Memory Day

Like any good Soldier I always remember my BASD, which stood for Basic Active Service Date, and today marks 38 years since that major crossroads on my life’s journey. Twenty eight of those years were spent in uniform although the 22 year old version of myself was only imagining (hoping) for three. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made although there was some serious self-doubting going on at the time. I never imagined rising to the rank of full colonel, but you have to remember the Army was a lot more desperate back in those days.

1978 Me

A Few Years Later

I was dropped off at the Manchester Airport for my first ever plane ride which included a stopover in Worcester, of all places. I never drive by the place nowadays without remembering that first landing. It’s instructive as to just how long ago that was to imagine air service between Manchester and Worcester. By the end of the day I was in a very lonely, WW2 era barracks at Ft Knox, Kentucky with a lifetime of adventures and a certain Panamanian lass waiting for me. The picture above was taken the next day as we were processed (first of countless times that followed) through.

Mom

Today must be nostalgia day because I recently cleared out some old files in the basement and ran across a packet of letters I’d sent to my mother. After she passed away in 2003 and we were cleaning out the house I discovered that she’d kept almost every single letter I ever sent her. This newly discovered packet got separated from the main group. It included one from Boy Scout camp when I was 10 or eleven years old and bragging about eating a whole bowl of oatmeal. I think that might have been the last time I ever ate oatmeal.

The Lions 

I also found some notes from my mother in her very distinctive and precise handwriting. The notes included her copying down her favorite poem by Joyce Kilmer, Trees, and some of the best lines from The Lion in Winter. If you ever want to see two actors at the absolute pinnacle of their craft executing some of the best cinematic lines ever – check out Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn as Henry and Eleanor. It was a nice find and brought back good memories of my mother extolling both the movie and Kilmer. I sent them to my sister to enjoy.