bands I see into the past like some kind of timer traveler. I remember marching on Coronado Island in 1990 or it could have been 1991. We were to march no matter what but it just so happened that a huge team of horses were to our front. Just think of what the road might look like. I avoid every single obstacle block after block, our captain did not. It was hard not to laugh as he was marking time right in a large pile.

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This parade reminded me of Crow today. We had this cassette tape of old Irish drinking songs that we listened to maybe a thousand times while driving around. The music and all these people claiming to be Irish had my head swirling.

So many adventures. We were sent to Hokkaido for cold weather training, which was miserable. There isn’t anything worse than the cold, you go between miserable and frozen day after day. All of us were sent to do home visits with the locals. Somehow Crow was able to bridge the language barrier and carry on a conversation. For some reason I remember this scene, it was about football.

We had so many adventures. We stumbled upon this cave on base in Japan. There were signed stating the area was off limits but, as you can see, we really didn’t pay any attention to that. We viewed those signs as an invitation to make this our own spot where we spent many nights.

Pretty sure they were looking down in this deep hole in the cave floor which Crow happened to fall into one night. You know… caves get dark. A dozen or so staples in his head and he was ready to go!

We had need seen each other in maybe 20 years but it was like no time had passed.

It is funny how certain things can trigger a flood of past memories.

I sometimes think I should practice mindfulness, to stay in the here and now. Sometimes I love taking these journeys way into the past and reliving some of the best days. While not every day was sunshine and rainbows those days, I am forever grateful for Crow.

It was when my daughter was in first grade that we started a Friday happy hour tradition at Starbucks.

We would each order whatever looked good on the menu and then talk about our day. I would ask her about what made her laugh, something she was proud of and other things like that.

Some days she would talk nonstop and other days only answer in one word sentences. We did this most every Friday for years. My son joined us a few years later.

Fast forward and now she is in 9th grade and the tradition continues.

This week was pretty good, the kids were talking, laughing and having a good time. If you have kids you know what I mean, these are the golden days. No fighting, no name calling, it was just fun.

I take a picture at every happy hour and text it to the whole family. It is just a way to say hello and have them see the kids as they grow. Most everyone lives out of town.

I hope to hold on to these Friday coffees as long as I can.

UPDATE

I found the picture of our first Friday happy hour!

We had a sweet day planned. A group of teachers and myself were hitting the road in this awesome rental van. I was driving which I was a little sure of driving something so long.

First stop is an exclusive private school here in St. Louis. Their facilities are off the charts, I really have never seen such things in a K-12 school building.

We were in the basement of the building for a while looking at their maker and robotic spaces, so very impressive. They had all piece of equipment you could ever want.

Next we stopped by a Microsoft corporate office but before you judge you should visit. I’m so impressed and pretty sure that what we have seen is far beyond what Google has to offer. I will post more about this in the future.

We were sitting in their studio when my phone buzzed.

After this came in I stopped listening. His heart was beating 253 beats per second. This means another heart procedure for Aidan. We had the latest only a few months back. While he is only under for about 2-3 hours he has a heck of a time waking back up, that takes hours.

The upside was he told the paramedics how to calm his heart. He first two tries failed so he asked for a syringe without a needle. There is this method that I don’t fully understand, you blow into the cylinder and then quickly raise your feet and like magic the heart returns to normal rhythm.

Our next adventure begins.

I hear being a Grandpa is the best, it is like a redo on parenting.

Many years ago my grandparents lived in Wausau, WI. My Gramps had a Ford LTD, blue and as long as a school bus. I can still remember sitting on those blue plasticy seat, not sure what they were really made of. They were cold in the winter and boiling in the summer.

Today I had a group of teachers meeting at our off site facility which is a short drive from every building. As I drove back I had this flashback to childhood. My brother and I used to always ask Gramps to find the biggest hills and drive us up and down until we got tired.

I’m sure the hills were not very steep but I remember them as mountainous, I was sure we would flip over at any second. I was scared every time but kept asking for more.

Many years later, after the Corps, we took a trip to visit family in Ireland. Gramps grew up there. While I am pretty sure, hopefully, that I am many years away from obtaining the title of Gramps, I hope I can be just like him.

Today would have been a big one. I’m sure we would have all traveled to see you and celebrated with at least one cake, at least if I had my way. I always feel that if the celebration has only one cake it is kinda sad. I secretly judge every wedding I go to on the quality of cake. I am to cake as a palm reader is to a hand.

I was going to write 12 things that I remember that makes me laugh but there isn’t energy for that today.

Take every day as it is your last, you never know when it might be.

These four digits mean so much, these four digits defined who I was and what I stood for. It took a lifetime to earn. Blood, sweat and tears are just the start. The sacrifice is something many claim but really can’t relate to. The pain that lives on, more physical these days than mental. Earning those four digits take its toll.

It taught me what tired really is. It taught me what brotherhood can do for the soul. It showed me how to overcome much and endure what you can’t.

It taught me things that I just can’t write.

To my 03 brothers – today is our day.

Back in 2013 my son wanted pizza for his family birthday party and my aunt said she would take care of it but would only buy one. I was a tad nervous until I saw the size of this thing, it was unreal.

2014 he wanted the same exact pizza.

and again in 2015

2016 was more of the same

2017

2018

2019

Last night Aidan was pretty certain the pizza was getting smaller, it wasn’t that he was growing.