Solitary man represents invisible veterans
On the first day of October, with overnight low temperatures of 55 degrees, a solitary man struggled to stay warm in the outdoors which was his home.
His most valuable possessions were the papers and documents that attested to his military service and a time when he was a contributing member of society. He avoided the crowded encampment communities that have become common for the homeless here, preferring the company of the creatures of the forest.
He has been described by those who knew him as humble and patient and convinced that there were so many others who needed help more than he. A survivor of several North Idaho winters without a roof over his head, he was not without friends or people who cared. He was, however, without a mailbox or phone or transportation which made it difficult if not impossible to navigate the system to receive disability benefits from the Veterans Administration.
The plight of homeless veterans this past week took on the persona of Robert Wayne Parkinson, a 56-year-old man who died in a brush fire in the middle of the night on Potlatch Hill, in view of an interstate highway traveled by thousands every day. Invisible within a sea of humanity.
Regretfully posthumous, a simple “thank you” for your service — Robert Parkinson, U.S. Army 1979-’82 — is the very least we can do.
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The days are shorter and it’s much darker when the morning alarm rings these days. Leaves have begun to change color and fall. I’ve accepted the inevitable that the dog days of summer are just a memory. Autumn has always had a melancholy effect upon my mood, and more so since the 12th day of October in 2004 when my world shifted and changed forever.
The decade plus a year that my father has been gone has blessedly been filled with more joy than sadness, although we’ve experienced many family milestones in which his presence was missed mightily. There will never come a time that I don’t catch myself reaching for the phone to call to share something with my dad, a laugh or an indignation or a head-shaking current event. When I find myself missing him the most is when I’m the most grateful. Grateful to have been blessed with a father for 52 years of my life who loved me unconditionally and who made each of his five children absolutely certain that we were his favorite. What better gift than that could there be?
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“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance...” Ecclesiastes.
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Happy birthday today to Nancy Harlocker, Midge Smock, Vicki Gehring, Mark Michalak and Erin Paisley.
Tomorrow Mr. Wonderful aka Pat McGaughey, Dale Bennett, Craig Hampton, Bev Finney, Suzanne DeTar, Laurie Rumore, Joel Elgee, Barbara Baltzell, Chris Nicastro, Josh Hissong and Jeff Hill take another trip around the sun.
On Friday the legendary John Rook, co-creator of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame joins Randy Wells, Kathy Epstein, Greg Luraski, Lyn Harris, Ron Deering on the birthday hit parade.
On Saturday, Bill Everson, Nancy Kosonen, Jessica Moore, Steve Fitzhugh, Lori Gravelle, Bob Cox, Allan Knight, Lynn Jackson (80!), Mollie Sommers, Marlea Kruger and Mike Way are marking the anniversaries of their birth. Michael Pereira, Chris Pasquale, Greg Worley, Genie Riegert, Chad Anderson, Cindy Odd and Warren Anglin will blow out the candles on Sunday.
Happy Columbus Day birthday to Tom Elliott, Jeff Yates, Donnie Murrell, Alan Brown, Kathy Getchius, Kirk Hjeltness and McKade Brown.
Tuesday celebrants are Nick Smoot, Jeff Johnson, Margaret Eddings, Derek Scharf, Serena Pratt, Kathy Pierce and Judy Bennett.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.