Just a couple of brain droppings. Christmas is a day to call people, wish them a Merry Christmas and "How is it going?"
Some you like. Some, maybe you don't like too much, but "what da hell?' A "check in" never hurts.
One of the calls, my cousin and I began discussing my late uncle. I never knew him before WW2 and no one in the family talked much about what he was like before the war. After the war, it was clear, he was a bit "out of focus. Not harmful. Never unpleasant to be with. Just, "not right."
After he was discharged from the service, he had one goal, to move into the woods (didn't matter what woods) and be away from people. To get away from people, he bought a patch of land in the town of Palatka, Fl., population, 400. About five years later, a paper mill opened on the St. Johns River. The population of Palatka increased to 4,000 or so. So much for getting away from people.
In the 80's I learned that he served on a B-17. Years later, came the movie, "Memphis Belle." There, I got a sense of what he went through. He was a waist gunner.
Today, I learned that after the war, he had several surgeries at the V.A. to remove shrapnel. Some shit.
I couple of calls later, I'm talking with another uncle's widow. She tells me that my cousin's wife's cancer has spread and she has couple of more months to live. Next, she tells me that my cousin is with the beginning stages of Parkinsons. He just retired two years ago.
Everybody else is ok.
There are no conclusions about any of this. It is just what is going through my head at this point in time,
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