[Magdalen] A pleasant surprise

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

My beloved spouse is a member of the DAR, and she asked me to accompany her
to a pot luck supper which took place this evening.

When we arrived, I noticed that there were no other guys there. I assumed
the other men (we are informally known as HODARs -- husband of DAR) could
not make it.

Well, it turned out that this evening's theme was to recognize and give
thanks to Vietnam era veterans, of which I am one, and so my spouse wanted
me to attend so that there could be a personal individual.  The main
business was arranging to buy phone cards for active service members and
writing cards so that they could receive greetings on the holidays.  They
were filling out Christmas cards and a few Hannukhah cards as well.

They also collected money for purchasing coupon books for the dispensary of
the local veterans' hospital at Castle Point (They'll be visiting as they
always do on Nov. 11th, and will give them to the vets personally. It's a
nice activity, although it's hard to keep cheerful in light of the vets'
obvious disabilities and infirmities that neccesitate them being there in
the first place)

Then certificates of appreciation were given out for the several relatives
who are vets. Most are unable to be present, so I was very happy to put a
living face on the concept of the veteran for the group. One person had
died just a few days before, and they had the certificate of appreciation
for him that they were going to give to his wife.  They had a cake with the
words "Thank you for your service" on it, which they had me cut for them.

Over to one side of the group was a small table set with a full place
setting, including a wine glass turned upside down, and a "boony cap" for
the absent vet (they call it the Missing Man table).  All told, a very
emotional evening for many.

These ladies have no intention of slowing down till they are forced to. A
lot of wit and wisdom, a real delight.


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy