Many memorial days had come and gone in the last 20 years for the widow of Major General John Lubbock after the gruesome death that her husband had incurred at the hands of the guerrillas that he and his crew were sent to fight with.It had been just another day of pride since the past 2 decades for her and her 7 kids who never failed to attend the Memorial day celebrations organised by the local city council.They eagerly collected the plaques that the city mayor endowed them with for their fathers' selfless contribution to the army.
This year was not to be the same.The 70 year old widow was waiting in the silent city hall eagerly awaiting the news from the military command who had promised to call her to let her know about the whereabouts of her son's plane that had been reported missing on the borderline of Iraq a week ago.As she eagerly awaited the phone call which was full of suspense,she could feel a huge lump of sadness descend through her throat.Her eyes caught sight of the portrait of her husband donning a beaming smile,that one of the city Hall workers was cleaning and applying a fresh coat of paint,in preparation for the next day's Memorial day gathering.
As she was lost in thoughts about the past,she could hear the reverbating sound of her husband's majestic walk and razor-sharp words that were as sharp as the specially crafted sword that he carried.She recollected the last words that he spoke before he left for the battle,when he had got assurance from her that she would stay resolved all her life and make sure that her sons also serve the U.S army no matter what was in store for him in the battle,then.She was awakened from her thoughts when one of the uniformed men turned on the TV set.She could hear the president of the nation address the nation in memory of the great soldiers.It was the same oft repeated speech that she had been accustomed to,all through the years and she had grown tired of every presidents' speech which bore the artificial tinge of patriotism with every word displaying the true feeling of non-chalance.She began to question herself for having been stupid all her life letting her dear ones serve for wars and battles without questioning the purpose.If it was the illegal guerillas a few years ago,it was the weapons of mass destruction this time ,none of which was anyway remotely seeming to concern her and her family's immediate personal life.
She suddenly heard a few cars drive by and come to a stop at the entrance of the city hall.As she got up from her seat to take a glimpse of the happening outside the window,she found her 2 sons in their military uniforms unloading a casket draped in the U.S flag.Her 4 daughters alighted from the second car and rushed towards their mother,unable to control their grief.So,there she stood again with the same emotions that she had encountered two decades ago upon the death of her husband.As she started to grind her teeth,pressing her lips hard with the determination not to cry,her eyes unable to bear the sudden load of strain closed for a second,spurting out a few drops of tears which had been entrapped in there for a long time, awaiting this occasion.
When the city Mayor carried the citation to the widow honoring her deceased son,he couldn't help noticing the pride in her eyes and the way she maintained a raised head.She thought of her husband and tried to sport his trademark smile as all her kids huddled around her and wept!
-Raapi
P.S:Yet again all compliments regarding the snap needs to go to Pradeep Raghunathan.Feel free to access and comment on his other excellent photos at photo.net
This write up was just something which occured to me when I looked at the majestic yellow flower still holding strong and displaying a colourful life,even after losin one its stamens.
Posted by rajesh | 
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