I've mentioned Greg our neighbor before. He was a Vietnam combat Veteran who served in the 101st airborne as a ground pounder. He lost his wife of many years and just got old and lonely. He would sit in his apartment with the lights out and the curtain open enough to watch people as they walked past his patio. I met him over 2 years ago when I was sweeping the sidewalk out to the parking lot. He was sitting in his wheel chair/walker waiting for the older Adult Transit bus. We spoke as I swept and he waited. We talked about our time in service and he shared his loss of his wife and how it affected his life. The next time we spoke was on Easter Sunday this year. We met at the dumpster as we tossed our trash. He was in a talkative mood that day. He asked about Joyce because he had seen us hobbling out to the car in her wheel chair and later with her walker and finally just holding my hand. He was concerned because he had been through the same thing with his wife. Today was the 3rd time and last time I will ever talk with him. I was again emptying trash and as I walked back I saw him in the passenger side of a vehicle by his apartment. He saw me and I walked over to say goodbye. The old man smiled and said he was no longer able to take care of himself so he was headed for a rest home. His next thing was, "how is Joyce?" It took me aback to think that this old man in such bad shape was not concerned about himself but concerned about Joyce and her condition. I told him she was still improving. He smiled again, we shook hands and said goodbye. It amazes me today how 2 men with barely a half hour of talking in 3 short meetings over 2.5 years could be feeling so close to each other. I will never see him again and I am good with that because I will always remember him and this day as he was this morning.
Last night I had a dream. It was the 3rd iteration of a dream I have had over the last 2 weeks. It starts with me back working at the old Litton plant in Springfield. I am leaving early due to no work and I cannot find the time clock to swipe my badge and leave. I leave the plant and the parking lot is the old parking lot behind the Pine Lawn movie theater where I walked through on my way home from the Saturday matinees when I was a boy. After that is where the dream changed every time. I cannot remember the first 2 but last night I walked up to an old VW bus (like one I had in the late sixties) and was getting into it when the rest of the plant was being sent home. People approached and asked me for a ride home because their either husband or wife had their car and was at work other places. I said okay the the bus filled with enough people that it was like a circus where all the clowns start piling out of a small car. I drove from the parking lot and was driving down the street that is the way we go to the fitness center every morning these days. I hit a bump and parts started falling out of the VW bus. Everyone was getting out of the bus and started picking up the pieces from the bus and handing them to me as they walked away. The dream ended with me trying to figure out where all the parts went back.
Last night I had a dream. It was the 3rd iteration of a dream I have had over the last 2 weeks. It starts with me back working at the old Litton plant in Springfield. I am leaving early due to no work and I cannot find the time clock to swipe my badge and leave. I leave the plant and the parking lot is the old parking lot behind the Pine Lawn movie theater where I walked through on my way home from the Saturday matinees when I was a boy. After that is where the dream changed every time. I cannot remember the first 2 but last night I walked up to an old VW bus (like one I had in the late sixties) and was getting into it when the rest of the plant was being sent home. People approached and asked me for a ride home because their either husband or wife had their car and was at work other places. I said okay the the bus filled with enough people that it was like a circus where all the clowns start piling out of a small car. I drove from the parking lot and was driving down the street that is the way we go to the fitness center every morning these days. I hit a bump and parts started falling out of the VW bus. Everyone was getting out of the bus and started picking up the pieces from the bus and handing them to me as they walked away. The dream ended with me trying to figure out where all the parts went back.
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