This is a picture of my boy friend, Tom. Isn't he cute. He was a World War II pilot, stationed in Italy, just a kid. Part of that Great Generation. He was a B-24 pilot, 757th Bomb Squadron, 459th Bomb Group. He also flew in Korea. Air Force.He remains in touch with members of his crew with telephone calls and e-mails. He has great stories from his service time, one of my favorite being how he drove to Assisi in a jeep as the war was ending and visited the tombs of St. Francis and St. Clare, long before I did.
He's a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where he played baseball. Every football season nothing preempts his watching his favorite college team, the Okie Sooners, on television. He is a loyal fan.
Tom is my husband. We are both converts to the Catholic faith and are Secular Franciscans. Tom would be quick to profess his love for his Lord and for his Church. There is nothing like the zeal of a convert to the Catholic Church. He identifies with the prayer of St. Augustine, "Late Have I Loved You" and likes the writings of G. K. Chesterton. He watches EWTN Catholic television station daily and knows much more about the Catholic faith than most cradle Catholics. He also loves to read.
We share our love for our Maltese dogs and fostering for Northcentral Maltese Rescue. Our dogs - Tashee, Juniper, Pal - and our fosters - Rosie and Molly - are our children. We are mourning the recent loss of our precious Poppy, our first Maltese. (Poppy's blog is http://poppypage.blogspot.com/ )
Tom is still a kid - forever young - and has a great sense of humor. As I write he is on his computer and enjoying all the New Orleans music at the bottom of our blog page. I can hear Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and Ray Charles. Last night he was listening to Pete Fountain. He has discovered music on U-tube, thanks to us.
Elvis fans, this will make you green with envy. Just before Elvis enlisted in the Army, Tom ran into him in New Orleans at the Roosevelt Hotel. Tom had good visit with Elvis in his suite and met his mama and Tom Parker.
For all of you who say too old for this computer stuff, I say too bad. It is a matter of attitude. It is a matter of being young at heart like Tom.
I will concede that dial-up doesn't work well - too slow to enjoy today's internet. I had rather have an enema a day than go back to dial-up. Tom agrees. Boomer Sooner, he says to all.
4 comments:
Ouida, what a wonderful tribute to your man. You are an interesting woman, with an interesting life. And, here, you are sharing some interesting things about your "boyfriend". Thanks for posting this.
Thank you. Tom's bio is much more interesting than mine. I've added more since you wrote.
Ouida, relay to Tom that although I was not a "Sooner" fan, that at the time, to me, there was nothing in football more exciting than to watch Thomas Lott, running the "wishbone" out there on the corner, forcing the defense try to decide to "stay home"
or "commit". I think he had Billy Sims and/or Elvis Peacock in the backfield. It was the early 70s as I remember it. He executed th' WB as well as I'd ever seen.
Just a note to find out if Tom is aware of the 459th Bomb Group Reunion to be held in Atlanta, September 25-28, 2008. I can be contacted at fravel@clemson.edu for details. Thanks very much!
Post a Comment