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Shipmates,
Our Captain was laid to rest at Arlington on Tuesday, 15 April 2014. Our group was well represented with six
Shipmates in attendance. Bob and Linda Jeffries, Terry and Anne Walker, Jim and Cory Loveday, Wayne and Patty Hughes,
Dick Beckman, and Pat and I.
It was a service befitting an "Old Salt" like the Captain. It was chilly and a rain storm like the
North Atlantic or The Virginia Capes or the Mediterranean around Sardinia. We walked the final distance with the
Caisson. We were soaked to the bone and quite frankly with his dry sense of humor he probably was having a little
laugh at our discomfort.
As we all talked and visited with each other we refused to let his death influence us. His life did that. He
was a positive influence so we enjoyed our time together and told stories about how he had been an inspirational
figure in our early lives. We laughed and enjoyed the moment because like all things it was over too soon.
I could not help but remember this old saying,
"Young man do not weep for me. As I am now you soon shall be"
Billy Abbott |
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