Marine Sgt. Ethan Rocke, 26, from San Diego, cries as taps is played during interment ceremonies for former President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Friday, June 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
That's ok, Sgt., we did too.
Did you have to do that, now i'm ......
Thanks for posting that. Now I lost it again.
Thanks for the picture. Brought tears to my eyes all over again.
That's it, no more. I can't take any more photos like that. Great respect for a great man.
Oh Wow ... that picture did me in again
I haven't cried like this since my mother passed away at Christmas
Oh what a picture! It does say it all doesn't it?
Thanks, BC. I'm not the only crying marine, I guess...
I agree. That picture says it all.
Indeed. Says it all.
Many of us have been affected directly and deeply by Alzheimer's.
For many, there is a personal pain as well as the common pain we all share.
My grandmother began to decline in the late 90s. At a Thanksgiving dinner, she didn't recognize me right off. Alzheimer's had robbed this vital, vibrant and spry woman of herself.
"Who is this fine looking gentleman?" she asked my aunt.
"Mother, it's Mike! See?"
I simply looked down at her and smiled.
Recognition flooded her eyes as she looked at me. "There's my Mikey," she smiled.
She's the only person I've ever allowed to call me "Mikey," before or since.
A couple of years later, about a month before she died, I visited home to see ehr once more. She was quiet. Pensive.
I was just happy to see here, even though she didn't recognize me when I got there.
My grandfather had baked a cake, and shoved a huge hunk in front of me at the table.
I heard a whisper. "Mikey?"
My head whipped around. "Yes, Geggie?"
She had a hint of that mischevious glint in her eye. But only a hint.
She pointed at my plate.
"You want some cake?" I asked.
She simply held out her hand, and tapped it.
I gave her a piece of my cake. She loved it.
We lost her about a month or so later.
The picture you posted of the emotional marine just teared me up again.
Every time The Battle Hymn of the Republic was played today my son came to see if I was OK because I always lose it when that's sung.
What an emotional week! It has been a week that makes me proud to be an American (well, that's every week, but everyone knows what I mean) and so thankful the Lord blessed us with Ronald Reagan.
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(sniffing with pride for Sgt. Rocke, USMC)