11-11-20 / Forgotten Tombstone & That’s Why We Stand
Today is Veteran’s Day – a very special day for Americans where we celebrate those who have served our country, whether at peace or at war.
Today’s blog will focus partially on that, but also focus on a more personal song I wrote a few years back.
Today I write about TWO songs – “Forgotten Tombstone” and “That’s Why We Stand”.
The first, “Forgotten Tombstone”…
Let me take you on a journey through time with a story that is very personal to me and my family – the story of Tabitha Rochelle Pinson.
She is (and was) my sister, born a year after me…born premature, without an esophagus, on November 11th.
She spent much of her limited time on Earth receiving medical help, and without telling every facet of the story…she passed away less than a year into life.
Her tombstone still stands tall at the family cemetery in Meta, KY…
This is where the story of the song comes into play.
One day I went to visit her tombstone….the weather was beautiful, and her tombstone looked pretty as ever…
The story reads…
Today as I came to bring you flowers
I took the time to take a look around
It’s been three years since the last time that I saw you
Your tombstone sure looked pretty in the ground
Suddenly I decided to take a look around the area, and found a patch of the cemetery that was…well…let’s let the song tell the story…
I began to notice a place upon the hill
Where the grass grew taller and the weeds grew wild
There were stones without a name to tell about the fame
Of the ones who once were only just a child
These gravestones were at times nothing more than a stone sticking out of the ground, marking the burial plot of someone laid to rest…no name, no information – just a “forgotten tombstone”…
Someone’s mother, someone’s father
Someone’s husband, someone’s wife
Their loved ones sit at home while their body lies alone
In a grave unmarked and unknown
Another forgotten tombstone
I began to take a deeper look, and some of the old tombstones could barely be read – but I read about their military service on these stones…and I began to think about the women who stayed behind, serving our country here while their husbands served abroad…how both had to make sacrifices for our country…
There were graves of men who proudly served our country
Graves of women who had taught our children too
Whether overseas or right here in the homeland
Each person made a difference for the red, white and blue
Today these stones stand tattered and faded
But they’ve stood their ground and still stand tall
I will always remember the gifts that they gave
In the lives they lived as they gave their all and all
The story continues with the iteration that the people buried in these “forgotten tombstones” were family to someone…
Someone’s brother, someone’s sister
Someone’s best friend, someone’s child
Their loved ones sit at home while their body lies alone
In a grave unmarked and unknown
Another forgotten tombstone
It was a very moving experience, and I ended the song with a dedication to my sister, Tabitha Rochelle Pinson…
This promise is true that I make to you
To me, you will never be another forgotten tombstone
The song can be heard on Spotify at the following link – Doug Pinson – “Forgotten Tombstone” on Spotify, and it can also be downloaded on Itunes as well.
Here is a website I found the other day that mentions Tabitha in short detail – Tabitha Rochelle Pinson Birth And Death Info
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With that, we move forward to a more current song, written by me and two special people in my life – Traci Pinson and Aaron Crane.
This is the second song we have written about Traci’s Papa, and it is dedicated to his service to our country.
The song is called “That’s Why We Stand”.
I held the Purple Heart in my hand
The one Papa got from fightin’ war in that foreign land
Wounds received in WW2
Papa’s blood always ran red, white and blue
He may have lost his leg but he didn’t lose his pride
N’ when the Stars and Stripes flew high, Papa would stand
Traci often tells how Papa always had a great spirit no matter the circumstance, and how he taught his children and grandchildren to love and respect our country…
Every Independence Day parade
We all cheered and Papa waved as he passed by
Little flags in every hand
We raised our voices with the band unified
Papa taught us in the car ride home
Some sacrifices make us whole
This all leads up into the chorus, which is an anthem dedicated to those who made sacrifices for us of all sorts…and how it should remind us to remain united as a country…
That’s why we stand – some had to fall
All gave some, some gave all
This grand old flag is who we are
We’re every stripe, we’re every star
As long as it flies above this grand old land
That’s why we stand
We lead into a bridge with reminders of the qualities that bind us as Americans –
Liberty, honor, dignity
Courage, valor, equality
These are not what divides us but what unites us
From sea to shining sea
The song ends with a beckoning call – a song of yesterday that still holds power and conviction to this day…
My country tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing, of thee I sing
It ends with the call of remembrance…the title of the song…
That’s why we stand…
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On this Veterans Day, all of us have a story to tell – but those stories are all bound under the common garment of thread that unifies us…the American flag.
God bless the United States and God bless those who made sacrifices for our country.
