6/01/2006

more marine news and talking about my grandmother

Military prosecutors plan to file murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman in the shooting death of an Iraqi man in April, a defense lawyer said Thursday.
The eight men are being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, said Jeremiah Sullivan III, who represents one of the men.
The Iraqi man reportedly was dragged from his home west of Baghdad and shot. Both the Los Angeles Times and NBC News said troops may have planted an AK-47 and shovel near the body to make it appear the man was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb.


that's from seth hettena's 'Marines to face charges in Iraqi's death' and you should read it in full. what else is due out any day now?

and how much will america put up with before their disgust means that even the fence straddlers find their voice?

i didn't listen to anything tonight. my grandmother called this morning and asked if i could visit. which i did. i kept asking her if she was sick because that's usually the only time she calls and asks you to visit. she says she's not but i'll be calling my mother first thing tomorrow. (just as no 1 should ever wake me in the morning with a phone call, no 1 should ever wake my mother at night - we are, like patty & cathy - as different as night and day - which means basically the same with opposite interests.)

she looked fine, my grandmother, and seemed fine. but i'm a worrier when it comes to my family. on the way home, a long trip, i was reviewing all the important dates and trying to think if this was a period of special importance (deaths, births, marriage) and couldn't think of anything. which doesn't mean that i haven't forgotten something, just that i can't remember it.

all day, before i visited, i was wondering what could be wrong so i may have created a drama where there is none. but with people who are important to you, it doesn't hurt to worry.

i'd rather be afraid that my grandmother might be sick or get sick than think, 'ah, who cares?'

except for her hip, which bothers her in cold weather, she is in good health.

i'm going to talk about her for a bit because she's some 1 that's really important to me and if that's not your thing, move on to another site, i won't be offended.

she has the longest hair. she wears it up and has all my life. in pictures, i know that she used to wear it down. it also used to be this beautiful, thick blonde hair (thickness is 1 way to tell a natural blonde, by the way, the individual hair is thicker if they're naturally blonde). now it's a beautiful silver and just as thick. except at night, when she brushes it and then pins it back up, i don't think i've ever seen it down other than in a photo.

that was really something when i was a kid. to see all that hair come down. i would always beg her to let me touch it or let me brush it and she would always indulge me. she also has very long fingernails that she paints a light pink and always has. my mother keeps her nails short so i obviously got my desire to keep my own fingernails long from her.

we have the same laugh and people say i was born with the laugh but i'm sure i picked it up from her early on.

at the worst period, the worst time, she can always see the bright spot. when i had to have an abortion, i only wanted 2 people waiting, fly boy and my grandmother. (and both were there for me.)

growing up my siblings were involved everything. and my parents were pretty tired of all the events so my grandmother would be the 1 who would take me and sit in the audience and cheer for me.

i think she's spent her whole life cheering me. when i was sad and when things were going great.
i have friends who grew up basically on their own. so i know how lucky i am to have always had some 1 who was in my corner.

anytime i doubted that i could do something, she would always be there to tell me that i could and that i should.

the only thing she ever asked me was to read. (and you better believe i did.) every 1 in the family thinks she's wonderful and they all have their own relationships with her that are special but i've always felt a special bond with her.

when i lost my virginity and needed to check details with some 1 to make sure, she was the 1 i went to. she answered every question, no matter how embarrassed she got. (most embarrassed when i said that he seemed to think he'd just changed the world and i was basically just sore.)

she's just the most wonderful person in the world and any good quality i have, i got it from her. even if i never grasped her patience (which she has in abundance) or her ability to always see something good in even the worst situation. (which is genuine, she doesn't fake it.)

i'm probably obsessing over nothing but that's what's on my mind tonight. and that's all i'm really up to writing tonight.