Larry M. Coleman

Yesterday, Shannon took time out of her busy schedule to accompany me to Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery where my father is buried. I’ve always wanted to see it on Memorial Day weekend. Since my dad’s birthday is May 16th, usually I’m there before it’s decorated for the holiday.

I’ve always loved the precision of military cemeteries, where no matter where you stand, everything lines up in angles that shift as you move or turn around. Although as a veteran, I could be buried there, too, I plan to be cremated, so I won’t be joining him there when the time comes. He passed away suddenly, so we never had a chance to talk about where he’d want to be buried, but he was proud to be a Vietnam veteran, and I think he’d be happy with this choice. His place of rest will be taken care of this well long after all of us are gone, and it’s in a peaceful place in the countryside. There’s a local airport not far away and small planes fly around quite a bit. He loved flying with me, and I think he’d like it here.

One thing I found to be an amazing coincidence is a grave that was put in rather recently only two away from his. Some backstory is required. Eileen, a major character in my novels, is a former Apache pilot who lost her foot in a crash in Afghanistan. She’s also a lifelong agnostic, having been taught by her mother to never believe anything just because someone else says so. At one point in her memoir, she says that if she died while in the Army, she’d want to be buried in a veteran’s cemetery, but instead of a cross or other religious emblem, she’d want a landing eagle on her marker. It’s on the approved list of emblems, but even though it means something important to her (freedom is what she would have given her life for if she’d ended up there), she’s never actually seen one in a military cemetery. And now, almost directly next to my dad, is the one and only landing eagle emblem I’ve ever seen, and it was put there while I was writing Eileen’s choice (which is also the choice I’d make):

Excellent choice, Chief Vechter, and godspeed.

The cemetery is an hour away from home, and after the solemnity, I wanted to make sure Shannon had something to put her back in the mood for work, so we stopped at Black Cat Books & Oddities on the way home. I got a mystery book. Not a book that has a mystery, but a book wrapped up so you have no idea what’s inside except for a few keywords:

It was originally wrapped much more professionally. It wasn’t until after I opened it that I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of it. It turned out to be Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher. Definitely not a book I’d have picked up, but I might get around to reading it at some point in the distant future because every once in a while I intentionally throw in something that’s unlike what I usually read. (Normally I do this by picking out something from the new books section at the library, so if it’s terrible, I’m not out $18.) It won’t be for a long time because the stack of books I have to read for grad school this summer is quite the pile, but Asher’s book has over 4 stars on almost 200k reviews, which is insanely high by Goodreads’s standards, so it will probably get read eventually.

After the bookstore, I found my favorite literary haul in a place I didn’t expect: Sweets & Geeks, whose name sums up its purpose. It’s a huge candy store, but also a huge geek store, with board games and card games (the Magic the Gathering kind of cards), comic books, and much more. If that’s your thing (I went in for peach Nehi and came out with a pile of candy and soda) and you’re in the Cleveland area, don’t miss it. Even if it’s out of your way, it’s worth the drive.

Hidden in that warehouse of uniqueness, I found one of my favorite things ever:

A nice bit of cheer after a day that’s always sad. Happy Memorial Day to all of you!