Pooly,

Good words. This past April my mother died at age 83. She lived a good life. On her headstone there is a lighthouse instead of a dash. We chose this because of her love of the ocean and beach. She passed that on to all of us. My dad has a Yankees "NY" for his dash. He loved sports. He passed that on to us as well.

I was asked to perform the internment for my mother (she was cremated). I have no training as a person of the cloth. I only had my love of my mother, my family and my God to guide me. A little understanding of ceremony from the 25+ years in the Air Force helped a little. It was a great honor to be entrusted to do the ceremony.

I want to thank you for honoring the veteran by taking him to his party and for being company to him at the funeral. That is a great service to your fellow man.

MSgt Taylor, USAF retired