All Is Quiet On Memorial Day

I think of my father Memorial Day weekend, as I do any time there's a holiday honoring military service. He was no flag waver, and used to say that if I was drafted for the Vietnam War he'd break my leg rather than let me go, but nonetheless he DID serve --nearly 4 years. Fortunately, due to a series of coincidences and circumstances, he stayed stateside, and survived -- so I can be happily here nearly 70 years later. But I remember his service, still. I started the weekend at Trulucks, with some good friends, one of whom is a USAF veteran himself. We drank and laughed, and then repaired to a hipster bar west of Brickell called Blackbird Ordinary, where we sampled some "craft cocktails." In other words, they were sweet, girlie drinks -- not my style. Yesterday D2 and Wifey went to spend some Nordstrom credits that were burning holes in their pockets, and I napped to a great war movie ("The Longest Day") followed by one of the worst of all time ("The Green Berets."). Wifey came home and rested her back, and D2 and I walked out front, where we were fetched by Pat Sr and Pat Junior, to head to Sports Grill for the Heat game. John, the former USAF pilot, was there with his girlfriend and her daughter, and we squeezed into a booth to drink beer, eat wings, and watch the Heat dominate late. The atmosphere was festive -- the DJ spun during timeouts, and the packed crowd erupted when Lebron took the lead with an EMPHATIC dunk. We came home happy...D2's boyfriend left for NYC for his internship with Wall Street, and D1 was in NYC as well visiting friends. This am I met Norman at our LOL breakfast retreat, and we caught up with Lori, our waitress, and said hello to the usual group of friendly folks we always see there. Norman had been at the AAA for the game -- I kidded him about being a high roller, while we mere pedestrians watched on tv... Today, alas, we honor another veteran, but this one of the Israeli IDF - my father in law. He's been in the hospital for 10 days now -- the docs say they want to get his coumadin levels correct -- I think they're doing a wallet biopsy, as the saying goes... So all is quiet on Memorial Day. I remember my Dad, and the bedrock he gave me for a most blessed life. As I write, D2 and Wifey are watching TV, snuggling with 3 dogs -- a spoiled Spaniel, a rescue, slighty irregular Spaniel, and a very strange rescue dog, who the Ds think might not be all dog, genetically... Thanks for your service, Dad.