Monday, October 17, 2005

Blue Mood


My dad's obituary ran in the Pottsville Republican today. It's not like I didn't know it was going to run, but just seeing it in print really made me sick.

The funeral director in Pennsylvania was finally able to get in touch with Arlington National Cemetery this morning. Normally the cemetery can make arrangements within 5-7 business days, but the war on terror has created a backlog of kids waiting to be buried, so the wait is now closer to three weeks. It makes me so sad that all of these young Americans are coming home in boxes, so I certainly don't begrudge any of our troops for this (I thank the president), but I'm really disappointed that we won't be able to have the burial right after the service in Port Carbon. I know that it will cause many family members who are traveling for the viewing and mass to not be able to make another journey to come back for the actual funeral (now scheduled for Nov. 3).

I leave you with a picture of my dad (right) and his twin brother, my uncle Kenny, (left) with the 1940s and '50s actress/singer Betty Hutton when she visited the troops in Korea. Naturally my charming father and his troublemaking twin were selected to hang with the Hollywood star and pose for the photo op. They were quite the characters.

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