Between War Stories, There Was a Silence I Should Have Filled

After checking into my appointment this morning, I looked around the room for a seat. There were only two other people in the waiting room. Both were sitting on the same wall, with a clear visual of the entire room, but needed a slight turn of the head to see whoever came through the outside door. For the room design, these were the prime seats I wanted to sit in. I was not going to sit in the middle of the room with my back to the door. No. I never do that, and neither do these two other Veterans in the VA clinic. I chose a seat between the two, one right next to the oldest.

“Did you go to West Point?” His gruff voice came from beside me as I checked the time on my phone.

“No, but I served with quite a few West Pointers, and I will always support the team that represents me on that field.”

His audible grunt indicated he understood the meaning.

“I wasn’t smart enough for West Point. But my son gets it and wants to go do bigger, better things than I ever did in the Army.”

His chuckle roared…