“The Y with Duane n Doc.”

Dr. Clarence Mills invited me to go to Mayfield to the Y with him once when we were having morning coffee.  I did and was hooked, joining right then.  We went on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Not much later and Duane Webb joined us.

We would have to go to Hardees first for breakfast.  Mine usually consisted of biscuits with white milk sausage gravy.  We really needed this to take on the calories for workout.

While I was able to go I could not do cardiac but spent thirty or forty minutes with weight machines as well as sit up table.  I felt better when I walked out the door.  My waist receded and my blood pressure and my ticker improved.  My lung function improved as well and I was told that that could not happen.

I knew they were both veterans because I would see them at American Legion dinners.  Now veterans do not usually talk military.  That is unless they are with vets and no civilians.  I found that Duane was a combat Marine and Doc was a paratrooper in the 82^nd Airborne.  I also found out he jumped into Normandy during the invasion.

We got to know most of those who trained when we did and it made it a lot more fun.  Doc was a stranger to no one.

Duane and Doc`s health got worse and they both had to quit.  I stayed with it until I had two eye surgeries and a pacemaker put in and then I just could not stay with it.  If Mayfield were a little closer I would go three or four times a day on most days.  The distance is just too far for the little that I could do.

Doc and I usually talked WILDcats basketball and once Duane started we adjusted for him.  Just a little though.  He did not care for basketball.  Duane and I found a common love for the classics and also followed some of the same newspaper columnist.

Duane was always correction our grammar him being a English and lit major.  Our grammar was bad enough but we doctored it a bit for Duane’s benefit.  He finally gave up on us exclaiming, “I give up, you two are impossible to help.”  Duane and I disagreed on how our favorite syndicated columnist pronounced his name.  I pronounced it as Sewel and he said it is like Lewis Sowell.  I did not argue the point, honest.  A few days later Sowell was on TV and Duane saw him and heard him pronounce his name.  The next morning he informed me that I was right.

We alternated, and Doc and I would tease Duane one day and Duane and I would aggravate Doc the next day.

If we could just have got CC Bugg to go with us I would have heard some tales and just had more fun with some great men who we owed a lot for what they went through in WW2.  God bless them.

I miss my friends but I am so glad I have the memories to hang on to.  Their generation gave so much for my generation of misfits and protesters and we squandered it.  I do believe that the generation behind mine is faith centered and more responsible for the most part.  They had better be.