There was no need for words. The four Veterans were there to honor over 1,100 of their fellow Veterans interned at Camp Lewis Cemetery, their white gravestone markers standing like sentinels in neat rows. Each of the 13 folds of the Stars and Stripes was gently laid over to create yet another triangle of cloth. […]
Tillicum
Letter: To Hear Again A Lullaby
Within the heart-shaped hedges of Lullaby Land are the gravesites of infants and children. A flagstone path leads into the small, perfectly tended garden. At the very center of the heart is a stone figure of a cherub. Its wings are unfurled as if it has just arrived and perched on its pedestal; its finger […]
Tillicum News for November
The Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association (TWNA) in-person meetings continue to await a safe return but, in the meantime, read the November 2020 newsletter, as there is a good deal of important information. Library announcements; board member nominations; town clean up dates; Pierce County Alert signups; and Safe Parking locations for vehicle residents.
Letter: Just Passing Through
They had met on the train. He was a handsome soldier on reassignment just passing through. “May I sit here?” he had asked. And so it began. Fifty-eight wonderful years of marriage eventually followed that first encounter. He has been gone some years now, and sometimes she will go to a railway station – it […]
Letter: “Going To The Garden!”
With that four word proclamation my mother would head out to pursue her greatest passion, the nurturing of beauty. No greater joy, no time better spent, no more captivated audience of one than she when surrounded by her flowers. It seemed that the closer to the earth mother was, the happier she grew. What was […]
Letter: Lonely
“Beep, beep, beep, beep ….” As Harry Nilsson listened to the incessant sound indicating a busy signal, he wrote the words to a 1968 hit song which became known for its opening line: “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Is there any more poignant single word to describe how we sometimes feel […]
Letter: Ordinary People
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 The New York Times Magazine ran its annual special section entitled, “The Lives They Lived.” Through social media, the magazine had put out a request to readers asking for photographs of loved ones who had passed in 2011. Hundreds of images poured in. The vast majority of those pictured were […]
Letter: A Message From The Heart
At exactly 8:30 a.m. every day the phone rings. The call has been triggered by a signal sent from his heart. Following his heart-valve replacement surgery, this heart message is his daily reminder to put the cuff on his arm and install the finger clip. Then it is time for his morning walk. His steps […]
Letter: Pearls On A Strand
We had seen it coming. What had begun as a crystal clear early morning with stars twinkling in the still dark sky, and as red and white bow lights flashed on the other rowing shells moved silently on the dark surface of the water, the morning dissolved into a thick and impenetrable fog. Not only […]