Dear Carson:

I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been busier than I thought I’d be at this age, and honestly, I miss the warm sunshine and waves crashing on the beach and all the pretty women who are interested in talkng to an old man who likes to swim, even with a bad leg, but I realize I’m needed elsewhere.

 Too much is going on that should not be, and the stupid political government shutdown game, designed by weak, losing politicians who have lost their power, and thus their souls, has me furious.  They happily extort the party chosen by rational voters without green hair, in order to get what they want, no matter who is hurt in the process.  And oh yes, they insist that they receive paychecks but not Soldiers and their families who miss paychecks and Air Traffic Controllers as well as ICE agents and Border patrol agents and many others.   I have been steaming mad for 42 days.    But the president gave me another job and this is a heavy one and I guess I don’t know where to begin, but I will try, as long as God keeps me on this earth.

On this Veteran’s day, I am visiting VA hospitals across the country volunteering to help as much as I can, and the good news, I think, is that the Shadow men have been allowed to come back and are driving me around the country to all the VA hospitals we can get to.  You know the Shadow men were a pain in the ass sometimes because they watched me close, but I appreciate that the President told the Sec of War to give me back my boys. After all, they’re good drivers and they don’t talk hardly at all, unless I ask them a question, which I don’t, unless it’s a “turn here” or “can you put your foot on the pedal a little heavier?”

I go and talk to the Vets on the medical floors, post op units and the ICUs, and try to brighten their days by simply asking them to tell their stories about where they served and what they did and who they knew, and they open up to me like faucets under pressure.  That’s about all I do except sometimes, I tell them a few of my little stories if they ask, but of course, most of mine are bound by the hundred-year rule. Either way, I tell every Vet I see that they are my comrade and that I am proud of them for their service and they are not forgotten.

I hope you are doing well in your practice and getting a little rest when you need it, Carson, but what I really want to know, is how far are you yet on the book about me I requested you to write?  I’ll find out when we meet again, and you’ll show me some of your progress, but I think that you are being interrupted too much by curious people who carry shiny guns, and by now, you know they are following you close, because of me. Remember, there are some evil ones and they fear the truth, because the knowledge of the real truth will destroy them and the wobbly toothpick fortress they built inside their lost souls. They are lost because they do not believe in God and his son Jesus.

If you remember, I warned you about this, Carson, but you made the choice to know me, and it was a tough, but honorable choice. Now, remember, if you get stuck in your writing, I’ll find you and try to inspire you a little, but if you’re still stuck, then go visit Sam at the beach bar and he’ll give you a cold Guinness and that will probably do the trick.

Ollie.

© SRCarson Publications