A Happy Reunion

     Grandpa was a boy when WWII was still going on.  He had a brother and a sister.  Near the end of the war, Grandpa's dad was drafted into the war in the navy.  Before Great-grandpa left, he marked locations in the Bible his wife had.  Sadly the family didn't have a computer or a telephone with which to communicate with Great-grandpa.  He wrote letters.  Everyday Grandpa would rush to the mailbox to see if there was a letter from his dad.  These treasured letters were thoroughly censored so Great-grandpa would write in his letter, “Today I was reading in Matthew.”  So the family would open Great-grandma's Bible and find that Philippines was written there and they'd know where their dad was.

     Great-grandpa sent many letters and, on holidays, he always sent a package.  Like on Christmas.  An exciting letter came through and on it was written, “I am sending something flat and black for Christmas.”  Grandpa thought for a moment then exclaimed excitedly, “A Hockey puck!  And perhaps a hockey stick too.  What will we do with it?”  Amazingly, it was not a hockey puck but a record full of delightful nursery rhymes.  After that, when they played the nursery rhymes which their dad had sent, they thought of great-grandpa's love for them.

     Great-grandpa worked on one ship that transported troops to shore and later worked on another ship that carried machines to shore.  He was a fire control man on a ship that was called the U.S.S. James O’Hare.  Although he started out as a common seaman, he quickly moved up to second class petty officer.  It took less than sixteen months to get moved up in rank.  Grandpa, who was very young at the time, missed his dad.  After WWII was over, Great-grandpa came home.  Fortunately, he wasn't even scratched.  They had a delightful reunion.