Submarine Reunion

So -- about John's submarine reunion.

He loves, loves, loves getting together with his former shipmates. For 40 years, I've been asking what they were doing on those submarines, and he would always say, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."


They were so young...nuclear submarines were a modern marvel -- the latest technology and the best of everything. They were doing things no boat (submarines are called boats) had ever done before -- and, as it turned out -- will never do again. Their time on the USS Haddo was history-in-the-making. But you never know that when it's happening....And it is a joy for these men to get together and reminisce about their halcyon days...

At the banquet, there was an ice sculpture. I always think about the talented, artistic person who spent all that time creating this thing of beauty -- which will melt away so quickly...(like our youth, eh?)

Ray Butters, the emcee for the banquet, presented a special replica of the Haddo to the keynote speaker -- Gregg Larson, the LAST captain of the boat. Gregg's remarks that evening were about "putting one foot in front of the other"...left foot, right foot...and his personal story was compelling.

The Navy played a big role in his life -- and as I listened -- I marveled, once again, about the fact that EVERYBODY HAS A STORY...

Whenever my friend Marion and I are together, we always end up saying, "why would anybody write fiction? Because the truth is so bizarre".

When Gregg (on the right) was five years old, his family home was destroyed by a tornado and he was torn from his bed and woke up in his neighbor's living room, buried by rubble. His house was gone and his mother was severely injured. She spent the next five years in the hospital -- and he wasn't even allowed to see her.

His story is about taking things one day at a time...left foot, right foot...

Everybody at the reunion had a story. John's buddy, Fred -- is a full blooded Cherokee Indian who served on 10 different submarines all over the world during his time in the Navy. He and Frances were our seatmates on the Riverboat cruise...

Jerry and Pat were boyfriend/girlfriend when they were 14 years old. However, "the wheels fell off" the romance and they both married to different people. According to Pat, "Jerry was involved with a string of wildly inappropriate women". Pat was a widow for years before she contacted Jerry again....

And -- hey -- just look at them! I called them "the newlyweds" -- because neither one of them could stop smiling. Theirs is a wonderful love story...

During the reunion, the men did what they came there to do. They told old sea stories.

The women did what women always do. We got to know each other. We talked about our families, our jobs, our children -- and how we were going to accessorize our next outfit...(mostly, that was Pat)...

It is ALWAYS amazing to me that any group of women can be put into a room and find common ground. Because we listen. We are interested in the OTHER person's story.

So -- to all those remarkable women...thanks for sharing...

Really. GIRLS ROCK...that's all I'm sayin'...