All our friends had shown up, having been flown over by the Colonel. Her mother was more than a little condescending at me until the Colonel told her what great friends we were, and that I had saved his life at least three times.

It was good to see my old mates, and when they went bar crawling without me, the Colonel and I had to bail them out and pay damages. Seems Charlie took offense over some redneck telling him what a nice dress he had on. It would be hard for him to tell anyone anything else until his jaw healed.

Finally, on a sunny early June day,...