Remembering 9/11/2001

 

Two days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we visited the memorial at the Pentagon, where Dave was stationed from 1989 to 1992.



Jane knew of only one person who died that day: a retired Army master sergeant named Max Beilke, with whom she had once served on a joint DoD committee on military benefits.  Max was the Army representative to that committee, and Jane represented the Office of the Actuary.
 

Coincidentally, we met a woman sitting in a wheelchair at Max's memorial bench.  We introduced ourselves and learned that this woman is Max's widow.  Her daughter explained that her mother had had a stroke and now had difficulty with verbal communications.  However, Jane certainly made an emotional connection as she told how much she enjoyed working with Max.

 P.S.  Max was the last soldier to leave the U.S. embassy in Saigon the day that Vietnam fell.  It is ironic that he survived the last day of that distant war, only to be a victim on the first day of another war.

A Blitz of Reunions

The past two weeks have been intensely enjoyably.  As we approached our former home in Vienna, Virginia, dormant friendships have blossomed again.  It’s amazing how years of absence between us and our East Coast friends seem to melt away within minutes of our meeting.  No one seems very much changed.  Sure, we’re all older and some are struggling with physical challenges.  Some are still working full-time, but most of the folks our age have turned their energies toward volunteer service, part-time employment, travel, and personal enrichment.  Our friends seem to us wiser, more confident, grateful, generous, and joyful than when they were all earning a living, raising children, and finding their place in the world.  Or maybe it’s we that have become more perceptive of these qualities that they possessed all along.

We are grateful for the kindness and hospitality of many people in the past two weeks.  We were so glad to connect with Janet in PA for lunch. We parked our trailer at the homes of Mike & Jane in New Jersey and Jim & Jeanne in Maryland, broke bread with these families, and talked again with their grown children.  Curt and Cindy hosted us at their Annapolis farm and allowed us to park our travel trailer (for a month) between their horse trailer and chicken coop while we travel to the UK. 

 

We drove our Jeep unencumbered to Virginia Beach, staying one day with nephew Mike & Stephanie and their 3 young children.  Thanks for the homemade waffles, card games with Liam, Home Depot building project, pizza night out, and walk on the beach boardwalk.

Jim & June hosted us next in Chesapeake, invited mutual friends Tom & Ina for dinner, and gave us all putting lessons on their back lawn.  Hope your garden survived the recent tidal flood.

On our way back north, Dick and Lorraine took us to lunch and on a walking tour in Colonial Williamsburg. 

   

Lin welcomed us at her log cabin in the woods near Spotsylvania and surprised Dave with a birthday cake.   

Raleigh & Marilyn opened their Warrenton home to us, hosted a Scottish meal with mutual friends Tom & Lena, and took us wine tasting the following day.

Back in Vienna, Tom & June allowed us to occupy their basement “man cave” for 3 nights, took us to their boat, and arranged a meeting with mutual friends, George & Beth.   Another planned reunion was foiled by 6 inches of rain in 2 hours.

Current and former DoD actuaries and personnel policy experts enjoyed a bountiful lunch at Clyde's in Alexandria.  Thanks to Jane's former boss, Ben, for arranging this gathering.

Our former neighbor and realtor, Linde, invited us to dinner in Alexandria to meet her fiancé, Frank, just two days before the wedding.  (We heartily approve!)

Curt, Cindy, Marilyn, Raleigh, Lena, Tom

Gigi, Pam and Ike

 After an emotional reunion with many friends at Emmanuel Lutheran Church on Sunday, we scurried back to Curt and Cindy’s for a memorable crab and brisket feast with Edzell, Scotland shipmates (Ike & Gigi, Larry & Pam, Bruce, Tom & Lena, Raleigh & Marilyn) some of whom we had not seen in years.

Marilyn, Raleigh and Lena

Bruce, Pam and Larry

We leave today for England but we take with us the rich memories of the fellowship we have shared in the past 11 weeks with family and friends. 

Note: Remember that to see any of the pictures "large" just click on it.

Hurricane Irene

On Saturday morning (Aug. 27), we awoke to clear skies over Marblehead, Massachusetts.  The main news story was the expected arrival of Hurricane Irene in New England the following day.  Mandatory evacuations were in effect for parts of New York City, and citizens were urged to prepare for high winds, torrential rain, and extended power outages.  Since Marblehead is right on the ocean, with limited and congested highway access, we decided to head west while we still could.  We said farewell to our hosts and drove across the state of Massachusetts into western New York, arriving in Albany about 4pm.  We checked into a Hampton Inn near the airport and hunkered down for the storm.

It started raining at 6pm, just a light drizzle at first, but steadily increasing in intensity during the night.  By Sunday morning, the rain was coming down in sheets, with local wind gusts up to 50 mph.  The center of the storm, now downgraded from "hurricane" to "tropical storm", passed about 100 miles east of our location.  By 7pm the rain ceased but the winds continued to blow hard.  We could see our car and trailer from our window, and were relieved that it appeared secure, not even rocking in the buffeting wind.  Other than a few downed tree limbs, there was no damage or serious flooding near our hotel, nor did we lose power.

On Monday morning we continued our journey, but were thwarted by flooding on major highways to the west.  Instead, we turned south on Highway 87 as far as Newburg, Pennsylvania, where flooding again blocked all traffic.  It took us over 2 hours to travel the last 10 miles or so to Newburg, where all vehicles were diverted to Highway 24 west toward Scranton.

Just past Scranton, as the sun was setting, we followed our GPS to Bear Creek Camp and turned onto a narrow dirt road extending 2.5 miles into the deep woods.  We finally arrived at the office of what turned out to be a nearly deserted Lutheran camp and retreat center.  The camp host was just leaving and graciously allowed us to spend the night there in the parking lot, though we were the only campers in the park.  Slept amazingly well.