Home of the Providence Clemente Veterans' Initiative
So I am in the Coast Guard reserve as a Boatswain Mate 3rd Class (E4) stationed at CG Station Point Judith, RI. I had volunteered to do my two weeks active duty aboard a Coast Guard Cutter out of Woods Hole, MA. Something I had been trying to do for several years and finally got … Read more
“Living simply, not alone, roots, rocks, trees and stone. Wondering often, suffering some. It never would abate until it was done.” When I joined the USPS in 1983 I was elated to have landed a highly sought after place of employment. After one year of marriage my wife and I had packed up our meager … Read more
Life is not two dimensional. The line exercise forced me to think about what has happened to me in the last 80 years. I realized that there is a multi-dimensional aspect to one’s life line. There are colors, textures, amplitude, brightness, and emotions that can be illustrated. I remembered two photographs that I had taken … Read more
Jacques Yves Cousteau “When I see a dolphin, I know it’s just as smart as I am. …If I could get any animal it would be a dolphin. I want one so bad. Me and my mom went swimming with dolphins and I was like, ‘How do we get one of those?’ and she was like, … Read more
I want to start by taking a moment to truly thank you all for taking time from your evening to be here with us tonight at “Veteran’s Voices: A Green Light, Ghost Light” event. Your willingness to give us your time is so much more meaningful than repeating an empty phrase. I want you all to think of something for me. I want you to think of an animal, cats in particular. Now, I want you to think about the phrase “cats have nine lives”.
Many PCVI veterans spoke at the Veteran Voices event put on by Trinity Rep on November 6, 2021. This event was all about connecting with the community through art and their writing. This is the full recording of that event.
Being the oldest of five children comes with a set of responsibilities. Dad being a traveling salesman and away from home Monday through Friday on most weeks has taught you the management skills required by a large family. If you reflect back to 1949 when mom had cancer, you were eight years old and had to become involved in the upbringing of your 6 and 3-year-old brothers. You by default learned a lot about what it means to be a member of the family but felt cheated because you were not doing the things that other friends were doing. And then your sisters were born adding to the responsibilities.
Hello “Iron Mike!” I thought that you might get a kick out of that. I know that Mr. Garabedian doesn’t call you that anymore, but I remember how it made you feel when you were four, five, and six years old. Whenever the old man from across the road saw you coming, he would gleefully sing out “Iron Mike,” in a deep laughing voice that echoed from the shade of his old rickety front porch. “Iron Mike,” it was music to your ears. Those simple words had superhero written all over them and there was no doubt in your mind that Mr. Garabedian saw you, just as you were seeing yourself. In some roundabout way you took ownership of what “Iron Mike” suggested, and it provoked a kind of confidence that allowed you to step out of what is considered normal and comfortable, a little something that kept you reaching for an itch that you just couldn’t reach.
