The day was slow to begin......dark clouds covered the sky and kept the morning from arriving through our windows.....and so, I found myself sleeping somewhat longer. But....after my 2 cuprs of Fr. Roast coffee, I was up and ready to meet the world........but for some unknown reason the world did not come to my door to greet me.........?????
The morning was filled with the Sunday morning "talking heads" shows.....and then I just puttered around doing some odd things/jobs that could have waited but since there was nothing pressing me today, I did the "odd things/jobs".
By mid-afternoon, I found myself returning to the shoe box full of the letters I had written to my parents during 1969-70 while I was in the USAF serving in Asia: Korea, Japan, Okinawa, and Thailand with TDY's to Calcutta, Singapore, Manila, Saigon, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc., etc. Yep....I DID get around during those 15 months that I served over there!!
WOW.......the letters immediately took my mind back 37-38 years.......and the mental images/pictures returned to me in vivid color as I read the lines that I had written. I am absolutely amazed that my style of writing was EXACTLY the same then as it is today.........the use of the dots, the continued "oooooo" on words, the verbage and descriptions, all of it is the SAME!!!! AND........the places that I ate/dined and the descriptions of the quality and styles of the meals......all of that info, like I write about today, is in those wonderful letters.
It is quite uncanny that it I didn't know it had been THAT long since I wrote those letters, I wouldn't be able to tell if they had been written yesterday or just last week........except when I discuss the prices of the items I bought or the costs of the meals. I had ALMOST forgotten how much I flew around and traveled throughout Asia during those 15 months.........the places I visited have stayed in my mind and memories, but to read about those experiences made me lose all of those decades this afternoon.........the years simply slipped away effortlessly as I immersed myself in those hand-written pages inside those yellowing envelopes. How wonderful it was that my mother saved them!!!!!! It isn't often that a person can return to an entire 15 months of one's Life after almost four decades and see it all again as you relive those events and incredible experiences of being 26 years old in the exotic, foreign lands of Asia!!!!!! WHAT a lucky find, from the recesses of my mother's closet, this shoebox has been for me!!!!!
I brought myself back to this century and reality by 6pm as we had been invited to dinner at the Hanner Home. And.....it was a wonderful meal.....as is to be expected when anyone gets the opportunity to eat there!!! Sue...and Dave...are excellent gourmet chefs and it is always such a culinary delight to eat at their home!!!! And this evening....well, the chatter and discussions of many varied topics made the evening just melt away as we dined, wined, and laughed at the many events that we have experienced.........
It has been a wonderful evening.....a wonderful day!!! Tomorrow we are leaving for a few days to return to my mother's home, via an overnight at Dr. Jeni's estate. The 1st Lady has a dental appointment with her and then we will be there for the evening......leaving on Tuesday to go to Eldon to work on getting the house there ready to put on the market. We have to be in STL Thursday for an appointment....and then we will return to the stick and brick after that.
Wifi......online access??? Well....it is touch and go while we are in Eldon, so if I don't get the opportunity to post, do not worry........it is just the lack of available technology for sending my thoughts into cyberspace that will keep me from writing of my experiences........
As I end this tonight, I am reminded of a wonderful friend, Doug Shrader, who quoted my ending tag line in his post today.......and it was cool to realize that my words were in quotation marks!!! Thanks, Doug!!
Life IS Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
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