Three pennies

Tuesday
12/02/2014

You have got to be kidding me. On my way to work this morning I heard on the radio that it was "Giving Tuesday." I almost hit the garbage truck in front of me on the expressway. I need one of those fake ear pieces that looks like a blue tooth so I can rant and rave while I am driving. The blue tooth is built into my car so you really can't pretend that you are talking to someone.

I got to thinking about "giving Tuesday" and something about JW came to mind. When Dad was in the Navy he first served on the USS Galveston, a Cleveland class light cruiser, stationed in Philadelphia, Pa. We did not have a car in those days and apparently a lot of service men hitchhiked from their station to home and back again. A while back I came across a little match box with 3 pennies in it and asked Mother what it was. There is scotch tape wrapped around the little cardboard box and it is discolored to near black over 60 years. Mother informed me that JW was getting ready to hitchhike back to base and he had no money. Remember we lived in the Appalachian Mountains on a dirt road, with no running water and an outhouse (I am not kidding). I gave JW the matchbox with 3 pennies and he carried it for his entire military career. He transferred to the USS Triton, a nuclear powered radar picket submarine that was the first vessel to circumnavigate the Earth submerged.  Well, my 3 pennies were on that voyage. JW was in my eyes the bravest Daddy in the world. Imagine my surprise to find out that the tough Navy sailor, that is my Father, was also the kind of man that would carry 3 pennies around for years.

I still view him as brave. He has faced Alzheimer with dignity and spirit. Even at this state of almost total dependency on his care givers he does not give up. Never quits and perseveres. When he qualified to go into submarines he use to tell me about a water tank that the men would have to swim from the bottom up to the top. Scared me silly just to listen to the story. JW did it though. He will continue to fight Al along with Mother and our family.

Giving Tuesday, I know is suppose to be about donating monies to organizations. JW gave years of his life to this country. Protecting his family and families he did not even know. Alzheimer has robbed his memories of most of those voyages. However the 3 pennies remain. If you show him the matchbox he knows exactly what it is and who gave it to him. I will always be "Daddy's little girl."

I support disabled vets. That is who I give to.  When JW goes on I will make sure that those 3 pennies are with him for his next adventure.

Phyllis