As I boarded the plane this morning, I began to hold my
breath, as I started to brace myself for who my seat buddy might be. My eyes met the numbers above the seats, 3,
4, 5. 5C. This was me, the moment of truth.
I looked down and there sat an elderly man, wearing a WWII
Veteran hat, and even before I could sit down he held out his hand and said,
“Hello, my name is Bill.” Already in my
head, I am thinking, Yes! I love history and what an honor to sit next to this
man! Immediately, I began to think about
how I could get every ounce of wisdom and experience out of my seat buddy, Bill.
Our conversation started out as normal small talk, but as I engaged with him about his WWII experience and his 40 years in the
Navy, his words become very real and an increased passion filled his voice. He recounted many stories of the pranks they
used to play on the ship deck, his years of training as a radio &
communications officer, the joys and yet struggles of marriage as he barely got
to see his wife, his learning to love the Navy again and again, and most
enlightening he told of his WWII experience at just 18 years of age.
His memory and detail of this time was truly amazing, as he
retold of the time they invaded South France, and a missile landed within 50
yards of their ship, a mere miracle they weren’t hit. Yet, it was after the
drink cart left us, with a tea in my hand, that his demeanor changed as he told
me of his four boyhood friends who weren’t so lucky. Specifically he began to tell me how each boy
on his street fought and died. Lastly,
Bill mentioned another friend who made it home but spent the rest of his life
in a hospital, never being able to recover mentally from his experience.
As we continued to talk for the next hour, or rather Bill
talk and I nod my head with an occasional comment of wow, I can’t imagine, or
amazing being sputtered out of my mouth, there was one phrase that Bill
continued to say that stuck with me.
He continued to say I
learned to love.
I learned to love the Navy.
I learned to love my captain. I
learned to love life at sea. I learned
to love…
Bill is 88 years old and seemed to have more life and energy
than most people these days. He carried
such a passion and a trust in our country, the Navy, our educational system,
but most of all a trust in people. I
could tell there is a deeper resolve in the heart of Bill to love or rather
learn to love. He certainly loved me
when he reached out his hand and opened up his heart and life to me. What greater gift can you give someone than
the gift of your whole, true, and real self?
Through the years, Bill has learned to love. He has learned to love, in what I imagine
to be the most trying of circumstances.
I could have met a Bill who was bitter, hard-nosed, and angry with all
that he has been through and seen through the years. If so, I might of actually got to open the
book that was in my hands, but instead, I got the privilege and honor of getting
to know a Bill who year after year has made a choice to love. To learn to love.
AND I haven’t
even told you the best part yet. Bill’s middle
name!
Bill Churchill. He
told me if you go through the records, Winston Churchill was his distant,
distant cousin. Are you kidding
me?! Amazing, was once again was blurted
out of my mouth that time! I went ahead
and secretly received a spiritual blessing from Bill and his family
lineage. I can feel the anointing
already! :)
When the plane began to land, I kid you not the song, Proud to be an American began to play in
my head, terribly cheesy, I know. Once
again the freedom we have as Americans was put into perspective, as so many of
us get to reap the benefits of the sacrifice of others.
Freedom isn’t free.
Our military pay a price. Jesus
paid a price. I think often I/we forget
the honor it is to live in those freedoms.
As I left the plane, Bill shook my hand again and said how
much he enjoyed our time and I told him how thankful I was for the opportunity
to sit next to him and hear his stories. That might have been the most enjoyable plane ride I have ever taken. He was truly a man who learned to love.
But to leave you with the words of Bill....Go Navy!
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