Honoring My Uncle, James Solomon

The remains of my uncle, James Solomon, who died as a 19 yr. old sailor on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, have finally been identified and returned home to Texas. He will be buried on Saturday with full military honors in Forestburg, Texas, so, I am flying to DFW tomorrow and will join my family in honoring him on that day.

Forestburg is a tiny farm and ranching town about 2 hrs. northwest of Dallas and I will get to see, not only my brother, his wife, my sister and several close family members, but also a number of cousins from near and far. I don’t think any of us really knew that James was not actually buried there in the cemetery by his mother – I sure didn’t – but I’m glad DNA technology was finally able to help resolve this and get him home. JS

Hurrah for beautiful people and good times

Big day yesterday and, as it turns out, loads of fun, too. Sam and I drove to Eugene to pick up Sarah and Ruthie, then we drove to Portland for a delightful rooftop wedding in the Pearl District of downtown Portland, of two young people who have been together for 14 years – since they were in high school. I had not seen Melissa since she was a teenager, nor had I ever met her fella, a sweet guy named Adam, and I kind of wondered if Melissa would even remember me. I was wrong about that. She was thrilled to see all of us and was so grateful we had driven so far for her wedding.

Melissa was raised by our two dear friends, Sharon and Robin, and co-parented by Sharon’s ex-husband, Bob. I’d say they all did a great job with this wonderful young woman. Introducing me to Adam, she said, “This is Jody, Stef’s longtime partner – oh, wait! – you’re a spouse now. You guys got married, right? ” I replied, “Yes, we did. We finally got included in WE, THE PEOPLE…, so we tied the knot.” Melissa said, “You know, lots of people couldn’t figure out why Adam and I waited so long to get married, but I didn’t want to get married until it was legal for my moms to get married, too. Unless everyone has the same rights as everyone else, really, it all feels like bullshit to me.” Wow. Like I said, they all did a great job with this girl. I get tears in my eyes now just thinking about it.

So, after a very sweet wedding and dinner, some sterling toasts to the newlyweds and some serious socializing, Stef, Sam and I drove the 3 hours back to Roseburg and arrived about 1:30am. Toby was beside himself, as you might imagine, even though I’d promised him we’d be coming right back. So, today might be a lazy day. I haven’t decided yet, although I am leaning seriously in that direction. JS