It's awfully easy now to look back on something I might have done. In many cases it would have been a snap to do these things; now, because of AA, I can't.
There are a few things that I want to get cracking-on, now while I still can.
- I received an envelope from my mum today that had enclosed all of the papers she could find on my Grandfather's World War II service. When he died a few years back he left to me his medals. I'm very proud of him, and as a bit of a history buff, particularly military history, I tried to peel some layers of the onion of his record on the web.
I wasn't successful. In the paperwork I found his dog tags, discharge papers, and some medical files from Walter Reed Hospital. After fighting in Africa, D-Day, Northern France, and Germany, he was badly wounded and spent 3 years after the War in Walter Reed. He hasn't got a Purple Heart and I'd like to know why. Funny thing is, a conversation with him 6 years ago would have told me all I wanted to know. He and my Grandmother have passed-away, so it's too late. I'll have to do it the hard way. Had I only thought then.
2. Along the lines of his heritage, my Grandfather is a MacDougall, a Scott. Many of his living relatives can and will fill-in many of the gaps in the storied MacDougall Clan history. Our tartan (family plaid) is hideous, and our family crest is pretty ugly as well. Our battle cry is something nice like, "Loyalty Unto Death". We're Highlanders, unlike the lowlanders who were called "Rievers" We still have blood oaths of fealty and blood feuds. I'll probably get this wrong, but I think we still hate the Armstrongs. We are prominently featured in the movie, "Braveheart", and were one of the clans who sided with Robert the Bruce, before we attempted to assassinate him. To make peace Robert the Bruce married, while the King of Scotland, a MacDougall daughter. We stole his family crest and, as clan lore has it, still possess it. The one in the Tower of London is a replica. My grandfather was the leader of the Clan (worldwide) for a number of years until his death. They closed the streets of Newton Mass. on the day he was buried. He spoke Gaelic, and played a fiddle, which he taught himself to play.
3. I've written ad nuaseum on my baseball interests. One more for my Dad. He claims that Tom Glavine is a relative great nephew of his from his mother's side. The names and locations and trajectories of his mother's family all fit. It's a rare Boston name, and the Glavine branch of the Glavins settled in and lived in Tom Glavine's home town in MA. Relatives of his generation changed the name , moved from Boston to the South Shore, and raised broods. One way or another, I'll proove him right or wrong before he parts the mortal coil.
So there is the 16th step. Pick a few things you'd regret having not done, and do them...while you still can.
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