FLAG FOR SHAWN: AROUND THE BLOCK MONDAY

Through a recent blog search, I stumbled on a great weekly ritual some bloggers participate in--My Town Monday. Bloggers all over the world are starting to blog on Mondays about the town where they live. I kept digging and found out that the person behind this brilliant idea lives in Amarillo. If you would like to learn a little more about our city, visit:

Travis Erwin's Blog

Since Travis does such a great job covering the Amarillo sites, I thought I'd try a different take: reports from my neighborhood called AROUND THE BLOCK MONDAYS. This being my first week, I started across the street.



A few months ago I noticed that my neighbors across the street had their flag out. Memorial Day had just passed and at first I thought they might be out of town and had forgotten to take it down. But the next morning on the way to the kitchen to make coffee, I noticed Bill positioning the flag pole in the ground. Most mornings I get up before dawn and it became my habit to look out the front window as the sun started to rise. And most mornings I saw Bill dutifully walking out of his house with the flag. His pace had such purpose, that even if I hadn't known him, I would have realized that he was putting that flag up with such conviction. This simple act meant something to him.

Last week, he caught me as I was watering the side yard. "Do you like zucchini?" he asked. I told him, yes. Before he headed to his garden, I asked about his son, Shawn.

Shawn was fourteen years old when we moved here fifteen years ago. He joined the military a few years back and, as one might expect, he was stationed to Iraq. He was injured over there, but thankfully recovered. He'd since been stationed to Alaska.

When I asked about him, Bill said, "He's coming home before he goes back."

"Alaska?"

"Iraq," Bill said.

I didn't ask him about the flag. I didn't need to.