To My Kids

21 July 2018

It was nearly a year ago that The WSO and I laid in a course for Boston and sallied forth to see the Foo Fighters at Fenway Park. A tale I recorded here, for posterity dontcha know? Anyhoo, I remember that day with great fondness, it reminds me of a number of times that my adult children have treated their old man to some seriously good times. (Not sure what I ever did to deserve such great kids, I credit The Missus Herself with being an incredible mother. She raised 'em right. Sure, I helped, a little, mostly her though.)

At any rate, thanks to my kids I've been to a U.S. Navy ship christening, USS Nitze (DDG 94, The Naviguesser's second ship), and two ship commissioning ceremonies, USS Nitze and USS Colorado (SSN 788), the latter courtesy of The Nuke.

I've had the chance to ride two aircraft carriers, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). The former was thanks to The Nuke, she was in ship's company as a nuclear propulsion officer, and the latter was thanks to The WSO, she was in USS Ronald Reagan's air wing as a Naval Flight Officer.

I still remember the day I was out in California visiting The WSO and her tribe when my son motored down from where he lives, over a two hour drive, and asked if I'd like to go down to Sandy Eggo for the day. The plan was to pop by The Shakespeare Pub & Grill for a spot of lunch, a place where Lex used to "hold court," as it were. While there I got to meet Tuna face to face for the first time and the good Cap'n of HMS Defiant and his lady.

We had a nice repast, had a Guinness or two (surprise, surprise), and great conversation. It was an afternoon well-spent. While there my son took me over to Fort Rosecrans, where the earthly remains of Captain Carroll F. LeFon, Jr. are interred. It was a very emotional day and my son drove us ten hours, round trip, just so his Dad could visit a place very meaningful to hisself. Long drive but we got to spend some father/son time together which we hadn't been able to do since he was in college. Now here he was, all grown up, five years in the Navy under his belt, chauffeuring the old man around Southern California.

Had a nice surprise from The Nuke a couple of Christmases ago, a chance to attend a Denver Broncos game live and in person. (Photo of us is in this post. Okay, we're hard to see, trust me, it's The Nuke and Your Humble Scribe.) Now that was a lot of fun. The roar of the crowd, football on the field, and a rather nice bratwurst for half-time. A bit different from the Christmas dinner we'd shared in the officers' mess on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower when she was in port at Norfolk, but every bit as special.

The WSO also surprised me with a trip to the F/A-18E simulator out at NAS Lemoore, courtesy of her husband, Big Time. That tale was told here, can't believe it was six years ago!

Anyhoo, the kids treat their old man pretty damned good, it's humbled I am.

Now t'other day on the Book of Faces, loyal reader Valory mentioned that "we've never seen these kids." While I'm sure she has, I thought I'd reprise a cuppla pictures from when the youngest granddaughter was baptized out Sandy Eggo way. Might be before Valory became a Chanter, but the following photos are from this post.

Going round the table in a clockwise fashion:
Your Humble Scribe, Big Time's Dad, Big Time's Mom, Big Time's uncle, Big Time's brother, Big Time's SIL, my DIL,
The Owl (The Naviguesser's youngest), The Naviguesser, Big Oh (The Naviguesser's oldest), Little Bit (The WSO's oldest), The WSO, Big Time, The Nuke (holding L'il Sweetie, the youngest of all the grand-progeny),
and (of course) the lovely lady who is my wife, The Missus Herself.

The same crowd, taken from the other end of the table.

FWIW, the finger is much better, hence the longer post, and continues to improve. I may be back to strumming and drumming in a few weeks. Yes, spare a thought for the lovely lady who is The Missus Herself, I'm sure she can hardly wait.

🤔