April 5, 2011, would have been my friend Anderson's 53rd birthday.
Instead, some of his friends & family took a short cruise to celebrate his life & say our farewells.
It was a perfect day to be out on the water. The temperature was in the mid-70s. I took my jacket, thinking it might be a bit chilly when we were underway, but it just sat on a chair the whole time.
The skies were that perfect blue with just a few fluffy, white clouds.
I found out that Mac had been in the Navy, a SeaBee, as a young man.
So what a perfect coincidence (or maybe not a coincidence, really) that we seemed to have a military escort on our ride.
The Aircraft Carrier, U.S.S John C. Stennis (CVN 74) cruised past.
Naval Security and the Coast Guard too.
And the U.S.S. Kidd (DDG100)
a guided missile destroyer.
I missed the jets that flew over (one of the contrails is in the cloud picture),
but I did get one of the helicopters.
We talked about the man that Anderson was. He was a loyal Cincinnati Bengals fan, but we didn't hold that against him. His great sense of humor. That he was one of those guys that just knew stuff. If you had a question on politics, world events, football....ask him, he could tell you. A great and loyal friend.
When the time was right, his ashes were scattered with Bengal orange rose petals and stems of flowers into the current.
Anderson "Big Mac" MacDonald, I may not have known you as well as I would have liked,
but I am proud to call you my friend.
What a nice memoriam! Thanks for sharing that.
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