Today Daddy would be 84....Happy Birthday Daddy....may you Rest in Peace...Harold Leslie Bibby is his name.
I never got to know my father as a senior citizen, he died when he was only 34. I always wondered what kind of grandfather he would have been. I always wondered how he would like the spouses his children chose. I always wondered what it would have been like to have lived with him the rest of my childhood and have him to filter out the "crappy" men as he used to call the men who were bad.
Daddy was a young man when he became a father, and he was even younger when he went to war. He became who he was because of the events in his life and these events colored his life at times. In reality he was a man, not a super hero, or magical person, but to me he was everything I could want as a daddy. I never got to the "Dad" stage of our relationship, he was still daddy to me when he died. Even my mother would tell me he was my daddy, not my dad, she said he never got to be anyone's "dad".
He had left Michigan during a financial crises for our family and made his way to California to try to get a job to help us. It was a bold thing to do in the early 60's and he was criticized for it badly. He was a Marine who had been trough two wars and and kept fighting his way to support his family. He loved us all, and yet struggled with the responsibilities that came with being a father of six kids and not having a job. He did what he had too, and my Mom said that she understood and forgave him for any of the troubles it caused her.
Now that I am a senior citizen I think of all the tragedy that I have endured in my life and wonder how I managed to get here. I wonder if there would have been less tragedy if Daddy had lived and we grew up in California. That is just a wonder.
Happy Birthday Daddy....hope you are having a kick ass day with Mom, Rose, Bobby and Billy.......I will love you always.
Today Al and I were honored to stand flag line for SSgt. Vincent Bell at the funeral home. It was a cold crisp day but we felt lucky we could honor this hero. Tomorrow his memorial service will be at 11 am at the Renaissance Unity Church in Warren, MI. Unfortunately it will be too cold for me to be outside tomorrow, so we were glad to be able to go today.
Marine Staff Sergeant Vincent J. Bell on Monday, 12 December 2011. Flags should be returned to full-staff on Tuesday, 13 December 2011.
Bell, 28, of Detroit, Michigan died 30 November 2011 in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan while conducting combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Pendleton in California.
Bell joined the Marines in 2001 and was serving his second deployment.
He was a two-time recipient of the Purple Heart, awarded twice the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, two Combat Action Ribbons, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Commendation, three Marine Corp Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, three Iraqi Campaign Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.
A wake will be held on Sunday, 11 December 2011, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the United Memorial Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, 12 December 2011, at the Renaissance Unity Church in Warren, Michigan.
GOD Bless and Semper Fi!!!!!
Some of the men and women that also stood for him...
Thank you all.
Rest in Peace SSgt. Vincent Bell and Thank you.
