{"id":5714,"date":"2022-01-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/?p=5714"},"modified":"2022-01-17T16:43:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T21:43:17","slug":"109-a-new-chapter-saying-goodbye-to-a-great-lady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/109-a-new-chapter-saying-goodbye-to-a-great-lady\/","title":{"rendered":"#109\u2014A New Chapter\u2026 Saying Goodbye to a Great Lady"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Who said, \u201cThe meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>
  2. In what movie (and who said it) did we hear, \u201cLove means never having to say you\u2019re sorry.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>
  3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear:
    Try to see it my way<\/em>
    Do I have to keep on talking ’til I can’t go on?<\/em>
    While you see it your way<\/em>
    Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n
    <\/div>
    Blog #109 (Audio)<\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>

    Listen to the audio of this blog, read by Andy Adkins. Click the \u201cAudio<\/strong><\/em>\u201d button below.<\/p>\n<\/div>

    Published: <\/span>January 17, 2022<\/span><\/div>
    <\/div>Audio by Andy Adkins<\/a><\/div><\/form><\/span>4<\/span> Downloads<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Two recent headlines spoke out to me for this week\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First: USS Kitty Hawk<\/em><\/strong> (CV-63)\u2014my \u201chome\u201d for 2\u00bd years (\u201975-77)\u2014left Bremerton Shipyards<\/strong> 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<\/em> groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Truly, this great<\/em> lady was very much a part, albeit only a short time, in my journey called life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Second, another great lady passed from this earthly world\u2014my wife\u2019s mother, Marion Dempsey Broadaway<\/strong>. She\u2019d been part of my life much longer<\/em> than Kitty Hawk<\/em>\u2014more than 40 years. I wrote a short story about her<\/a> last year when we celebrated her 100th (yes, you read that right\u2014100 years!<\/em>) birthday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Following Kitty Hawk\u2019s <\/em>Trip<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Kitty Hawk<\/em> left Bremerton over the weekend with the help of her main tug: Michele Foss<\/em>. I don\u2019t pretend to know all the details and facts, but I know you can follow her progress using the Marine Traffic<\/strong> website: https:\/\/www.marinetraffic.com\/en\/ais\/home\/shipid:3373363\/zoom:10<\/a>. Type in \u201cMichele Foss\u201d in the Search MarineTraffic<\/em> field, then \u201cShow on live map.\u201d If you type in Kitty Hawk<\/em>, you won\u2019t receive any info, so you need to \u201cfollow\u201d Michele, so to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As of this writing (Monday, January 17, 2022), Michele Foss<\/em> 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\u2019t know. But it is really neat to track Kitty Hawk\u2019s<\/em> journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Marion\u2019s Celebration of Life<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    We had originally planned to have a \u201cCelebration of Life\u201d service at the retirement facility (Oak Hammock) where Marion & her husband of almost 75 years, Dr. Rufus Broadaway<\/strong><\/a>, had lived since 2004, but COVID sorta got in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let me pause here for a brief moment to describe the flood of emotions that one experiences when best laid plans go awry\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    OK\u2014long enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My father, A.Z. Adkins, Jr.<\/strong>, who served in General Patton\u2019s Third Army in Europe with the 80th Infantry Division<\/a><\/strong>, often quoted the division motto: \u201cThe 80th Only Moves Forward!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And then\u2026 because of technical issues beyond our control, we had to change plans and create our own \u201cCelebration of Life\u201d video, using PowerPoint and selected music. While I\u2019d 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\u2019d never<\/em> added music before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But\u2026 as those of us in the \u201cretirement age\u201d category often say, \u201cI\u2019ve got time, so why not?\u201d 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The piano player cancelled two days before the service\u2014she\u2019d been exposed to someone at the retirement community who\u2019d tested positive with COVID. Which was the right decision, BTW. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But my awesome & talented wife, Becky, who\u2019d 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<\/em> was young and learning to play in the 1930s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This was turning into a DIY celebration of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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 <\/em>many people behind the scenes, lending us a much appreciated hand along the way: friends, neighbors, family, and church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today Begins a New Chapter<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    I often say (in fact, it\u2019s my blog tag line), \u201cLife is a journey\u2026 one step followed by another<\/em>.\u201d 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 \u201craise\u201d). Then the dog died, another chapter (we were free to travel more). When we retired, another chapter. And so on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I mentioned that today begins a new chapter. Why, you dare ask? Well, our \u201canchors,\u201d 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\u2019ll write about that sometime in the future\u2014he taught us a lot about overcoming obstacles and changes. In other words, we learned, \u201cPeople have dogs; cats have staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019re again free to travel, yet with COVID, our travel plans are now more local. I know we\u2019ll get through this like we\u2019ve done in the past. But for now, we\u2019re still enjoying life, enjoying Florida, and staying as healthy and as active as we can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Family Reunions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019d always heard that while funerals (now called \u201cmemorial services\u201d or \u201ccelebrations of life\u201d) 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\u2019t seen for years or, perhaps, have never met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Such was the occasion here. Our daughter & her husband flew down from Cleveland; our son flew from San Diego; Becky\u2019s 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 \u201ccousins\u201d mingle and catch up. Not only my own kids, but Becky\u2019s cousins from various parts of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I always remember Rufus & Marion\u2019s wedding anniversaries because every year or two, they\u2019d \u201carrange\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Many of those memories resurfaced again during this time\u2014this celebration<\/em>\u2014both in pictures and in the stories the kids shared. Kids\u2026 heck, they\u2019re in their 30s now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The funny thing is that the kids all remembered the same places, same stories, but with a totally <\/em>different perspective. I guess when you\u2019re young, everything is big and marvelous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Great times\u2026 great family\u2026 great friends. Our hearts are full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kitty Hawk<\/em> Reunions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019ve been to several Kitty Hawk<\/em> reunions over the years, including the decommission ceremony<\/a> in January 2009. While I didn\u2019t know a lot of people, we all shared the same memories, although perhaps from different perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I wrote about the earlier Kitty Hawk<\/em> mini-reunion in San Diego<\/a> last August, where about a dozen of us gathered to share stories & pictures. When the stories turned to PI <\/strong>and Olongapo<\/strong>, well, let\u2019s just say that many of us probably shared many of the same\u2026 “things.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But that\u2019s what\u2019s great about these reunions, right? We get together with family and friends\u2014some we know, some we never met\u2014but we get to listen to different perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I worked on the flight deck in V-1 Division\/Crash<\/strong> during Westpac \u201975<\/strong>. I was also a DJ with Kitty Hawk\u2019s<\/em> country radio station, KRAL (Country \u201cChet\u201d Adkins). While there were 5,500 sailors aboard, I only knew a handful. As diverse as we were, we made <\/em>it work, even during some of the more tragic times we experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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\u2014Kitty Hawk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She\u2019s on her final journey now, and many people continue to share their stories, their experiences, and their perspectives. That\u2019s what great about these reunions: family & friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kitty Hawk<\/em> 2022 Reunion<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    From what I can gather, Kitty Hawk<\/em> will arrive in Texas sometime in April. I won\u2019t be able to make that trip, but I understand there are several who will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But I do plan to attend the Kitty Hawk<\/em> reunion in San Diego. It\u2019s for members of the Kitty Hawk Veterans Association <\/em><\/strong>and scheduled for early June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Maybe we\u2019ll meet and be able to exchange our own stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After all, we are all family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Until we meet again,
    Andy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Answers<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n