A good story, I hope, one worth reading. Blackbeard82 should be writing this, but I think he's uncomfortable with long entries and shy. He joined us perhaps 2 months ago. He is soldier who was wounded in the war, with damaged nerves to his arms from an explosion, and now he's back with us in his home in Florida with his bride, the unreasonably beautiful wife, Susan. In one of his early postings, he mentioned that he didn't own a new pipe as yet, and I thought, This situation can't go on. After all, he's a soldier who sacrificed much in the service of his country, and I never served my country in a similar way (I turned of age during the Nixon era; no one was anxious to join under a corrupt president at that time), and should donate something to better the situation of one of our boys, and he's one of us, after all. So I asked Blackbeard, was there a pipe he was interested in? He gave me a link, and I wrote: "It's yours." Two weeks later he received a Peterson Aran, a beautiful pipe with a long slender tip and band with the famous Peterson logo. He was very gracious in his thanks and promised to do something for me: I explained this was my contribution and thanks for everything he did, and that he shouldn't knock himself out doing anything for me. It was my joy and privilege to give him something. He said he might not be able to stop his Australian born wife, Susan, who loved pipes. And he was right; I couldn't stop her. About two weeks later this arrived at my doorstep:
I was stunned. No one ever made me anything before. And it was perfect; Blackbeard and Susan knew about our cold Michigan winters, the chenille throw with "Sparrowhawk" embroidered on the corner was a beautiful rich red, fluffy, warm and light, perfect to wrap around during the coming frigid months. The throw was included with a long letter from Susan expressing gratitude and telling about their life now in sunny Florida.
So Blackbeard has a good, solid new pipe, and I have a chenille throw to use and think about my two friends hundreds of miles away, friends forever. It is in times like these that restore my faith in the goodness of human beings when so many terrible things are happening. God bless them.
I was stunned. No one ever made me anything before. And it was perfect; Blackbeard and Susan knew about our cold Michigan winters, the chenille throw with "Sparrowhawk" embroidered on the corner was a beautiful rich red, fluffy, warm and light, perfect to wrap around during the coming frigid months. The throw was included with a long letter from Susan expressing gratitude and telling about their life now in sunny Florida.
So Blackbeard has a good, solid new pipe, and I have a chenille throw to use and think about my two friends hundreds of miles away, friends forever. It is in times like these that restore my faith in the goodness of human beings when so many terrible things are happening. God bless them.
