Leanna Loomer

We went to the Botanlcai Gardens in 2009, almost at the time that Kodachrome film ceased to be available. So I brought only Kodachrome film and took lots of pictures around the Gardens, some of the place and some of us there.

The Denver Botanical Gardens are a wonderful place. They are so well kept up, the plantings and design are so creative, and somehow they make it seem as though the place weren’t in a city. So many kinds of flowers… and the carp (large goldfish) in one of the ponds totally fascinated our one-and-a- half-year-old granddaughter.

This is a great destination for all ages! If the flowers are blooming, pick a sunny day!

I attended the last gathering of the Iwo Jima survivors at the Memorial, where this horse and its handler were. The riderless horse symbolizes the fallen warrior, and has upturned boots in its stirrups indicating that the horse has lost its rider.

The survivors of the battle of Iwo Jima used to gather periodically, and when the monument was completed, they would gather there. Now there are fewer and fewer of them, so they made the decision that this would be their last gathering.

It’s impossible to tell an Iwo Jima survivor that he is a hero. He will correct you and say “I’m just a survivor; the heroes died on Iwo.”

My father was a U.S. Marine with the 2nd Division during World War II (the Marines and Navy men on Iwo Jima were with the 1st Division) so I always felt a special connection to them. Especially now that so few remain, it is really important not to forget what they did, and what they gave, for our country. Visiting the Iwo Jima Memorial is a good and moving way to honor them, and to remember.

I’m not a typical tourist when I go to Whitewater. Both my parents grew up there and some of my relatives still live there. Now I go out every August for a family reunion, and see all my cousins.

I know some of the “newer” history of the town (such as the 1970s, when activists — call them vandals — burned down Old Main, the tower of the original building on the college campus.) I remember some of the former names of Jessica’s, a popular restaurant still on Main Street. The current owners are eastern European (Lithuanian?) and you can get a wonderful omelette “from the old country” there.

I used to love to hear stories my folks, aunts and uncles told about old Whitewater, and sometimes when I stroll in the evening during my visits, I think of them and then the town feels really ancient (as old as my earliest memories), but it’s also a nice college town for today and for people who have no prior connections to it. I’ll be back there in a few months for that family picnic!