A day in the park

 

(I started working on this post about a month ago already- and then life got in the way!)

Last week, I was supervising the installation of bricks for the Foundation's engraved brick program.  

 

We are working on a new section of trails, and for the second time since these new trail markers were installed, I couldn't help but stand there and stare.

 

A new trail marker in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park

For about 3 years of my life (in seven month increments), whenever I heard Anbar Province, Fallujah, Ramadi, or Rutbah mentioned in the news or in a conversation, it would make my heart stop and my stomach turn.  (I don't know Afghanistan nearly as well, and honestly, I never really bothered to learn many names.)  To this day, whenever I hear or see the names of these places in Iraq, it brings back a flood of memories- worry, tears, frustration, and confusion. It also of course reminds me of how much I have learned in the last 9 years... and just how much a person can handle. 

When I found out that the new trail segments in the park were going to be named for different battles or conflicts that the Marine Corps has been involved in, I thought it was pretty cool.  I didn't really realize that battles and conflicts would be places that I know, and periods of time that I've lived through.  These places that are just names to some are places where my husband and our friends lived for months at a time.  It is where they fought and defended our freedom, and where too many died protecting our freedom.  It's a very strange thing when all of a sudden you realize that your history- at least the last 9 years- is forever interwoven with the history of the Marine Corps... for that matter, the history of our country.

I am over at the museum a lot.  I see a lot of veterans walking around with their families and friends- sharing with them what they experienced in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.  It surprises me every time I realize that someday, that will be us.  We will be sharing history as we know it with our families and friends.