On this particular trip I was sitting in the tiny waiting area enjoying the 98 degree heat since the AC was either broken or non-existent. Happily consumed with my own anger and bitching at the current situation I barely noticed a woman politely inquiring if she was “allowed to sit here” in a lovely British accent. “Of course”, I replied with a smile and moved my laptop bag.
Abigail appeared, at first glance, to be about 129 years old with a cane and a slightly slumped posture which extenuated her advanced age. My own bias labeled her as old and frail and I am embarrassed to say I had to grumble as I imagined having to make idle conversation with her. However, after only a few minutes of polite questions and answers my initial perception was completely obliterated and I found myself feeling guilty and amazed as I talked to someone who may very well be the most interesting person in the world!
Abigail had a way of speaking that was so descriptive and engaging that I found myself actually experiencing and living the stories of her life, and what a life it is!
The conversation started normal enough. Simply pleasantries, the exchanging of names and the obligatory “what brings you here”. She was in Connecticut visiting her friends at the old folks home in Danbury. All of her surviving friends were in such degraded health that they could no longer come and visit her, so every year she makes the trip from her home in the UK to CT. This sparked a conversation about the fact she is a vegetarian and how difficult it is to be a vegetarian in the US. I offered some insight since I attempted a vegetarian diet for a very brief and failed period.
Over the next hour we discussed everything from travel, to politics, to her childhood and life in general.
As you all know, I am proud Military vet and patriotic almost to a fault. As a result, I usually do a bit of prodding when I initially meet someone to try and discover where they stand in these areas so I can avoid a heated argument seeing how I can’t mince words with people who are ignorant or mistaken enough to disagree with me lol. When I reveled my life as an Air Force Brat and subsequent Naval Career Abigail lit up and began to discuss her own time in the military during World War II. She volunteered for duty at the age of 17, because if you waited until you were 18 the empire would decide what you do for service which typically meant factory work and Abigail found factory work boring and tedious. I am, again, embarrassed to admit that I assumed that Abigail was a nurse during the war, but she started to describe her role as an anti-aircraft gunner on a tributary of Thames! She spoke excitedly with a recollection and clarity that made me feel as if I was there! She spoke proudly of her position as gunner and held her hands in the air as if she gripping the cannon controls and trigger as she talked about the nightly Nazi raids and the important role her squad played to prevent the Nazi air attacks from reaching the city, mimicking the recoil and tension as she looked steely eyed into the past.
We talked about how there used to be so much more respect and appreciation for the Military and how she was able to hitchhike every weekend, never having to wait for more than a couple of minutes if she was in uniform because every car would stop for you. It didn’t matter if it was a Rolls Royce or a “Lorrie” they would stop and take you as far as they could and I could see her as a beautiful 18 year old woman in her sharp British uniform as she described the care and pride she took in wearing the uniform. She described how her and her sister would play and swim in the same tributary she defended as little kids without ever noticing the constant cold of the Thames and I could see her as a child gleefully running, climbing and swimming without worry or care. She stared in the distance like a warrior as she talked about her successful and unsuccessful kills.
We shared our feelings on raising children, personal responsibility, the state of world, the economy and even Obama. She relayed how happy she was to be going home just in time for the Opera Festival which she admitted was her only vice. “The tickets are 14 pounds (about $28) which I can’t really afford, but it is my only vice” she told me with a naughty gleam in her eye and I could see her enjoying the music in the park all day and the Opera house in the evening. We discussed the deep bounds and camaraderie that you only find in the military and she was honestly happy as she talked about all the amazing places her friends had been sent on duty.
That conversation was an epiphany. A life altering event that completely changed the way I look at the world and little old ladies. Even now I smile as I recall that day. I am so very appreciative to have met such a fascinating person. Abigail will never know the impact she had on me, but at least you do!
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