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Showing posts from December, 2011

My Grandfather's Papers: Prelude to 2012

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My grandmother, me, and my grandfather A great man died in the family and I am not related to him by blood, but by marriage.  There was a horse and carriage, a band with the bugle boy playing the themed song Taps, and a flyover of jets with one less pilot in the formation that peeled off in the last second over the grave site.  One hundred or so men and women lined the streets of Arlington Cemetery in full military dress and waited quietly until the end of the ceremony to parade the conclusion of the event.  They were so quiet, we did not even know they were there.  This event was truly moving. Before flying back home, I was introduced last minute to an influential Filipino Major General, who signs his name as T2 if you get to know him.  Although the meeting was at an airport Starbuck’s, the move was strategic.  I introduced myself by breaking the ice by telling him of the purpose of my visit to Washington D.C.  I painted a picture of glory of the funeral I had attended.  He respe