Giving up is NEVER an Option
My Friday blog post is coming late this week due to a whirlwind of both work and personal commitments. I'm finally getting a quick breather to reflect on my week before I head out for more work commitments and then arrive late to some Memorial Day picnics where I just KNOW there is going to be the Death By Chocolate dessert (and of course it's the one with crunchies mixed in.....to DIE FOR (no pun intended, lol)). To many Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer cookouts and beautiful weather; but, to me there is much more this weekend than hotdogs, cold beer, and a day off from work.
I've seen some pictures floating around on Facebook of loved ones lying on the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. If you've never been to Arlington, it's something to add to your bucket list. I was there a few years ago with my family as we
brought my Grandfather's ashes there for it to be his final resting place. He received full military honors and I watched in awe the 21 gun salute, the folding of the flag, and my grandmother pet the engraved marker with my Grandfather's name on it one last time before we left. It was such a moving and powerful experience that I will never forget. I was just so proud of my grandfather that day and hoped he was watching somewhere. Now that he is gone, we no longer celebrate the holiday with a bbq at my Grandmother's house because Grandma doesn't have the energy or the desire to throw parties any more. Instead, we all go on our separate ways and celebrate the holiday elsewhere. One thing is for sure that although my family doesn't formally gather on Memorial Day I still think of my Grandfather every year (even though he didn't die in battle which is what the holiday is for) and the incredible example he set for his family. Memorial Day is a day of honor and reflection -- and I'm honoring and reflecting on my Grandfather.
When I think of my Grandfather, I think of how he never gave up....no matter what. It wasn't until after his passing that I found out my Grandfather had written memoirs of both his horrible childhood and horrible experience in 5 battles in WWII, including Iwo Jima where he was missing in action for a year. The child abuse, the starvation, the passing of his mother at an early age....no matter what....he never complained and never gave up. He went to war as a teenager and saw many of his friends die, experienced two ships going down in the South Pacific, only to make it to land and be faced with bullets flying at him in all directions. How he survived I'll never know. Later on he had many do or die moments as well including an ambush where he chose to jump into a pile of dead bodies crawling with maggots to survive. When the firing stopped, he came out of the pile only to see that the other guys didn't make it. It took guts to jump in that pile of bodies. It took an incredible will to live. Giving up was never an option.
My Grandfather came home from the war, married my grandmother, and lived a long
happy life with love and pride for his family --- and with an unforgettable twinkle in his eye. The childhood from hell, the unimaginable horror of WWII.......I'll never know how he survived and didn't "break" mentally from the trauma. To him -- he did what he had to do....and giving up was never an option.
So on Memorial Day, I'm grateful for my Grandfather and the example he set for me. 13 weeks from this weekend, I will be back on stage and my upcoming "battle" to get there seems so trivial compared to his. No matter what I go through, it will never be as bad as what he went through. It's going to get harder as the contest approaches. I'm going to be hungry;I'm going to be tired; and my mental toughness is going to be tested. But I come from the toughest. The Strongest. And we don't give up. To us, Giving up is NEVER an Option.
Thank you Grandpa.
I've seen some pictures floating around on Facebook of loved ones lying on the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. If you've never been to Arlington, it's something to add to your bucket list. I was there a few years ago with my family as we
brought my Grandfather's ashes there for it to be his final resting place. He received full military honors and I watched in awe the 21 gun salute, the folding of the flag, and my grandmother pet the engraved marker with my Grandfather's name on it one last time before we left. It was such a moving and powerful experience that I will never forget. I was just so proud of my grandfather that day and hoped he was watching somewhere. Now that he is gone, we no longer celebrate the holiday with a bbq at my Grandmother's house because Grandma doesn't have the energy or the desire to throw parties any more. Instead, we all go on our separate ways and celebrate the holiday elsewhere. One thing is for sure that although my family doesn't formally gather on Memorial Day I still think of my Grandfather every year (even though he didn't die in battle which is what the holiday is for) and the incredible example he set for his family. Memorial Day is a day of honor and reflection -- and I'm honoring and reflecting on my Grandfather.When I think of my Grandfather, I think of how he never gave up....no matter what. It wasn't until after his passing that I found out my Grandfather had written memoirs of both his horrible childhood and horrible experience in 5 battles in WWII, including Iwo Jima where he was missing in action for a year. The child abuse, the starvation, the passing of his mother at an early age....no matter what....he never complained and never gave up. He went to war as a teenager and saw many of his friends die, experienced two ships going down in the South Pacific, only to make it to land and be faced with bullets flying at him in all directions. How he survived I'll never know. Later on he had many do or die moments as well including an ambush where he chose to jump into a pile of dead bodies crawling with maggots to survive. When the firing stopped, he came out of the pile only to see that the other guys didn't make it. It took guts to jump in that pile of bodies. It took an incredible will to live. Giving up was never an option.
My Grandfather came home from the war, married my grandmother, and lived a long
happy life with love and pride for his family --- and with an unforgettable twinkle in his eye. The childhood from hell, the unimaginable horror of WWII.......I'll never know how he survived and didn't "break" mentally from the trauma. To him -- he did what he had to do....and giving up was never an option.So on Memorial Day, I'm grateful for my Grandfather and the example he set for me. 13 weeks from this weekend, I will be back on stage and my upcoming "battle" to get there seems so trivial compared to his. No matter what I go through, it will never be as bad as what he went through. It's going to get harder as the contest approaches. I'm going to be hungry;I'm going to be tired; and my mental toughness is going to be tested. But I come from the toughest. The Strongest. And we don't give up. To us, Giving up is NEVER an Option.
Thank you Grandpa.
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Posted by Michele Welcome at 5/27/2012 1:33 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: michele welcome wbff pro figure pro wbff figure pro figure professional wbff world championships 2012 pro figur world championships wbff 2012 world championships 2012 wbff world championships bodybuilding lifestyle bodybuilding competition figure competition figure memorial day fitness and figure world championships
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: michele welcome wbff pro figure pro wbff figure pro figure professional wbff world championships 2012 pro figur world championships wbff 2012 world championships 2012 wbff world championships bodybuilding lifestyle bodybuilding competition figure competition figure memorial day fitness and figure world championships
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