before deployment...
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
It’s the eyes...
It's late, I should be asleep...
but I remember my brother, the Marine...when my dad died...my brother Tack was already gone to off to California to basic...and the scenes of my childhood kinda wander, not sure whether it was before Daddy died or after...I was only 6 years old, Dad died on my brother's first birthday...but anyway...I remember standing in our front yard, and Tack coming strolling across the field from the highway where he'd gotton out of the last car on his hitch home...and my mom's face and being so happy, just happy to have him home. My mother's face...pure joy, all her children home.
I'm thinking about Tack because even as a little kid, I could see the chamges that the Marines and the military made in my big brother...the way he held his head, the discipline of his posture, the cut of his chin...and the look in his eyes. I see that same look in his nephew's eyes as I toured his myspace pics yesterday, Matt was there, covered in mud, standing by a friend, and looking at the camera...with that same look Tack has..and can still have, actually...at times.
I remember being a little intimidated by that look as a little girl...until I realized that it wasn't meant for me...he still tickled me until I screamed...and rescued me when my other brother would turn out the bathroom light while I sat in the tub...and would still come rinse my hair for me....and sing those goofy Marine songs and those old gospel hymns from grandma's holy roller church...
So, I know my son is grown up, a man, a very serious young man, as he should be with what he's facing...as was Jerrod when he was home...but that look, it got to me.
Makes it real.
and both the uncle and the nephew serving with the Marines 2/2....what are the odds?
It’s the eyes...
It's late, I should be asleep...
but I remember my brother, the Marine...when my dad died...my brother Tack was already gone to off to California to basic...and the scenes of my childhood kinda wander, not sure whether it was before Daddy died or after...I was only 6 years old, Dad died on my brother's first birthday...but anyway...I remember standing in our front yard, and Tack coming strolling across the field from the highway where he'd gotton out of the last car on his hitch home...and my mom's face and being so happy, just happy to have him home. My mother's face...pure joy, all her children home.
I'm thinking about Tack because even as a little kid, I could see the chamges that the Marines and the military made in my big brother...the way he held his head, the discipline of his posture, the cut of his chin...and the look in his eyes. I see that same look in his nephew's eyes as I toured his myspace pics yesterday, Matt was there, covered in mud, standing by a friend, and looking at the camera...with that same look Tack has..and can still have, actually...at times.
I remember being a little intimidated by that look as a little girl...until I realized that it wasn't meant for me...he still tickled me until I screamed...and rescued me when my other brother would turn out the bathroom light while I sat in the tub...and would still come rinse my hair for me....and sing those goofy Marine songs and those old gospel hymns from grandma's holy roller church...
So, I know my son is grown up, a man, a very serious young man, as he should be with what he's facing...as was Jerrod when he was home...but that look, it got to me.
Makes it real.
and both the uncle and the nephew serving with the Marines 2/2....what are the odds?
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