Veteran's Day: sadness in my smile

It's been a week since Senator Obama became President-elect Obama, and I have to admit I also am just a little jazzed just to type those words.

But there's a bit of sadness in my smile tonight. Just last year, one of the folks who would've thrilled to see these days passed away. For me and a lot of my family, Uncle Buck was Washington DC.

I don't think Buck was a liberal or conservative; he was pragmatic in his support of politicians, because he'd seen and heard, up close, some of the flaws and foibles of our leaders. Buck himself was a leader, a retired major in the US Army, and well connected in the Pentagon even after his retirement. I never think of our nation's capital without thinking of him and my Aunt Irene. They lived for many years just outside the beltway. Anytime one of the family would be in the area, they'd get the grand tour - or they'd just have a place to lay their head, whatever they needed.

Buck was the best at the beach. He would float among the waves for quite some time; all you would see was his gut and his cigar above the crests. He loved the family gatherings and especially enjoyed tormenting the kids with his white glove inspections and his dictatorial decree that no sand should be brought in by little boys' feet - you had to dunk your feet in the bucket of water that he had stationed outside the doorway before you entered.

Buck had a great love for our country; he fought for it in WW2 and worked for it most of his life. I was there, at the graveside in Arlington, where he laid down his burden. As the horse drawn carriage pulled away, with the smell of the gunpowder from the soldiers' salute still lingering in the air, my eyes were  dry. He'd had a marvelous ride and was off on a new adventure, and while we'd all miss him, I knew he wouldn't miss this world all that much.

Until now.

I think Buck would've loved to see Barack Obama win last week, to see the dreams and ideals that he'd fought for his whole life walk right up to the White House and be greeted warmly, invited in, and made to feel at home, in what will very soon be his home. Buck would be e-mailing and calling all sorts of people, friends from forty years ago, neighbors that moved in during the last election, and someone he'd met at the grocery store that afternoon, and he'd've been bursting with pride at what his country can do.

There are a lot of veterans who will be remembered tomorrow. I'll call my father and thank him for his service. I may even get up the gumption to call my father in law, though we've never talked about his time in the service. There are many vets who had paid for this moment of freedom with everything they had, and I will never know all their names or the depths that their families grieved for their loss. I hope they will be remembered by their loved ones on Veteran's Day and honored by those who served with them.

And there is one call that I really do wish I could make, to say thank you just one more time. Just to hear him pick up and bellow "HELLO!" full of spit and vinegar and a deeply studied love of life.

Thanks, Uncle Buck.