SAILOR AHEAD

It was 1945. The war was over. The boys were coming home. They were using whatever means available to get back to their families as quickly as possibly. They were riding buses and trains and hitchhiking.

My cousin had driven her mother and mine to Abilene, Texas, for some shopping. The roadway was lined with hitchhiking soldiers as they began their return home. They were only going sixty miles, but they agreed they should help a serviceman get that much further along on his journey.

My cousin’s husband was a sailor. She spotted a lone sailor far ahead of the others and announced that she was going to pass on by the soldiers and pick up the sailor.

As she pulled over and braked, the sailor turned. What a surprise! The sailor was her husband.

The joyful reunion was the major topic of conversation in our household for days afterward.