last night my dad popped up online to inform me that one of our family friends had passed away wednesday night. at first it didn't really impact me that much, he was an older guy and i thought of him more as mom and dad's friends and as that "nice old guy". but the more i've reflected on it through the night, the more i've realized the influence Earl had on my life. he was the guy who gave me my first canteen, canteen holder and pistol belt. he saw me out playing g.i. joe in the yard in savannah and called me over. next thing i knew i had REAL army stuff. a g.i. backpack, and a real army issue tent! that was the first night i slept outside by myself (or tried to, i'm pretty sure i was back in the house by midnight). many summer days were spent with that gear.

it was him, not any drill sergeant who taught me to keep my canteen clean and dry when not in use, as well as all that gear. that was all the old canvas stuff which would rot in a hurry in the southern humidity if not well cared for. Earl's the man who showed me the trick of soaking the canteen holder in water and letting the evaporation of that water cool my canteen. he didn't talk much about his service and i never heard war stories from him, but he reinforced my parents' teachings of good manners, attention to detail, selflessness and all of the other traits that have helped me be successful as a soldier. is he the reason i joined the service? no. but he's definately one of the reasons why i've found my niche there. and finding that niche is so rare that it's something that i'll always be grateful to him for.

it wasn't all army stuff though, many a night was spent with them at our dinner table or vice versa and that togetherness is always a great thing. there were the treats that he and his wife shared with my little sister and i. i had my first slice of grasshopper pie at their house i believe. in the summer when their grandson came to visit i had a new playmate right across the street and it got to point where we didn't even knock when we entered their house. i still have an atari setup at my parents house that they gave us and we spent countless hours playing, inside and out of the summer heat. earl played jazz clarinet and it was a joy to listen to him out in the garage playing while we were racing and chasing in yards.

as usual, it's one of those instances where we didn't realize what we had or how lucky we were until it was too late to say "thanks". one of those lessons i find myself relearining, over and over.