Recently, my wife and I decided to pay a holiday visit to an older friend, Lydia. We came to know her at the Presideo (military post, now closed); she is 90 and just discovered she has a brain tumor. How is it manifesting itself? Loss of memory. Not like Alzheimer's but something else entirely--totally cognizant but simply forgets details. Lydia was one of several women who formed a kind of platoon of older connections to the military. Religiously, they went on a monthly outing.
While she was alive, our good friend, Victoria, was mostly our connection and very reflective of the whole contingent; then as they aged, whoever had a car and could drive, i. e., Victoria, they would go to places like the Olive Garden (a chain restaurant. You could hear the collective groan from the Olive Garden staff. They wanted separate checks, what was the cheapest thing, could they get a box to take this home.
There would be 6 or eight. My wife went with them mostly. I managed to skate out usually. When I did go with them, I made it a point to quiz them about their early lives. All had these lives that could be a novel. (Edna, Wanda, Betty, Bill and Jane, Ruth) Living all around the world, experiencing America during the war. I would leave their presence with all this stuff rolling around my head. It was truly amazing
One by one they have "gone home" as we say in the South. Most with age related illnesses, several with dementia, etc. We had a "last" Christmas with Lydia at her house. She displayed all this great German stuff. She was, in fact, German.
Her early life housed much romance. Her husband, Bill, met her right after the "War." The Army refused to allow GIs to marry Germans. Bill goes back to the states and vows to stay in the military until they change their policy. They did. He returns to Germany and marries her.
Lydia, like my Vietnam buddies from 3d Platoon, Bravo Company, 1/501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, have vowed to meet in reunion until there is "the last man standing." Lydia is the "last man" standing.
No comments:
Post a Comment