Last installment for the 361st (corrections within)

I left off talking about meeting Lash. He's the guy that Mike was kidding about being my dad's gay lover. When I met Lash I asked him if my Dad was gentle. Woody seemed to think it was pretty funny. Lash cracked up too. I guess its good when all can laugh at the same thing. That's the way it was with these guys... they all felt the same thing. One of the events I attended while at the VHPA reunion was a breakfast for KIA/MIA family members. I guess there were about 40 attendees. Including one fellow (and I feel badly for forgetting his name now...sorry) who lost his father when he was 11 months old. So he had even less time w/ his dad than I did. But we shared some questions. Simple things, really... was my dad left or right handed? Did he like meatloaf? Stuff like that. These are the kinds of things people know about their family. Not us.

Many thanks to Susan Kleinfelter (was I close?) [ Ok, I stand corrected... its Susan Clotfelter Jimison. Sorry Susan :-) ] who made sure that she made time to talk with me. She was/is amazingly supportive & compassionate. She lost her older brother in Vietnam. So she & a friend started this organization that tries to locate family of lost vets and help them learn about each other and other support systems. [ Susan reminded me she didn't help start the organization. Again I erred. Well, dammit... can I get anything right? hehe. I guess Susan should have started it then... yeah, that works... she should have started it! ]
Its really a cool deal. All this goes back to Hal calling me in the first place. Thanks again Hal. I hope you are reading this. I hope you & Linda were serious about the invitation to Florida. :-) I might take you up on it one day! hehe

Anyway... I need to bring this chapter to a close soon. There have been events occuring here that I want to record. The guys from the 361st "Pink Panthers" rocked. They were (are) an amazing bunch. One thing, though... I don't think anyone ever told them the frat party is over. LOL

I have to give huge thanks to Hal, Woody, Dana, John, Mike, & Lash. Also, I am grateful to Susan. And finally, I have to say thank you to Rich & Tish Snook who went out of their ways to make me feel welcome comfortable in their home. Rich told me something that stuck with me... When I was apologetic for putting him out for picking me up and dropping me off, he said (in reference to a 4th of July party he was attending) "What you're doing is more important than a hot dog." I guess that's one of those times that you don't realize the impact of what we do and say. Thanks Rich... you made a memory for me!

Thanks to all for reading. I'll be going back to current events soon!
Until then...
Be well,
Stephan