This tale got me right in the feels, Russ...and this is why the best advice I ever got was to commit vast sections of the TRANSMAN to memory before I was an E-4...works a lot better when you can speak the lingo directly to the PN/YN doing your paperwork...
Anyway, I'm so pleased to hear your son's doing great now, and it was good to see you in print. All the best, Katie Barrett.