Ties That Bind

It is interesting to me that people thrust together by circumstances of life often develop ties that last a lifetime.

The past few days our local newspaper has published stories about graduation ceremonies at area high schools. One article carried comments from an interview with a graduate. Asked about ending her high school years, the girl said "I miss it already", and dabbed at tears welling in her eyes.

On Friday, the veteran's "Run For The Wall" passed through our town. Somewhere between 150 and 200 motorcycles driven by veterans on their way from California to Washington, D.C. and Memorial Day ceremonies at the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial Wall. They are remembering American military POWs, MIAs and KIAs. The caravan stopped at our local Veterans' Memorial Park for a brief ceremony honoring an area soldier who died in Iraq.

As we observed the group, I swear you could sense the comradeship among these veterans, most of whom probably never knew each other during their military service. It was immediately apparent to all that these men were bonded for life by memories of their similar experiences.

For a moment I was taken aback by the number of men (and women) with snow white hair. Then I realized that I, too, am an old man with snow white hair.

And, I remembered my own military service which ended sixty years ago. Today I look at snapshots of some of my Army buddies, and am taken aback by how young we were. And I miss them. Those months we spent together were a special time in our lives. We shared a common experience, and my memories of that experience are still strong.

True, we have lost track of each other over the years. Those who are still living are also now white haired old men. But we will always be bound by the comradeship we once experienced. And in those memories, we will always be the young soldiers we once were.

The magic of ties that bind.

Distractions!

When I was running a radio station, I cautioned my advertising salesmen not to let anything distract from their sales presentation. You're not going to get very far explaining rating points, cost per thousand or unduplicated audience, if your propect is wondering why you are wearing that stupid tie which does not match your wardrobe. Or, why in the world you cut your hair in a style that makes your head look misshapen.


Travelers Insurance is currently airing a tongue-in-cheek TV commercial in which a group of scientists brag that they have developed a way to re-attach rabbit's foot good luck charms, to their original owners (the rabbits!).

I don't know any more about the commercial, because I am always distracted.

Roll back to about 1935, when I was a 7 or 8 year old kid on a Missouri farm. Rabbit's foot good luck charms were very popular, and probably cost only a dime or so - still a large sum for a farm kid during the great depression.

Now to digress a moment... on that farm we had no electricity, no running water. On laundry day. my mother carried a wash tub full of dirty laundry to a fresh water spring located on the farm. She built a little half circle formation of stones on which she placed the tub. Then she built a fire under the tub and, using a bucket, filled it with water from the spring.


When the water was hot she added homemade laundry soap, and with a scrub board, washed each item of clothing. This is to explain why I wore a pair of overalls - not jeans, but bib ovreralls - for several days between washings.

One day my dad took me rabbit hunting. While he was dressing the rabbits, I suddenly realized that this was my chance to have a genuine rabbit's foot, free of charge. I took one of the amputated feet and crammed it into my hip pocket.

A couple of days later, my sisters started complaining about a foul smell. It took a few more days for me to realize that my free rabbit's foot had not nicely dried as I expected, but had begun to rot in my hip pocket. No good luck here... this amulet was pitched.

So, each time I see The Traveler's commercial, I go back to the day when I stuck my hand in my hip pocket and discovered the rancid rabbit's foot. I get so tickled that I never see how the commercial turns out!

How could The Traveler's avoid that distraction?