Checking In

I am alive and well, staying with friends in the DC-Baltimore metropolitan area. So much has happened in the last two days that I don’t know where to start. I spent yesterday at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a VA hospital in Richmond, Virginia in the company of the VA Director of Volunteers, two ladies from Soldiers’ Angels, and three gentlemen from the Military Order of the Purple Heart. We met with the Undersecretary for Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs and then delivered some laptops to the hospital. It was quite an experience in both positive and negative ways--a lot to absorb. On the lighter side, I swear that one of the MOPH guys (a Marine) is exactly what Sgt. B will be like in 20 years! More about it all later.

Today I spent about three hours at Arlington National Cemetery, among other places of interest (I'm still thawing out three hours later). I saw some interesting threads that ran between my experiences in both Arlington and the VA hospital...thoughts of how we remember and honor those who have sacrificed so much for us. As I said, I’ll write more when I’ve had the time to process it all.

Tomorrow I meet up with BillT in Philadelphia. I’m sure he already has planned the outrageous tale he’s going to tell of our meeting (entirely fabricated), so be sure to check here for the truth. ;)