I called up my Grandpa yesterday to thank him for his service. This is the man who taught me about drawing and painting, what makes up a good picture, how to hand shake, whistle, “honky-tonk”, ride a horse and so much more. He was my father figure when it was just my Mom and me. He got a real kick out of my call and proceeded to tell me about the dinner he attended for all the Vets in his area. But then he kind of went off track for a second, only to catch himself and then pass the phone off to my Grandma who proceeded to tell me about his “episodes” he’s been having lately. It seems that he’s always had them, but that they’ve gotten worse lately. She says, in the middle of the night he’ll start screaming and kicking in his sleep, and when she wakes him he says the Chinese are after him and he can’t find his gun. I can’t imagine what that looks like or sounds like. I’ve always seen my Pa as a gentle Cowboy, I’ve never seen him react in panic or anger or despair. This is what war does to people and it sucks that he’s never gotten any help for it, even though he visits the Vets Hospital monthly and has for years. Something is broken.

Last summer, my grandpa agreed to let me film the story of his service in the Korean War. He never really talked about it with his kids, my Mom and uncles, but he was open about it to me and we taped several hours of conversation. He talked about leaving his home town, the 29 day boat ride to Japan, the items they wore and carried, his days digging fox holes and mine sweeping, his first encounters with “the enemy”, the loss of friends in combat, life off duty and his return. I was able to edit all of his thoughts in with pics and documents he had all these years as well as some Korean War footage I found online.

I gave that DVD to him last Christmas and we watched it together with the family. He laughed and teared up, didn’t cry, but teared up and after all thirty-three minutes of it had passed he began to tell more stories and even more details. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to catch these thoughts and emotions from my Pa on film for his kids to see and for their kids to see and so on. Especially now, after that Veterans Day phone call I learned that my Pa is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and that alot of his thoughts and experiences are fleeting away.

I would encourage all of you to take time to learn about your family. Use your talents, whether it’s writing, filming, photography, painting, music, etc. to document that time and pass it on to those behind you.

Technorati Tags: , ,

More Posts of Interest