A Three Story Life: VA Visit

Up at 0 dark thirty for the six month VA appointment. I haven't met Dad's new doctor, and once a year it's helpful to find out what the doctor is being told and not. Fact checking is a brilliant caregiver strategy I forget regularly. Every year it gets harder to tell the WWII veterans from the Vietnam veterans. The hats help. I got Dad a hat with his ship name, and Bikini Atoll on it, and it gets attention when he wears it, which is often. He was in the Marshall Islands for the A-bomb drop, his LST moved people and animals off Bikini to Majuro. He's one of few atomic veterans still alive. His doctor is very nice, she's a good listener, and I got to ask questions that Dad might not ask. There was a man in one of the waiting areas who had blood drawn and was probably on blood thinners as he dripped on his jacket, and had to get a new wad of gauze. Not as many younger veterans there today as the last time. After the hats for war identification - I noticed footwear. The WWII vets had on dress shoes or sneakers: the Vietnam era veterans had either cowboy boots, work boots or bigger work boots. God bless them every one! Brother Scott and I got to talk together, hold hands and decide we wanted kielbasa for dinner. Note: the glowy uniform - so maybe my childhood memory of a heroic aura is not so imaginary.