George Grand
09-20-2008, 08:05 PM
I drove an out and back today to Easton, Maryland in order to visit an 87 year old Navy chief that I met when he lived up here in Jersey. Chief James Freeburger, USN Ret. is not doing too good, but I got a visit in today. His daughter asked me to shave him. No biggie I figured until I saw that he had about a week and a half going, and she hands be about a month old BIC Death Razor that she probably used on her legs. I told her to get a facecloth so I could make it as hot as possible under the faucet and then put it on his face for awhile. Do that a couple times and get his stuff all soft. Not a chance. The water in a rehab facility? I'm sure it's insurance that has the peak temps of that water at about 95-100 degrees max. I don't think he'll ever forgive me for that shave.
I met him through a used piece of stereo stuff that I bought. It came with the owners manual and it had his name and number in it. I called him to ask him why he sold it, and that was that. That was around 1989 and he lived about 10 miles down the road. He'd stop in at my office every Tuesday when he came to the airbase to go shopping. If I wasn't flying we'd bullshit for awhile or get coffee and bullshit for awhile. He also came to the house, frequently on Saturdays, and would trip over the same step every time he came over. He always brought the ladies some kind of chocolates or candies when he came, and that made them feel special. I had the presence of mind (thank you lord) to remember that today and thanked him for those little efforts. His wife Evelyn died about 17 months ago, so he put this place up for sale and headed down to Maryland with his daughter. He took care of Evelyn up here until she had to be institutionalized, and she didn't last very long. Sad to see a brilliant mind like hers deteriorate so quickly. She was a New York Times crossword in about 20 minutes type person. Thankfully she went quick. You haven't lived until an 80+ lady looks you in the eye and says, "I want to do it with you ...... but I don't like anything strange." My life is complete.
I'm hoping I can get down there to see him again in the next couple weeks, but I don't know.
I met him through a used piece of stereo stuff that I bought. It came with the owners manual and it had his name and number in it. I called him to ask him why he sold it, and that was that. That was around 1989 and he lived about 10 miles down the road. He'd stop in at my office every Tuesday when he came to the airbase to go shopping. If I wasn't flying we'd bullshit for awhile or get coffee and bullshit for awhile. He also came to the house, frequently on Saturdays, and would trip over the same step every time he came over. He always brought the ladies some kind of chocolates or candies when he came, and that made them feel special. I had the presence of mind (thank you lord) to remember that today and thanked him for those little efforts. His wife Evelyn died about 17 months ago, so he put this place up for sale and headed down to Maryland with his daughter. He took care of Evelyn up here until she had to be institutionalized, and she didn't last very long. Sad to see a brilliant mind like hers deteriorate so quickly. She was a New York Times crossword in about 20 minutes type person. Thankfully she went quick. You haven't lived until an 80+ lady looks you in the eye and says, "I want to do it with you ...... but I don't like anything strange." My life is complete.
I'm hoping I can get down there to see him again in the next couple weeks, but I don't know.