Having spent the better part of my adult life in the Navy, I did not believe that I would ever find the closeness of kindred spirits and the feeling of family that we had while serving our country. I was wrong! I just experienced that feeling when fires swept our little mountain community here in New Mexico. Donnes and I were off to Colorado with my daughter when the fire broke out and the evacuation order came. Donnes' sister lives with us and was at home. Our neighbors and close friends (I didn't realise how close) insured that her sister was OK, gathered up those irreplaceable items from the house, loaded up our movable high-value things along with dogs and made sure they were all safe. What a sense of relief we had when we could finally communcate and found that everything we would have done was completed and Donnes' sister was with them out of the path of the fire.
My wish for all of you that shared so much of life with me and provided that same sense of brotherhood and knowledge that I had people that cared around me for so many years is that you find friends such as these.
I'm very happy to hear that you and yours have escaped the ravages of that fire and are safe. Also happy to hear that you have found friends in your neighborhood that you can rely upon in a crisis. In our retirement years, nothing beats a good, trustworthy neighbor.
Have sent an e-mail to a former OT named Craig Vroom who I served with at Barbers Point and resides in Colorado. I have not received any response and was just wondering if anyone may be more in touch with him and his family than I and have his phone number they could pass along.
Thanks
Chuck & Linda
Craig's phone number sent to you via email at 1310. He lives in Colorado Springs, where thousands of people have been evacuated and hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the wildfire.
Just received a phone call from Craig and he and his family are safe and sound, on vacation in Idaho.
Thank you Jack and Jim for the info you provided so I could place a call and send e-mail.
Chuck
