On Virginia Mansions, Military, and Magnolias
Yesterday my husband and I, along with my mother-in-law Frances Anne Thackston, attended a celebration honoring The Adjutant General of the Virginia National Guard, Major General Daniel E. Long, Jr. upon his retirement. MG Long's list of military assignments and accomplishments is impressive. You can read about his military career here. I have met General Long several times and have a great deal of respect for him. His wife Diane is one of the dearest and genuinely nicest women I know from the National Guard. As guests of Mrs. Thackston and Lieutenant Colonel Russell Woodlief, we were very grateful to have been included in honoring MG and Mrs. Long.
MG Long's retirement party was hosted by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and was held at the Governor's Mansion in Richmond, formally known as the Executive Mansion. I wanted to take a gift to MG Long and his wife, and also to Gov. McAuliffe from our town of South Boston and Halifax County. I made each of them a gift bag with a few local items, including local wine, local honey, a Prizery schedule, SoVA Wine Trail Passport booklet, and a book about the pivotal Race to the Dan in South Boston during the Revolutionary War. I love our community and was glad to be able to share a piece of it with our host and guest of honor.
During Mark's service in the Virginia Army National Guard JAG Corps, he has made many friends. We met with several of those friends when we arrived at the reception. Here we are pictured in front of the Executive Mansion with some of those great friends, Chaplain JD Moore, Virginia Court of Appeals Judge and former Secretary of Public Safety Marla Decker, Frances Anne Thackston, and JAG Corps Lieutenant Colonel Rusty Woodlief.
Virginia's Executive Mansion is beautiful and holds so much history. As you know, it is home to the Virginia's Governor, but did you know that it is the oldest continually occupied Executive Mansion in the United States? It has been home to 55 Virginia Governors since 1813.
Mark and Chaplain Moore enjoying the reception.
We were invited to go to upstairs and were warmly greeted by Governor Terry McAuliffe and Senator Mark Warner, who showed us the landing area and publicly accessible bedrooms, one of which was occupied by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Virginia in 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. It was a pleasure to meet Senator Warner for the first time, as well as Gov. McAuliffe, who was a gracious host. By the way, Governor McAuliffe and Mrs. Long loved their local gift bags, and Mark and I were proud to share a little piece of Southern Virginia with each of them!
General Long, pictured with his family above, was shown a great deal of gratitude for his service, and his family was shown much gratitude for their support, as well. MG Long was recognized for 50 years of uniformed service. Governor McAuliffe, Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran, and Judge Marla Decker thanked him for his service, and Senator Bryce Reeves and Delegate Richard Anderson presented him with Senate Joint Resolution No. 120 commending his many years of service. General Frank J. Grass, the 27th Chief of National Guard Bureau, presented MG Long with the National Guard Distinguished Service Award.
Pictured above is Mark with his longtime friend and colleague and the newly appointed Virginia National Guard Adjutant General Tim Williams. You can read about Adjutant General Tim Williams' appointment here. With his appointment, General Williams will have generations of big, well worn shoes to fill, and I am sure he, too, will wear them with honor. When MG Long spoke at his reception, he said that he felt that he left the Virginia National Guard a little bit better than he found it. He believed that the person before him did so, and the person before that. He retired from a long legacy of Citizen Soldiers who took great pride in their service and who took their patriotic duties very seriously. One such man was my father-in-law, Major General Carroll Thackston, who served as the Adjutant General of the Virginia National Guard from 1994 until his retirement in 1998, after 42 years of service.
General Thackston served under Governor George Allen. He is pictured below with Governor Allen, Major General Carroll Childers, who also attended the reception yesterday, and the late Command Sergeant Major James Flanary.
General Thackston, who we all affectionately called Pop, passed away last February, but we felt his presence yesterday as we were surrounded by so many of his former friends and colleagues. My mother-in-law has told me many times that Pop's hard work and dedication to the Virginia Guard helped to shape what it is today, leaving a true legacy to the Guard and to his three sons, all of whom have served, choosing to follow in those big, well worn shoes. Major General Long and Mrs. Long were so kind and supportive of our family following Pop's passing. It was such a difficult time, but we were all so comforted by and so grateful for the Guard's support, both as an organization as well as by its members, including MG and Mrs. Long.
Major General Long is pictured above presenting a flag to Mark at his father's funeral last February.
General Thackston and Governor Allen remained friends in the years following his retirement. Governor Allen also showed a great amount of support to the family, attending both the funeral, and speaking at the armory dedication in July 2013. Under the direction of Major General Long, the South Boston armory was renamed in memory of our Pop.
We had a lovely afternoon yesterday reuniting, reminiscing, congratulating, well wishing, saying farewell to what has gone before, and welcoming who and what lies ahead. We left the Executive Mansion and for the next two hours, we headed back home to South Boston.
When we arrived home, this is what greeted us on the road in front of our house:
This is a pile of brush on the curb and half of the street in front of our house. More specifically, this is a pile of brush that was once a beloved magnolia planted more than forty years ago by the previous homeowners and which had grown to be one of the largest magnolias in town. Mark and I were always very fond of this tree, but until it had to come down, didn't realize what an emotional attachment we had to it. The magnolia is such a grand tree, tall and upright, bearing distinctive leaves and fragrant blooms. It is a symbol of the American South, and while it is Mississippi's state tree and the state flower of both Mississippi and Louisiana, it is beloved by Southerners everywhere, including here in Virginia, where George Washington made sure to plant it at his own Virginia mansion, Mount Vernon. It was the Southern Magnolia that President Andrew Jackson chose to plant at the White House in 1828 in memory of his wife Rachel.
Mark and I knew the tree had to come down. It had become overgrown with poison sumac. The sumac showed up a few years ago, and we had cut it back a couple of times, but each new year it grew back worse than the year before. The growth was so destructive this year, that it was choking the life out of our grand magnolia, and the roots had damaged the adjacent tree so badly and had starved it of nutrients to the point that the tree was no longer properly rooted, a potential liability. Our graceful southern symbol was now sick and malnourished, so down she came.
Mark's friend Lawrence Easley came over and did the work for us. Mark and Lawrence have been friends and have done business together for a long time, and if there's anyone we trusted with this job, it was Lawrence. Many thanks to Lawrence with LL& G Services, Inc. for taking care of this situation for us. The tree removal was scheduled to happen while we were in Richmond, and by the time we got home, all but one tree trunk and some remaining sumac vines had been removed.
The tree removal was an enormous task. Lawrence did most of the work during the day, but had to come back the following day to finish the job. The three of us stood in the yard assessing the damage and deciding what to do next. I was as sad as one can be about losing a tree in their yard.
That's when I saw it. That's when I saw a tiny red bud out of the corner of my eye.
I bought two Lady Astor Rose bushes last year and planted them in front of my house. I tried to nurture the plants, but thought that I had failed them, when they lost all of their blooms and leaves during the winter months. I love the history behind these rose bushes so much, which I'm sure I will share one day, so I continued to observe and nurture them everyday. The leaves finally grew back with the warm weather and daily watering, but still no buds. Not one. Not even this morning when I checked on them before we left the house. When I arrived home, however, there were not one, but two tiny red buds peeking up at me as if to tell me that they loved that big magnolia, too, but it was time for it to go, and that now there would be room for more sunlight and thus more growth. I think it was a promise that they will continue to grow and provide many years of beauty and joy for our family and our home. I think they were also reminding me that this has been a season of change, and that for everything there is a season. We say farewell with fondness to that which has gone before, as we embrace this new season. We are so thankful that MG Thackston, MG Long, and their predecessors have each left the Virginia National Guard a little better than they found it, leaving a lasting legacy to us all, and I have no doubt that the men and women who one day fill those big, well worn shoes will continue to do the same.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3 1-4 (NIV)
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