In Honor of Independence Day

When I was a little girl I fell in love with my oldest cousin Eddie. I couldn't have been more than 3 years old when I first met him. In the early 60's My family made a long trip from Alabama to Jacksonville, Florida in a tiny little Corvair, to visit my Dad's oldest brother and his family. It's the first time I have a memory of seeing the ocean and meeting cousins in a strange and new faraway place. My mother can't believe I remember these things, but I do. I also remember my dad being frustrated when he went the wrong direction and ended back up in the same place several times. We must have arrived in Jacksonville safely because the memories begin with cousin "Stevie", his big, split-tooth grin, and Anna who carried me on her hip because I was "light as a feather" she said. The only memory of Eddie I can recall that trip, is him running out of the yard, possibly going to a friend's house and then later seeing him sitting on the living room floor. Uncle Harold was the funniest man I ever met and could act just like a monkey, and Aunt Bernice looked like a movie star with her 60's style sunglasses. It would be a few years before I saw Eddie again, when he and his family came to Alabama for a visit. There was a cookout that summer and this time I was able to retain a more vivid memory of him. Eddie rode me on his shoulders around the yard and I was so thrilled. I can still see him standing by the wooden icecream freezer, talking to my grandfather, hands in his pocket, as if he were waiting his turn at the crank. I was mesmerized by this older teenage cousin, so handsome, so sweet, his smile, and the way he laughed! I admired the way my grandfather spoke to him with respect, yet playfully teasing him some too. He must have been an important boy because all the uncles talked to him. I was just a shadow among so many cousins that day and was maybe 6 or 7, but I was the only one he rode on his shoulders! I never saw Eddie again until much later, but yet I knew him over the years through the wall of photos my grandmother had. While at her house one day, I overheard "Granny" talking on the phone and she started crying when she mentioned Eddie's name. I could sense something terrible must have happened. No one ever told me, but I remember the phone calls and the hush hush conversations among the kinfolks. I guess we were too young to understand the Vietnam war and couldn't possibly fathom in our young minds that someone from our family could have been a war victim, shot and wounded while in the air aboard an army helicopter. We didn't have a clue. Not sure the time frame or sequence of events during that awful era, or when Eddie left Vietnam, or what even became of his life. I was in highschool the next time I saw him, briefly in 1976, when my grandfather passed, and then again just two and a half years ago when his father passed. Even though it wasn't the best of circumstances our last visit, I did get to see him again and I am proud to say that after 30 years, Eddie and I now keep in touch via email. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Jacksonville, hopefully soon, so he and I can sit down and have a long conversation about the past. He recently sent me these pictures from when he was in Vietnam. I look at them in admiration and with a thankful heart. Now I understand why Granny cried.
A big Thank you to my two cousins, Eddie and Butch, and a very dear and special friend, Doyce, for your service in the Vietnam War. Thank you to all who have fought in any war for the freedom we as United Sates citizens enjoy. Thank you to all service men who help keep our country free and independent. Happy Independence Day!

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"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven...

A time of war, and a time of peace" Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 8 NKJV