{"id":4046,"date":"2012-11-02T14:30:58","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=4046"},"modified":"2012-11-02T14:32:03","modified_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:32:03","slug":"moving-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/moving-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving On"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n(The Socotras flank Mac earlier this month. Photo ONI.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike had the little brass box that contained his Dad\u2019s earthly remains.<\/p>\n

Mac was in place on a low table in front of the Sanctuary at the Lutheran Church up Rt 50. He was punctual, and the Color Guard from the Office of Naval Intelligence was doing a run-through before the mourners arrived.<\/p>\n

I remember having Raven and Big Mama\u2019s ashes around the place for a couple months before we could get it together to arrange the stones and the ceremony and the lunch. There is a commonality to all this, combined with a rawness that would be unendurable were it not for the mundane tasks that make up life.<\/p>\n

It is all good, and necessary, and completely appropriate.<\/p>\n

Anything involving Arlington Cemetery includes the bureaucracy of the United States Army. That means death has to be deconstructed into two parts: the first to acknowledge the immediacy of death, and the second to perform the ceremonial ritual of interment.<\/p>\n

The first part was pretty good. The chapel was full of mourners. The Color Guard was crisp and professional. The three hymns- Amazing Grace, Eternal Father and the recessional Holy Holy Holy marked the mood, and I bellowed as loudly as I could.<\/p>\n

The reception was great. The Wake, held at Mac\u2019s old home where Dave\u2019s family now lives, was thoughtful and elegant.<\/p>\n

Then it was time to move on.<\/p>\n

Some pictures of Mac\u2019s last official act, his visit to ONI for Nimitz Day on the 4th of this month appeared.<\/p>\n

That is the way I choose to remember him. What a guy.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n

Note: yesterday\u2019s lead photo caption credited Dave Showers. Mike pointed out that it was his.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(The Socotras flank Mac earlier this month. Photo ONI.) Mike had the little brass box that contained his Dad\u2019s earthly remains. Mac was in place on a low table in front of the Sanctuary at the Lutheran Church up Rt 50. He was punctual, and the Color Guard from the Office of Naval Intelligence was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4046"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4049,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4046\/revisions\/4049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}