01.01.70
Saturday December 9, 2006 at 04:00 pm
We are done….as D.J. said last night at 11 p.m…”stick a fork in me I’m done!”
Can you guess what ride K.T. and I were on?
We got in out last rides, 
watched a great light show on the Rivers of America, took in the fireworks and finished up with a trip to Libby Lu for K.T. With her gift certificate she bought a make-up case and pink glitter tennies, help us all!� The S.Q.’s would be proud!
Today is packing up and driving to San Diego.� No, we have no idea where we’re going but maps are a good thing.� An even better thing is my husband actually encourages me to navigate.� And, gasp, believe it or not, he even listens to me when I give directions from the back seat.�
But you know I have to say that even though this is the 9th time I’ve been here to Disneyland in my lifetime there is always something new.� In the past I’ve found the little things here at the Magic Kingdom are the things I remember most. On December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) when I was comming back from taking a rest and doing laundry (There is no such thing as vacation for a Mom), I stopped at the entrance.� It was about 6:00 p.m. and there was a 20 piece band playing patriotic songs around the flag pole.� Folks were watching and listening.� What caught me ears more than my eyes was the piped in men’s choir singing.� So I stopped and watched.� They were retiring the colors and boy was it moving.� Sure, I’m as patrotic as the next person, I get a bit misty with the National Anthem being played, but this was what appeared as a spontaneous show of support.�
As the band started playing the theme for the U.S. Army, several older guys stepped forward and stood around the flag pole.� You could tell by their age they were vetrans from WWII or Vietnam.� Then on to the Navy and more stepped out, Marines, more yet….Air Force, here came some younger guys with ‘high and tight’ hair cuts and finally the Coast Guard.� By the end of the playing there were about 35 men standing.� As they came to the growing circle, they shook hands and gave high fives.� When the color guard moved forward to retire the colors all these men�came to attention, they gave snappy salutes and boy did it move me.� I think it was the faces of the younger servicemen, the guys holding Disney Shopping bags, with kids in their wives arms.� This was probably a trip between deployments, a time for the family to forget about other obligations.� But the fact that they took the time to stop, participate and honor the flag was moving.
Being married to a Vietnam Vetran I know he has done the attention salute thing hundreds of times. It always feels weird for me to see him in his ‘military’ mode becuase that was before we were married.� I had the feeling that these vetrans were doing something they had done probably a hundred times in their active career but my guess is their families probably rarely saw it.� With each addition to the ever growing circle the applause swelled.� Sure this was a small thing, there probably were 10,000 people in the park that day and there might have been 200 watchers standing around the flag pole.� Just a drop in the people bucket but for me, this was the highlight of the trip.� I know everything at Disneyland is planned but I choose to think this moment has special meaning for those who participated especially due to the fact that is was December 7th.� While folding the flag they played the Star Spangled Banner and I’m sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.� They ended with This is My Country and you know it is our country and I have so much admiration for those guys having the guts to step forward and defend my right to freedom, not to mention stepping forward at Disneyland.� Thank You seems so inadequate a statement but Thank you never the less.