A brief fleeting moment

Have you ever had a moment, a brief moment that your life crosses with another and it is powerful? I had one tonight at Fish and Chips.

Fish and Chips is something we do every Friday during Lent. This year with the pandemic we are take out only. That means those giving out orders and those waiting for orders are out in the cold. I mean it is New England in February.

Tonight we got really backed up in the kitchen. People were waiting and some for awhile. We were ticking off the orders and trying to get caught up. One man, an older black man stood quietly on the side. Of those waiting his was the last to come out.

I went to talk to him and thank him for waiting when I saw his hat was Army I think 8th infantry. I asked him about it and he said he wasn’t infantry but electrical engineering. I told him my son in law is 82nd airborne. He responded he served with them in “Nam”. I thanked him for his service and he thanked me for mine.

Hours later I am still thinking of him. I have absolutely no idea what he saw, dealt with or carries from his time in Vietnam. My service is a joke. It is that of my son in law and my daughter. I see his face and I think of all the world is going through right now. His face is in front of me and all I can do is pray and thank him for all he gave up for his country and all he has carried since then.