Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)
- Who said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”?
- In what movie (and who said it) did we hear, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”?
- In what song (and who sang it) did we hear:
Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talking ’til I can’t go on?
While you see it your way
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
Listen to the audio of this blog, read by Andy Adkins. Click the “Audio” button below.
Two recent headlines spoke out to me for this week’s blog.
First: USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)—my “home” for 2½ years (’75-77)—left Bremerton Shipyards for her final voyage to Brownsville, Texas. A flood of long-established memories are flowing by, both my own of serving aboard her, as well as reading the many varied comments on several Facebook Kitty Hawk groups.
Truly, this great lady was very much a part, albeit only a short time, in my journey called life.
Second, another great lady passed from this earthly world—my wife’s mother, Marion Dempsey Broadaway. She’d been part of my life much longer than Kitty Hawk—more than 40 years. I wrote a short story about her last year when we celebrated her 100th (yes, you read that right—100 years!) birthday.
Following Kitty Hawk’s Trip
Kitty Hawk left Bremerton over the weekend with the help of her main tug: Michele Foss. I don’t pretend to know all the details and facts, but I know you can follow her progress using the Marine Traffic website: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:3373363/zoom:10. Type in “Michele Foss” in the Search MarineTraffic field, then “Show on live map.” If you type in Kitty Hawk, you won’t receive any info, so you need to “follow” Michele, so to speak.
As of this writing (Monday, January 17, 2022), Michele Foss is traveling south along the coast of Washington, Oregon, & California and plans a stop in Long Beach with an ETA of January 24 @ 0800. How long will she be in Long Beach? I don’t know. But it is really neat to track Kitty Hawk’s journey.
Marion’s Celebration of Life
We had originally planned to have a “Celebration of Life” service at the retirement facility (Oak Hammock) where Marion & her husband of almost 75 years, Dr. Rufus Broadaway, had lived since 2004, but COVID sorta got in the way.
Let me pause here for a brief moment to describe the flood of emotions that one experiences when best laid plans go awry….
OK—long enough.
My father, A.Z. Adkins, Jr., who served in General Patton’s Third Army in Europe with the 80th Infantry Division, often quoted the division motto: “The 80th Only Moves Forward!”
That, my friends, is the attitude we quickly adopted to forge ahead, changing venues from the retirement community to our church (Trinity United Methodist Church) in their beautiful Chapel. All within two weeks time.
And then… because of technical issues beyond our control, we had to change plans and create our own “Celebration of Life” video, using PowerPoint and selected music. While I’d made hundreds of PowerPoint presentations over my 25-year span as a legal technology consultant, it had been quite a while since the last and I’d never added music before.
But… as those of us in the “retirement age” category often say, “I’ve got time, so why not?” That old Navy veteran confidence stepped up and we created a fitting tribute. After all, how do you encapsulate 100 years of a life well lived into a short 12-minute video?
And then…
The piano player cancelled two days before the service—she’d been exposed to someone at the retirement community who’d tested positive with COVID. Which was the right decision, BTW.
But my awesome & talented wife, Becky, who’d played piano all her life, stepped up and played during the service. In fact, we have the Steinway baby grand piano that her mother, Marion, had purchased in Boston when she was young and learning to play in the 1930s.
This was turning into a DIY celebration of life.
I joke about that, but one thing that we learned is to plough through the obstacles, though it may be an emotional roller coaster at times. And there were so many people behind the scenes, lending us a much appreciated hand along the way: friends, neighbors, family, and church.
Today Begins a New Chapter
I often say (in fact, it’s my blog tag line), “Life is a journey… one step followed by another.” When our kids moved out of the house to begin college, a new chapter. When they graduated from college and began their careers, another chapter (i.e., we got a financial “raise”). Then the dog died, another chapter (we were free to travel more). When we retired, another chapter. And so on…
I mentioned that today begins a new chapter. Why, you dare ask? Well, our “anchors,” as I call them, are no longer here. We lost our cat, Moosche, a few months ago due to kidney failure, though he was only a few years old. I’ll write about that sometime in the future—he taught us a lot about overcoming obstacles and changes. In other words, we learned, “People have dogs; cats have staff.”
We’re again free to travel, yet with COVID, our travel plans are now more local. I know we’ll get through this like we’ve done in the past. But for now, we’re still enjoying life, enjoying Florida, and staying as healthy and as active as we can.
Family Reunions
I’d always heard that while funerals (now called “memorial services” or “celebrations of life”) are a sad occasion, it is an opportunity for family & friends to reunite. A chance to visit and catch up with those who you haven’t seen for years or, perhaps, have never met.
Such was the occasion here. Our daughter & her husband flew down from Cleveland; our son flew from San Diego; Becky’s brother & wife flew down from Saratoga Springs, NY and his son flew down from New Hampshire. It was truly a glorious reunion and I, for one, loved watching the “cousins” mingle and catch up. Not only my own kids, but Becky’s cousins from various parts of the country.
I always remember Rufus & Marion’s wedding anniversaries because every year or two, they’d “arrange” to have a place where we could all travel to, to spend time with family, to remember great times, and to see how much the kids had grown.
Many of those memories resurfaced again during this time—this celebration—both in pictures and in the stories the kids shared. Kids… heck, they’re in their 30s now.
The funny thing is that the kids all remembered the same places, same stories, but with a totally different perspective. I guess when you’re young, everything is big and marvelous.
Great times… great family… great friends. Our hearts are full.
Kitty Hawk Reunions
I’ve been to several Kitty Hawk reunions over the years, including the decommission ceremony in January 2009. While I didn’t know a lot of people, we all shared the same memories, although perhaps from different perspectives.
I wrote about the earlier Kitty Hawk mini-reunion in San Diego last August, where about a dozen of us gathered to share stories & pictures. When the stories turned to PI and Olongapo, well, let’s just say that many of us probably shared many of the same… “things.”
But that’s what’s great about these reunions, right? We get together with family and friends—some we know, some we never met—but we get to listen to different perspectives.
I worked on the flight deck in V-1 Division/Crash during Westpac ’75. I was also a DJ with Kitty Hawk’s country radio station, KRAL (Country “Chet” Adkins). While there were 5,500 sailors aboard, I only knew a handful. As diverse as we were, we made it work, even during some of the more tragic times we experienced.
But to get together after all these years with sailors of different divisions, different backgrounds, and different perspectives is still a treat. We all served aboard a great lady—Kitty Hawk.
She’s on her final journey now, and many people continue to share their stories, their experiences, and their perspectives. That’s what great about these reunions: family & friends.
Kitty Hawk 2022 Reunion
From what I can gather, Kitty Hawk will arrive in Texas sometime in April. I won’t be able to make that trip, but I understand there are several who will.
But I do plan to attend the Kitty Hawk reunion in San Diego. It’s for members of the Kitty Hawk Veterans Association and scheduled for early June.
Maybe we’ll meet and be able to exchange our own stories.
After all, we are all family.
Until we meet again,
Andy
Answers
- Pablo Picasso.
- Love Story (1970), Jennifer Cavalieri (Ali MacGraw).
- We Can Work it Out (1965), The Beatles; written by John Lennon, Paul McCartney.
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