Thanks Dudley
We visited our very own Sam’s Club earlier this week. Next door to Sam’s I spotted “Dudley’s Discount Liquor.”
I’m thinking, “Hey. Maybe they have Alaskan Amber Malt-style Beer” like the Navy served at the party our son Ben took us to after his retirement ceremony last month.
Sure enough, there’s my beer. So for an atrocious $7.99 I bought a six pack. I told Dudley, “I’m glad you have this. I liked it when I drank some of it in Seattle a few days ago.” So Dudley asks, “Why were you in Seattle?”
For the ceremony marking my son Ben’s retirement from the Navy, I respond. Twenty-one years.
Dudley says, “When you speak with your son next time, please give him my personal thanks. Thank him for putting his life on the line to defend the Flag and the Constitution.”
Pretty cool, huh? There are people around who understand.
A quote from Ben
Here’s a quote attributed to our son Benjamin which has been making the rounds on the internet:
"It is essential to keep the standard high -- it is not kind to overlook slackness or mistakes. It is cruelty. It is cruel to relatives of the man you let off, to his shipmates and to yourself. There is no margin for mistakes in submarines: You’re either dead or alive."A Beatles story
Once in a while, I just feel compelled to set the record straight.
In the late 60’s, a quote in the news from Beatle member John Lennon resulted in outrage from the entire Christian world.
Lennon had said, “Right now, Beatles are more popular than Jesus.”
Almost everyone took it out of context. Lennon meant it was a sad state of affairs for a rock and roll music group to be more popular than Jesus.
He believed Jesus should be more popular than Beatles. Get it? Now stop beating up on long-gone John. I won’t hear it any more.
Word of the week: Prevarication. Here is yet another example of a very nice word brought to us courtesy the ancient Romans. Praevaricatus, literally to walk crookedly. Today it means to turn aside from or to evade the truth. Or, loosely, to lie. So. Don’t prevaricate. The commandment forbids it, even when it’s covered up with a fancy word.
Next week’s word: Quaker.
Gripes? Complaints? Whines? Comments? Adoration? Puppy love? Reciprocal rant? Feel free to express yourself in the comment section below!
We'll have to try that beer. Mark likes pretty much anything if its from Alaska! I have always had the highest regard for military men and women and their families. Both my parents met in the Navy in W.W.II. Our son-in-law has been in the Marines for 7 years and is training to be a pilot. It really brings everything to a much deeper perspective! Thank your son for us, too.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add: One of my dads favorite sayings that I have heard hundreds of times growing up and even now, "I hesitate to respond with any degree of accuracy lest I prevaracate." He says this any time he doesn't know the answer to a question or when the answer would implicate some kind of guilt on his part!!! It always throws people for a loop. Smart man. Those Navy guys really have the edge!
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