How many times had she rescued it? She'd lost
count. It seemed that every year since she'd gotten it, it had dwindled
down to nothing and she'd had to give it a serious haircut to get it
going again. It would, almost overnight, grow lush and full only to
start dwindling and drooping again with no warning. How often she had
looked at it, remembering, or drawing comfort from its upright eager
vines that never seemed to quit. Poor Charlie, she thought. How many
more times can I hack away at you like this and expect you to live?
Anyhow, I took the sergeant up on the deal he offered. After
three months with the 101st in Dak To and Tuy Hoa, I was sent on a
temporary duty assignment (TDY) near the DMZ to learn field station
operations from the 8th Radio Research Unit at Trai Bac Station in Phu
Bai. From there it was off to Pleiku where we worked first in support of
the 25th Infantry Division and later the newly arrived 4th Infantry
Division.
Of course, I couldn't spit it out. How
could I? To do so would be a disgrace, but more important was my pride
and my arrival in the Chile Capital of The World. Instead I chewed as
Harvey looked on. Never once did his expression change and in fact it
wasn't until my eyes started to roll back inside my head, that he
cracked a grin. That impassive manner finally gave way and he burst out
laughing. But did I stop? Not a chance. i was too dumb to know what to
do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Equinox
Chloe
was born on March 22, 2012 my second granddaughter. She has been a
blessing to me since the first time I saw her beautiful face. I am
graced with the ability to work form the comfort of my home, however, my
son has not been that fortunate. He is a welder and works 3rd shift so I
volunteered to be the nanny and take care of the baby while he and his
wife both worked. At 43 and having an 11 year old of my own, this life
checkpoint sort of threw me for a loop. The questions continued and
I kept dodging them. Finally he dismissed me with a frustrated wave of
his hand. I went back through the corridor that Li-Li had led me
earlier, but I didn't see her when I returned to the bar. In fact, I
never saw her again nor did I ever return to the Shadow Bar.
My mother and father enjoyed much of their leisure time with
drive in movies, watching TV shows such as MASH, All in the Family,
Dukes of Hazard, and Andy Griffith. They enjoyed the music of Merle
Haggard, Freddy Hart and Conway Twitty. Lastly, they enjoyed fast cars
as well as many people did in the seventies. Drag racing was a fun event
for both my mother and my father. In the seventies my father owned a
1972 Ford Galaxy 500, 1970 Road Runner, 1973 Ranchero, and a 1976
buy truck stuff. The cost of a new
vehicle was around $6000. Over all, the most rememberable event for my
mother in the seventies was in 1977 when Elvis Presley died. It may be a word, a symbol or a motto but having a message can
do more to keep attorneys on the same page than almost anything else.
Decide what your message and is and stick to it, whether it be stamping
your symbol on letters and emails or boldly displaying your firm mantra
on the company website. Repetition will help attorneys stay on message
and clients recognize your presence. It all came back to her then, how he'd lain sobbing in his room
across from hers while the man raged in the livingroom, how she'd
slipped into his twin bed with him and wrapped her arms around him until
he was finally asleep, how she'd read chapters of "Charlotte's Web" to
him each night, how he'd raced on his bike through the dark streets the
night they'd finally made their escape. She'd let him in on it early on,
told him all about her plan to find a new place where it would be just
the two of them and how he wouldn't ever again have to lie awake at
night afraid of what was going on in the livingroom or of what he'd see
in the morning as he headed out for school. He'd told no one. It was
their secret. Teddie grew up, started his own family and moved away. The man
died of some terrible disease, but Charlie lived on. Twenty years and
several more trims later, he was still going strong. She sometimes sent
Teddie photos of the plant, if only to remind him of that time in their
lives. She always hoped he'd see in those pictures what she was really
trying to say. She'd have to remember to mention it someday.