The people you meet...

[GraysonK]

I met a really, really cool guy last night.  He was one of my patients, a WWII veteran and really really awesome.  Somehow last night he ended up telling me that he collects WWII memorabilia and I can only imagine the stuff he has.  He says that he has Zippo lighters from about 1943 onward, SAK's from the same time, and whole notebooks filled with airborne patches (I'm not sure if that's what they're called) but he said he has lots and lots of flight patches.  He was a paratrooper. He is so awesome.  I told him about my very meager SAK and Zippo collection and he just smiled at me and nodded...I think he approved.  He also told me that he once bought a WWII switch blade that today is worth over $600 at a yard sale!!!  He said he paid about $150 for it because he knew what it was.  Simply amazing.  He was really really cool.  When he told me he'd been collecting SAK's since WWII I think I drooled...I would so love to see that collection.  Wow!  Work kicked my butt last night but man was it worth going in.  Such an amazing experience.

[thebullfrog]

All I can think to say is  Sounds like an awesome time with an awesome guy (wow, if I didn't know you better I'd say that statement sounded dirty    ). It's so rare to meet genuinely interesting people like that. It's things like that that can not only make your day, but your week. Or more.

[GraysonK]

All I can think to say is  Sounds like an awesome time with an awesome guy (wow, if I didn't know you better I'd say that statement sounded dirty    ). It's so rare to meet genuinely interesting people like that. It's things like that that can not only make your day, but your week. Or more.

LOL!  It did and he said something similar to that and thought the same thing.  But it's not dirty at all.    It was just so amazing.  So interesting too.

[thebullfrog]

Sometimes, old people just flat out rock. Makes me wonder if my life history could ever be as interesting when I get to that point. But then it also depends on who I'm talking too. I'm sure nine times out of ten when he starts rambling about his WWII SAK collection people just roll their eyes and tune him out. He was probably just as thrilled that somebody else was actually interested in his little quirk. Who knows, maybe in 50 years somebody will get all giddy when I tell them I have a genuine "2000's" SAK.

[Ashley]

That is an awesome story Kelly. My boss here at work is also a knife collector. Whenever he comes down to ask me anything or bring paperwork we end up talking for like 45 minutes to an hour. I really enjoy all his stories.

[frugalscotty]

I met a really, really cool guy last night.  He was one of my patients, a WWII veteran and really really awesome. 

They aren't called "The Greatest Generation" for nothing. 

[DaveK]

Nice story Kelly. It reminds me of a guy I met when I was in hospital myself last month.

There was an old boy in the ward of 6 beds who mostly said nothing whilst I was there, but on my last night (the day they'd finally disconnected all my tubes so I was able to get up), he slipped carrying a cup of tea as he went past the end of my bed. I of course jumped up to help pick him up and help him back to the chair by his bed (and his oxygen). He wasn't badly hurt, but we got chatting and I was there listening to him for hours (I can't sleep on a hospital ward anyway).

Turns out, he was a German POW, captured in Holland (Arnhem in fact if anyone's seen the film "A Bridge Too Far"), pretty much right at the start of the war, and was held in a POW camp, almost exactly where my house now stands!. When the war ended, he and his fellow inmates were given the choice of being returned to Germany, or being given British citizenship in return for working on local farms and building sites to help rebuild the country and the economy. His exact words to me were "So, you're a young man with a choice to return to your home town in Germany which had been bombed flat, or stay in a foreign country with guaranteed pay, accommodation and beautiful countryside. What would you have done"?

He met a local girl whilst in captivity and he was hoping that he would be released from hospital to celebrate his 64th wedding anniversary in a few weeks time.

Thing is, Walter was a very sick man, and I truly hope he made that date but I guess I'll never know

[Mr. Whippy]

Excellent thread!

There was an older man who lived just down the road.  He would sit on his porch with his O2 tank and watch the world.  My wife and I finally stopped over one day to say hi.  Over the next year or so, we became pretty good friends.

Turns out he was a WWII vet, from the Army and served in the Pacific Theater.  Guadalcanal in fact.  He manned a flamethrower. 


Fascinating man.  When he died, I felt that a piece of history died too.

[GraysonK]

Isn't it amazing?  I love meetiing people like the one from last night and the people you all are talking about.  My favorite person when I was a kid was my Great Grandfather...he was born in 1895 and died a month after his 100th birthday in 1995.  I loved talking to him.  He lived the 20th century and was a WWI vet.  He told the best and funniest stories.  And he was truly amazed at some of the things that happened during his lifetime.  Some he wasn't so impressed with.   But that guy last night reminded me of how I'd sit for hours with GG and just listen. 

[nuphoria]

It's both fascinating and heartbreaking all at once

I am really enjoying meeting the folks on my ward, especially the old troublesome ones with tales to tell. A few weeks ago I got to know a lovely patient called Tony and then they moved him in to critical care as him breathing was deteriorating. I started to go and visit him on my days off on the other ward as he had only one surviving relative who was able to visit occasionally and we had quite a rapport going. His views on Bush were hilarious - "he's a bloody cowboy" he said, "on your horse George, clip clop!"

Tony lived alone on a boat and had lived quite a life in his 83 years. He passed away after I had been visiting with him for a week or so and I had to learn how to deal with the sad reality that this will happen, again and again. Still, I am really looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. It's a privilege to have spent time with him and listened to the stories he chose to share with me.