My Mother Told Me I Could Not Wear My Uniform At The Memorial Until A Veteran Stood Up

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I looked at her hand until she removed it. “No. You didn’t.”

I walked to the front.

Dad’s photograph stood beside a wreath of white flowers. He was younger in the picture. Maybe fifty.

Broad shoulders. Gray at the temples. Dress uniform perfect.

Smile crooked. The same smile he used when he caught me sneaking cookie dough from the fridge. I sat in the continue reading …