Another Navy Reunion

January 24-25 — It was another reunion affiliated with Fred’s Navy days; this one not with more buddies who had served together, but rather with proud Navy parents – Mr. & Mrs. Polsinelli. Over the weekend we joined friends Perry & Dee Dee for a little roadtrip from Tampa to Daytona where we visited Perry’s parents who are snow birds down from Pittsburgh for the winter.

When Fred, Perry, and his other Navy buddies sailed the USS Albany back from Gaeta, Italy, to New York City in early 1980, it was Perry’s parents who met all the boys in NYC and treated them all to their first dinner – at Mama Leone’s they all recalled – back in the States. Fred had seen Nancy & Pete a few times over the decades at important Polsinelli family events, but it had been years – too many years – since the last visit. I had never met them, but immediately they welcomed me in as family, too.

We couldn’t have had a better time with Pete & Nancy!

We enjoyed lunch out, then cocktails in on Saturday, and all the while, both of these octogenarians regaled us with tales from their pasts. My favorite of the stories was actually the sex talk Nancy’s mom shared with her children. For the one son, Nancy’s brother, the sex talk went something like this: ‘when the canary starts to sing, don’t let him out of his cage’ … and for Nancy and her seven sisters, the advice was ‘keep both feet in the same shoe.’ Hilarious! Nancy delivered this, and her other stories, with impeccable timing. Another favorite moment was Sunday when we went out for brunch. Coming out of the restaurant, Pete, also a Navy man wearing his Navy cap, saw a guy with an Old Navy hoodie on and acknowledged the guy with a “Go Navy!” shout out. Priceless!

Sorry we are that we are leaving Florida for parts west and won’t be back here any time soon.  If we were staying in Florida longer, we would surely be heading back to Daytona to share in more joy, laughter, and love with the Polsinelli’s.  Thanks, Pete & Nancy – our time together was very special…!