I immediately thought of a recent, very popular movie when I saw these clouds. Just curious what others see, if anything. Let you imaginations loose.

I’ll repost this tomorrow with what my imagination saw.

“Until you have a son of your own, you will never know what that means. You will never know the joy beyond joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.” — Kent Nerburn

Wade was born shortly after our ship returned home after its first deployment to Vietnam. Betty remained at home with her father and stepmother during my absence.

I had leave scheduled for close to his expected birth date. Naturally, he came early and I was in Mayport, Florida and Betty was in Nashville, Tennessee. I was standing officer of the deck watch when Betty’s father called with the news.

I quickly got permission to leave, ran to the airport and boarded a flight to Nashville (long before TSA security lines).

I arrived at the hospital, but Wade had arrived an hour or so before me. The only consolation is that in those days fathers couldn’t be in the delivery room as they can today.

Wade has had an interesting life with a lot of experiences and interests. He even spent a year in Japan during his college years. He’s an excellent writer and loves the outdoors and wildlife. He loves to fly fish even though he wouldn’t eat a fish for all the money in the world.

He met his wife, Marie, while attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado doing some graduate work. He decided not to pursue his graduate work, but he and Marie had a relationship that was sustained and led to their marriage. They’ve blessed us with two wonderful granddaughters, Juliet and Leah.

Like all of us, Wade has had challenges in his life and he has met them with. grace and humility. It has been an honor for me to watch him in each challenge. He has taught me a lot as I watched.

Wade has been a good son, a good husband, a good father, and a good man. I’m very proud of him.

Wade, I hope you have a blessed and fun filled birthday with Marie and the girls.

Love, Dad

Sometimes differences do attract.

Seagoing vessels like my Navy ship, a guided missile frigate, are regulated by specific rules of the road established in 1972. They are similar to the rules of the road for automobiles – which side should you pass on, who has the right of the way at a crossing, etc. All ships are supposed to follow these rules to prevent accidents and all ships normally do – except these guys:

This is an oil tanker. When we met one of these behemoths, which we often did, the rules went away. He always had the right of way mainly because he was too big to slow down or turn, so why try.