Conversations with Major Dick Winters by Cole C. Kingseed

Author:Cole C. Kingseed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Published: 2014-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

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Shortly before my marriage in 2003, I brought a visitor to meet Dick Winters, my fiancée, Mary. By then, my routine of visiting Dick had fallen into a familiar pattern. I always arrived ten minutes early for my scheduled time at 4 P.M. Dick would say, “Military men are always early. I like that.” Ethel would merely smile and then roll her eyes. We would then talk for an hour in Dick’s upstairs office before departing to a local restaurant for dinner. Following our meal, we returned to the house for some lively after-dinner banter.

Since Mary was accompanying me on this occasion, I was anxious for her to meet Dick and Ethel. Dick had already arranged for a lovely dinner at the Canal House in Hershey, where the owner always reserved his private table in the alcove. Still, Mary was not sure what to expect and could not believe we were driving four hours to get together with someone whom she had never met and were going to dinner with a couple about whom she had only heard. Before departing New York, she asked, “Are you telling me that we need Dick Winters’s permission to get married?”

“Wouldn’t hurt, hon,” I replied. Now familiar with my idiosyncrasies, Mary gave me an unadulterated smile.

On arriving in Hershey, I immediately pulled into the car wash four blocks from Elm Avenue and began washing the car. Mary, who had never seen me perform this task, seemed perplexed. Too polite to say anything, she was incredulous that after I finished washing the car, I pulled in to the station to vacuum the interior. After I cleaned the driver’s side, I tossed the vacuum hose to Mary and asked her to do the passenger’s side. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Unable to control her laughter, she said, “You know, Cole, we are not picking up the king and queen of England!”

Remembering my first encounter five years earlier, when Ethel had remarked about my car’s dirty windows, I replied, “Maybe not, Mary, but I will never pick up Ethel in a dirty car again.”

Our visit and the dinner at the Canal House were fabulous, and Mary passed Dick’s inspection, but not before she felt a moment of discomfort. After helping her to her seat, Dick looked her square in the eye and said, “Tell me about yourself!” Mary, used to standing before a high school class, could only stammer a response, which in turn produced nervous laughter. More questions followed and I received more than one kick under the table. To make a long story short, Dick granted his “approval” for us to marry. In the future, Mary and I made numerous visits to Hershey, but her initial visit was the one she considered the most memorable.

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