At The Ice Cream Shoppe in Highland Falls, New York, 1.2 miles from the United States Military Academy West Point, we waited for our turn to place our order. My husband called me over to some shelving near the window, then read me the sign that you see at the…
Category: USA
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And Then I Had An Inkling
Whenever I take handwritten notes, instead of using my phone or iPad, I use a Sharpie, writing very large so that I can see it later. I always end up with black Sharpie ink all over my hands. I joke that I feel like a child with finger paint under my…
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Wreaths Across America – The Craft
As I passed by the Christmas decorations inside our home, noticing the wreath on the front door needed new batteries, I thought about the second Wreaths Across America Day my husband and I had just volunteered at a few weeks prior. I wondered how I might make some type of…
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Wreaths Across America – The Essay
On the morning of Wreaths Across America Day, as soon as the alarm went off in my hotel room, I was reflective about the Veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Not just the idea of them, but as real people. Going through the steps to get ready for the day,…
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Wreaths Across America – The Person
My husband and I took photos of every Veteran’s stone whom we placed wreaths for on Wreaths Across America Day at Arlington National Cemetery. When we returned home, Mister Rain began researching each serviceperson using GOG (good ole Google), Ancestry.com as well as newspapers.com. He was able to find obituaries,…
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Wreaths Across America – The Day
My husband and I had been in Washington, DC in November of 2021. We always visit Arlington National Cemetery when in the area. We don’t have anyone in our families buried there, but we both have relatives who have served. It was during this visit that we saw some information…
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9/11 Memorial & Museum
I have been to the Pentagon and Flight 93 Memorials and they are absolute perfection. I wrote about them in “Flight 93 National Memorial” and “National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.” We had visited Ground Zero in New York City in March of 2002, six months after that day, viewing the incomprehensible…
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Oorah, Pop-Pop
My mom’s dad, Pop-Pop to me, was born in 1898. He died when I was 7 so I don’t remember him very well, although I was extremely close to my nana until her own death, 25 years after her husband’s passing. When she died, her memorabilia, including photos, was handed down…
![Fraunces Tavern - NY, NY](http://www.sisterrain.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1387-scaled.jpeg)
Fraunces Tavern
On Thursday, December 4, 1783, General George Washington received the officers of the victorious Continental Army to say farewell in the Long Room of Fraunces Tavern in New York City. Major Benjamin Tallmadge recounts that day in his memoir, as well as General Washington’s words. “With a heart full of…
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I Spy Setauket, Long Island
I first learned of the Culper Spy Ring via the AMC TV series, “TURN: Washington’s Spies.” Based on the book, “Washington’s Spies“, by Alexander Rose, it tells the true story of a group of Long Island childhood friends who became a network of spies during the American Revolutionary War. The…