As everyone knows if you go into stores, Valentine’s Day is February 14. They have every kind of candy imaginable and cards from funny to just a tad too syrupy. Being the stoic individual that I was trained to be in the military, I truly have a hard time expressing my heartfelt feelings.
One day when I was driving to pick up a Veteran and take him to a doctor’s appointment at Hines, I was listening to the radio when it hit me. Gladys Knight and the Pips were singing “THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME.” As I listened to the words, I actually got a tear in my eye. Yeah, yeah, I know, a mean combat Veteran that has gotten soft. For those of my generation, you know the song; for the younger generation, google it.
My beautiful and caring wife, Jan, has been there for me through the good times and the bad. She has put up with my idiosyncrasies in my constant battle with PTSD. She was there for me during my knee replacements, my hip replacement and when I almost died from Agent Orange complications. Let’s not forget my frequent bouts with gravity and those exciting ambulance trips to the hospital. Without her unquestioning support, I’m not sure—change that to I’m sure—I would not have survived.
When we tell people that I asked her to marry me the first night we went out, they think we were a little crazy. But hey, that is who we are. Six months later we were married. Nineteen days after that I was in Vietnam and 10 months later my beautiful daughter was born.
When I gave Jan that last hug and kiss and boarded the plane that took me to Vietnam, I never thought I would make it home to be with her again. By the grace of God and plain dumb luck, I made it. She was waiting for me when I got off the plane at Dulles at 0 dark 30 in December 1968.
Fifty two years later, we are still best friends and celebrate each day of life together. I’m really not that good at expressing myself, so all I can do is sing, “Jan, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
