Category Archives: Writing

Operation Market Garden

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I am a history buff. When I was dreaming of becoming a teacher, I dreamed of teaching American history and sharing my love of the subject. Instead, I’ve taught other subjects as my primary assignment – ELA (or English), Geography, and Science. In my twenty-seven years of teaching, I’ve been able to teach American history as my primary subject for one year. It was glorious.

It was during that year that I first heard of PFC James E. Wickline. It was the 2015-16 school year, and it seems very long ago.

I can only remember a few of the names of kids in my classes from that year. When I pass the framed class photos lining the main hallway, I sometimes stop at the 2016 class photo and read the names, the photos jog the memory, but sadly I recognize only a few of the hundred and twenty or so from the class I had in my classroom that year.

Interestingly, one of the people I volunteer at Loaves and Fishes is the mother of one of the boys from that class. He’s grown, graduated from college, and is working in Atlanta as an actuary. I sometimes wonder what happened to the rest of them. They were the class whose high school senior year was derailed by the COVID lockdown and many of their freshman years at college were spent isolated in remote learning.

When my wife and I were planning this past summer’s European trip she asked what wanted to do and see. My list was short, but it included visiting PFC James E. Wickline’s grave in the Netherlands American Cemetery near Margraten, Netherlands.

The tower at the entrance t the cemetery
the American flag flies among the graves
lily pads in the reflection pond of the tower
lily pads in the reflection pond of the tower

it was 2016, when I learned about Maarten Vossen, a Dutch man, who had adopted Wickline’s grave in the Netherlands American Cemetery when he was thirteen years old in 2002. The people in towns surrounding the Netherlands American Cemetery adopt the graves of fallen American servicemen and there is a waiting list.

Since 1945, the Netherlands American Cemetery is the only cemetery where the locals have adopted every single one of the fallen U.S. Soldiers—all 8,288 headstones as well as the 1,722 names on the Tablets of the Missing in the cemetery’s Court of Honor. In fact, he explained, the waitlist to adopt is so long that people are waiting more than 10 years, and the organization heading up the project is no longer taking new sign-ups. Read more at Honoring our legacy: Locals adopt graves of U.S. Soldiers.

As I learned more about the story, the more I wanted to learn, and the more I wanted to share.

Marten Vossen turned adopting Wickline’s grave into a mission to learn more about the soldier. Eventually, he traveled to Wickline’s home in West Virginia in 2012, and again in 2014, when a few in the community learned of his mission and began to help Vossen realize his dream to honor the fallen soldier. In July 2015 a bridge was dedicated in his honor as the PFC James E. Wickline Bridge near his home in Osage, West Virginia. (video at the end of the post)

In 2016, Marijn Poels, a Dutch independent filmmaker, released the documentary Ageless Friends about Vossen and his dream to honor Wickline. It’s an inspiring story.

In 2017, when we arrived at that point in American history I shared the story with my history classes and we watched the video and completed an assignment. I refined the assignment – making changes and adding and removing parts which didn’t work in 2018, 2019, and to finish the COVID year in 2020. I think the story impacted a more than a few of students and for a moment they were able to think beyond their 8th grade selves.

I went back to look at their reactions to the story, here are a few….I didn’t edit any of the remarks except the perfect generation comment….

Why do you think Maarten Vossen was drawn to adopt James Wickline’s grave marker in the Netherlands American Cemetery?

    • Because he was a solider and american solders are the reason he has freedom.
    • He was probably drawn to adopt a grave because he wanted to pay his respects to the people who served in the war. He wanted to be a part in what happened and help the people who were in the war. He probably was also intrigued to what happened to the men who fought. He wanted to help the people who helped his country.
    • I think he wanted to adopt a grave to show his appreciation for the American soldiers that liberated the Netherlands. He also wanted to help care for the grave and be helpful to the family that can’t put flowers on his grave because they are to far away. Lastly, he was interested in learning about the grave he adopted and wanted to know the backstory of how he passed.

What surprised you about the story of Maarten Vossen and James Wickline?

    • I wasn’t expecting them to be so close to each other. The lengths Maarten took to learn more about the man, whose grave is the one under his care.
    • That Maarten did not stop when he found out that James hardly saw war. What surprised me about James is he had so many people that remebered him and told so many stroies to help out Maarten get more information on James.
    • Maarten did not even know James and he did all of this for him

I feel the same way, that is why I wanted to visit his grave and pay my respects to PFC Wickline and the Netherlands American Cemetery.

So, we did. Saturday, July 19th we left Paris by train and traveled across Belgium arriving at the Schiphol train station to rent a car for the day.

The journey took longer than I anticipated with a few wrong turns adding to our travel.

I may have found a bench for a future post….

We arrived after a little after four and with a closing time of five o’clock my visit was hurried. After a brisk walk and nervous few moments when I realized I had incorrectly interpreted the cemetery’s grid system for locating a burial plot; I found Wickline’s final resting place.

I took a few pictures and spent a moment of prayer and reflection.

the American flag flies among the graves

I had so many questions, with no one to answer them. Like my students from 2019 I was filled with humbleness and awe.

As I write and reflect, I know that this story could fill a book. Maybe one day this might happen, but there is more I need to learn, more I need to see and in the words of eighth graders from 2019…

What’s one important thing you learned in class today?

    • I learned that there are good people in the world that will do the utmost to make sure someone is given recognition
    • i learned that it is very important to remember our fallen soldiers and the “perfect (I think he meant ‘greatest’) generation”. I also learned that if you put your mind to it you can do anything.
    • I learned that you don’t have to contribute something big to be a hero. Heroes come from many things.

I don’t think I could have said it better.

I’ve been working on this post for a long while and I am setting it to go live midday on September 17, 1944. The day PFC Wickline jumped from a c-47 in Operation Market Garden 81 years ago today and his parachute didn’t open.

“May we never forget the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for our freedom.”

Making the days Count, one day at a time, telling the story of someone’s life to inspire others.

For more of the story, I have added videos about the cemetery and dedication ceremony for the PFC James E. Wickline Memorial Bridge in Osage, West Virginia.

W^2 – winding road

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Saturday, I took the longest hike in a long time – just under three miles with two dogs in tow. Or rather being towed by one dog and staying out of the way of the other.

In the past couple of years, I’ve gone on shorter hikes but I haven’t been getting out for longer hikes for more than a while. It’s a new year for the Take a Hike Challenge from the forest preserve and I skipped ’23 and ‘24’s challenges but I am back this year.

outward bound Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, Wheaton, IL September 6, 2025 3:53 EDT

Saturday Fern, Nova, and I walked through Herrick Lake Forest Preserve. It’s a favorite of mine, it’s close and a good length with forest and prairie landscapes with just enough up and down to get the heart moving while the feet are following each other round moving me from start to finish.

on the way back to the trailhead. Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, Wheaton, IL September 6, 2025 4:22 EDT

When I got home, I had enough energy to refresh the bird feeders and a few other chores before calling it a day. Fern and Nova were completely spent, too.

It is Wednesday and today is going to be a wonderful Wednesday. It’s the middle of the week and school has a late start with a faculty gathering first thing at 7:30 AM. The bells will ring before I know it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one foot after another is way to tackle life.

Is there something you’ve recently re-started that you’ve been avoiding?

sign of the week – blank

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This week I came up blank.

the other side says welcome back, but this side is blank, like me…..

Sometimes it happens. Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right place, or I had so much on my plate I did not see one. The fact is I came up blank.

It’s been a busy week with school and home and the end of summer.

Last night, my daughter and I drove to the lake to put an end to summer for another year. Friday night drives always seem to take forever, but last night’s was only an hour longer than the norm.

Friday night traffic leaving Chicagoland is always a grind, especially on a three-day weekend. Once we crossed the Indiana state line and passed the 65 split, traffic lightened up and we were able to drive the speed limit into the night.

It was pitch black when we arrived and I was too tired to look up at the stars, but I am sure they were there.

This morning, I sipped my coffee and stared out at the fog as it lifted in the early morning light thinking about all we’ll accomplish before the sun dips below the horizon later this evening. And before we return home Monday afternoon.

the fog slowly lifts and yes, those are my toes

August is going to leave us with a whimper. It began hot as blazes with skies shrouded with western wildfire smoke and it finishes with clear skies and chilly fog filled mornings.

Today is going to be a great day. It will be busy with errands, to-dos, and time spent together like so many Labor Day weekends by the lake. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time remembering to be purposeful.
 
How is your August finishing?

Sign of the Week – back to school

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The signs are everywhere – stores, roads, churches, and schools. Yes, even on the faces of parents and kids; It’s time to go back to school.

My neighborhood’s schools open yesterday and other schools around me opened Thursday, and few like mine, open next week. There isn’t a set day to go back or let out. The only days many of our school districts have in common are the holidays and spring break in my county.

the sign on Wednesday – two days before school… it was hosting an open house and meet and greet – the streets were filled

I passed the elementary school where our kids went from August 2003 until May 2014 and where we spent Halloweens, parent conferences, daddy-daughter dances, carnivals, and much more. Our kids had only one year when both were attending together; one was in fifth grade and the other a kindergartner.

I asked them for their memories of their time as Tremendous Tigers and this is what they responded:

  • “0ne time I got a splinter playing capture the flag”
  •  “The memories of spectacular field days filled with fresh watermelon, with class filled participation and always looking forward to explore more days at the end of each year”
  • Both were nominated at some point as “Tremendous Tigers.”

My kids are not going to back to school this August, their days are done for the moment. One is raising twin boys, and the other is figuring out next steps.

I am headed back for my twenty-seventh year as a teacher, but I am still learning.

I’ve been back for two days – mostly meetings to go over new initiatives and procedures, celebrate accomplishments and career milestones, and for an hour on Thursday – meeting a few of the kiddos and parents I’ll have in my classroom. It was the best hour of the two days.  

It’s Saturday and the last weekend before the kiddos arrive on Tuesday. I have Monday to work in my classroom and prepare for the first few days. I’ll be looking for signs and taking the first steps to welcome kiddos to their first year in middle school.

The Sign of the Week has been published on Fridays, but I ran out of time this week. I’ll be looking for new signs and maybe a few old ones this coming week. And who knows, I might even publish on Friday next week.

Today is going to be like the all of the Saturdays since school ended – AMAZING. I know it and I can feel it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, getting ready for a new year of teaching and learning, always paying attention to the signs.

Do you notice the back to school signs?

Signs of the Week – transit

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We could not have made it very far on our Europe trip without these signs. London, Paris, and Amsterdam are HUGE cities, and they have remarkable transit systems. Chicago has a good system as well, but I don’t travel to the city often. Even with the train, subway, tram, and buses we averaged 20k steps each day on our trip.

Paris
paris
Paris
Paris
Boston

This past weekend in Boston I used Boston’s transit system and found it as easy to use as those in Europe. I was two stops from Fenway and used it to get to the airport with ease. Even still I averaged 14k steps over the weekend.

I live in a world with transit, but it is not practical from me. Last night at Loaves we had a bus drop off and pickup for a couple of clients and we have ride share clients as well, but the suburbs are car reliant. I was grateful for transit when I need it.

Next school restarts for another year, my twenty-seventh. Last night at Loaves and Fishes I ran into a fellow volunteer who’s I daughter I had in my first class in August 1999. We reconnected a few years ago when I recognized her name in the Loaves and Fishes newsletter. Since then, I’ve run into other volunteers whose kids I had or were former students. Serving others is universal and it makes our world smaller.

Today is going to be a great day, but I am going to rely on my car and my feet to get where I need to go and be. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today could be a million and six times better than yesterday. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time to move with a purpose.

Is there reliable transit available where you live? Do you use it?

Sign of the Week – ice cream

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I pass this place on my way to and from the lake house. When it is open, there is often a line to get in, sometimes the line stretches down the block and tests your resolve about whether the ‘exercise’ is worth the wait. But it’s summer and ice cream is refreshing and tasty.

It was National Ice Cream on Sunday, July 20th. We celebrated early with an ice cream treat in Paris at Berthillon on Ile St-Louis. It was delicious and there was a line to get a treat, but it was worth it as we waited patiently in the shade with other ice cream lovers on a warm Parisian Friday afternoon.

it’s the best exercise… Tasty Treat, Lake City, Michigan, July 25, 2025

It’s Friday and today is going to be an amazing day. This morning I am off to Boston to complete my bucket list at Fenway Park, three days and three baseball games, then home to finish summer and getting ready for school to restart in a couple of weeks. Where does summer break go? Making the Days Count, one day at a time, enjoying an ice cream cone while it’s summer.

What’s your favorite flavor?

W^2 – monarch

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 30, 2025

a monarch stops for a nibble a long the lake. Grayling, MI, Saturday July 26, 2025 6:39 PM EDT

My wife replanted the garden along the path from the driveway to the cottage this summer and the butterfly bushes are already receiving visitors. Spotted this monarch enjoy a nibble this past Saturday evening.

My late mother-in-law loved monarchs. Every time I see one, I think of her and think she’s visiting and checking on us.

Today is going to be a great day, especially when there is someone watching over me. Today could be a million and six times better than yesterday, but I am going to take it as it comes. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, looking around and paying attention to nature’s beauty – sometimes it’s a sign.

What’s a ‘sign’ or symbol for you?

Sign of the Week – the bike lane

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Today’s sign of the week is from the streets of Amsterdam. There are bicycles everywhere in Amsterdam, everywhere. My wife warned me to pay attention to the bike lane and I came close a couple of times, but I learned quickly – stay out of the bike lane and look left AND right when crossing it.

the sign reads, Moped not Allowed, but it really means you are in the bike lane, move to the right.

I had only been to Amsterdam once before this trip, it was when I was four in 1966. My dad had taken a six-month long assignment and moved us to Paris. My memory of our time in Europe is pretty limited. I do remember we flew from Houston to Amsterdam on KLM with a stop in Montreal. Somewhere I may have slides my dad took from our time in Europe.

Amsterdam is much easier to navigate than Paris or London. Amsterdam is smaller and one-eighth the size of Paris in terms of population but the trams and metro are easy to use. Also, there are fewer automobiles. The city is very walkable especially when you pay attention to the bike lanes.

Below is a clip from Ted Lasso, season 3 when Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) discovers the bike lane.

Though our time in Amsterdam was short – three full days. We packed in quite a bit, much of it I am still processing.

But I did learn, be careful in the bike lane.

Today is going to be an amazing day. I am on the move again, this time to the lake and back Sunday. There are twenty days remaining in summer break and I am going to make and each an every one of them count, just as I have with the previous fifty. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, reading the signs and being careful.

What is a sign that remind you to be cautious? 

W^2 – selfie

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 23, 2025

This is going to be the last post from Europe. It has been fun and we’ve seen and visited some amazing places in London, Swansea, Paris, and Amsterdam and places in between.

Me in a selfie with Van Gogh’s ‘Almond Blossoms’ in the background

We visited five art museums while we were exploring Europe. I saw lots of paintings, drawings, and I saw several of the thirty-five known Vincent Van Gogh self portraits. Neither of us created the selfie, it was around long before either of us. We just did it. Many years ago my friends ribbed me for the one-eyed selfie I would use with my social media posts.

One of the things I learned while wandering the museums and looking at paintings is that often the artist wasn’t painting a painting, they were practicing their craft. Yesterday, we arrived at the Vincent Van Gogh Museum to see the collection. I learned even more about Van Gogh while we toured the collection, then I found this – Vincent Van Gogh and the self portrait.

Seen at the Musee D’Orsay in Paris… Tuesday, July 15th
Seen at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, July 20th

Sunday, while touring the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I was feeling a little silly and thought I’d capture me with Vincent Van Gogh so I took a selfie, with a selfie. I did it again yesterday.

The first selfie with a selfie
My second selfie with a selfie
Self-portrait, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, July 22nd

It’s the one-eyed selfie! Actually, the photos are edited to show more of Van Gogh’s work than the original photo.

“The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting.”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

I read the quote in the Van Gogh Museum and it made me think. Really think. It was sad really, he was brilliant, creative, and deeply troubled. There are so many of us who look like we’ve got it together. I think sometimes making the days count helps me focus on the times when my days were a minus, not a plus.

These past couple of weeks have been awesome. Today we fly home, tomorrow morning I will awake bright-eyed and bushy tailed at three or four in the morning and spend a couple of days getting over the jet lag of a seven hour time change.

Today is going to be an amazing day, so I’d better jump up, jump in and seize the day. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, unpacking, and putting away my suitcase. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, reflecting on being better every day, even a little bit.

What’s going to make your day?

Paris – day one and a trip to the country

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It’s Monday and I am in Amsterdam. We were in France a week ago celebrating the 14th of July Fete National with a flyover in the morning and fireworks in the late evening.

The flyover screams past us marking the first of 39 planes

After the flyover, we  rented a car and drove to the countryside.

Reminiscent of Monet’s haystacks…the countryside was beautiful

When my wife visited my parents in France in ‘97, my father and Juliana rented a car and took us to country. We visited Normandy our first weekend and then they took us to the Champagne region just northeast of Paris. It’s was a short drive of about an hour and half, just past the recently opened EuroDisney.  My dad took us to the Aisle-Marne American Cemetery near Chateau-Thierry.

Fifteen years ago we took dad back. Day 19: Father’s Day comes Early.

Juliana and dad were very much in love. It’s easy to see, looking back as I grieve. She took dad’s death hard and I am not sure she ever got over it. When we released dad’s cremains in 2010, she saved some and kept it close. We discovered it when we packed up their home and sold their house in Oxford, Mississippi a few years ago.

We saved it for the time we would disperse Juliana’s ashes. Last Saturday, we reunited Juliana and dad when we dispersed her cremains according to her wishes in the Mumbles in Wales and we reserved a small portion of Juliana’s cremains to take to where dad was in France.

So Monday morning my wife and I took off. It was a relaxing drive after we escaped the Parisian traffic and my wife remarked that we chose a good day as many people were off the streets because of the holiday.

We exited the highway where Maps told us to and switched to two lane roads through farms and small towns which were the battlefield in World War I. The battle line was very close to the French capital and the French army gave up a stiff fight to stop the advancing German army after the Germans invaded France to begin WWI. The battle lines remained for most of the war from September 1914 until the spring of 1918. The Americans joined the war the year before, but were not prepared to join the fight until 1918.

The first major battles for the American forces were in the region. In the late spring of ‘18 the Germans mounted an offensive which came close to breaking the lines had it not been for the marines and American forces fighting back. It is in this battle that the Germans nicknamed the marines “Devil Dogs” for their ferocity and steadfastness in holding the line and it stuck.

The entrance to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
The Marine Memorial in Belleau Wood
The woods where we dispersed dad fifteen years before on the edge at the memorial.

My dad served in the Marine Corps for three years – 1953-56. He was fortunate to never see combat and served the entire time stateside.  I believe that is why he wished to have his cremains spread here.

My wife and I walked around and I showed her where I remembered where dad was and then I walked out into the woods and re-united the two. I dropped a pin with my iPhone and shared it with my brothers in hopes that one day one of us or all of us will get back here.

We got in the car and drove to the the cemetery, but our afternoon took a turn when my wife suggested we take a right at the church and we drove down a narrow lane to discover a small American Museum and the Devil Dogs Fountain. Click the link to learn more – Why United States Marines Drink from a Fountain in France.

It was a wonderful side trip.

On the train ride from Paris to Amsterdam I worked on the video below, I think it tells the story well. Please take a moment to watch. Thank you.

I signed the guest register and walked among the headstones. I took four photos of fallen Americans. There are 2,294 more, 250 of them still unknown.

It was peaceful in the country. I believe my dad and Juliana are at peace. I know I am.

My wife and I drove to Chateau-Thierry hoping to find a cafe or restaurant to find a bite to eat but were disappointed to find the town closed for business due to the holiday.

It was a wonderful day and it certainly counted. Today is going to be an amazing day, too. But I have to jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, remembering my parents and all they taught me. 

 What is one thing your parents taught you?