Mission Accomplished

So it's Veterans' Day weekend, and I celebrated, so far, the freedom we enjoy here thanks to our Vets. First and foremost on my mind is my beloved Dad, who was drafted in April of '42 and served over three and a half years, until he was discharged on Peal Harbor Day of '45.

I think back what it was like for that young man to give all that time in the prime of his young manhood. I remember being Dad's age -- I was on a track for college and law school -- taking that long a detour would have been quite a sacrifice.

But he indeed WAS discharged, and met his first born for the first time -- she was nearly a year old. And he began my family's modern life -- working three jobs to get ahead, and fathering my middle sister, and then, at the tail of the Baby Boom, me.

Among my close friends, the only Veteran is Kenny, who joined the Navy in College to have them pay for Med School. Kenny ended up liking it -- became a flight surgeon - and indeed became a combat veteran by serving on the aircraft carrier the USS Saratoga during the Gulf War. I've always been very proud of him, and indeed will have dinner with him tonight -- his wife is out of town doing lecture work for her legal career...

Anyway -- we started the weekend with a Rehab visit to my recovering buddy -- and got terrific news. He would be discharged the very next day. I had given away my Canes tickets, planning to watch the game at JMH, and so an audible was called: I would drive up to Broward and watch at least the second half with him, assuming he was discharged in time.

From JMH Wifey and I fetched D2 and Jonathan in the Grove, and then drove to MiMo to meet D1 and Joey. D1 chose La Placita for dinner -- a Puerto Rican place owned by her and Joey's neighbors. The place has been in the press a lot -- they painted the entire 2 story building as the Puerto Rican flag. The City has ordered them to paint over the mural. A fight is ongoing -- the press has helped the place a lot -- indeed it was pretty crowded on Friday night. We enjoyed the seafood based dinner, and toasted the recovery of our great family friend, as well as major family milestones that await us in the coming month, Big Man willing...

Wifey drove us home -- the "youth", as D1 calls them, stayed to meet friends at a trendy Midtown bar.

And Saturday Wifey left -- her friend Cara's 70 something birthday. Per usual, Cara wanted to celebrate at Joe's, and so Wifey drove Cara's friend Ronnie, buddies since Summer Camp in the late 50s, to South Beach and their celebration.

I began watching the Canes -- who jumped out to an early lead. I texted my recovering friend -- he was discharged and thought he's allow me to avoid the drive. Nope. As halftime approached, I fired up the boring mid sized sedan and drove, traffic free, to the Pines -- arriving before the second half began. It was perfect timing.

I caught up with their adorable dog -- hadn't seen her in awhile, and we watched the Canes dominate. It was grand. Then we watched some of the next game -- Clemson beating up NC State, and I left around 8 -- warm inside with my buddy's recovery.

There is one more local game -- the Canes are playing FIU at Marlins Park, which sits on hallowed ground for me -- the site of the old Orange Bowl. My two tickets arrived in the mail -- Wifey is going with me, in two weeks. She likes the fact that it's a roofed stadium -- if it's too hot, they'll close the roof. I hope it's cool and the roof and glass walls are open -- the better to harken back to the glory years of the Canes on NW 7th Street.

So Canes won big, my brother is recovering well, and we live free. Not too bad to be thankful for this Veteran's Day weekend...