A few thoughts came into my 11 year old mind:
- What in the Sam Hill is the US Navy doing in Missouri?!
- What would life be like to live like all the little people out in the world away from a base, grocery shopping in a, in a, in a...STORE? And...
- What in the Sam Hill is the US Navy doing in Missouri?!
Missouri for heaven's sake! I could not get over that one.
I had spent my whole life, all 11 years in the Navy and could not imagine what life was like outside of the safety of the US government (don't laugh, I really thought that and I was only 11).
But this is not about me...mostly.
My Dad, LCDR HD Sheffield had decided he would not advance any further and his career was over. I think when he came home with the options of Missouri or retirement, there was only one option for him.
Anyone who has done something and given their heart and soul to it, knows what it is like to come to the conclusion that it's time to part ways with that love. Dad had reached that point. He had served the Navy well everywhere they sent him and had been a part of some of the 20th Century history's most epic events, had served in a way no other Navy officer had served, and the Navy did not love him back as he loved it.
After 22 years of active duty around the world and three wars, it was time.
Just to be clear, this is not a memorial for my dad. He's still around at 92 1/2 (we use 1/2's for kids and seniors because it means more at those ages. Have you had a person tell you they were 43 1/2? I think not.) and doing pretty well.
(Monty Python and the Holy Grail, FYI)
Also, I am not the blond kid in the background left behind my dad. I am in the background on the right hidden in the crowd.
