This is an important item for me.
If we are fortunate in this life, we have "friends". Some are casual acquaintances, some are more long-lasting, some are ended too soon (due to misfortune, distance), some are too-soon forgotten (if they are, they never did become part of my definition of "friends".
I have had the good fortune of having (and still have) many friends. Where did they come from?? Some are from my childhood years, folks that knew me when I was just a punk kid who grew up thinking he was really something else. Some are co-workers who I met when I returned to the "real" (civilian) world after a 20 year career in the greates NAVY in the entire world. Others are friends of friends. Others I have "met" via this marvel of science called the "Internet". Wherever/however we crossed paths, you are what I consider "a friend".
There is a very special (to me) group of friends that I have been blessed with that I have the honor of calling "SHIPMATES". It may just be a matter of semantics but these folks have a special place in my heart and mind.
In my 20 years of service I served aboard many ships/shore stations where the opportunity to befriend these "Shipmates" was provided to me. They were not all sailors----many were military wives, USAF "flyboys", US Army " grunts," USMC "jarheads", and US Coast Guard "shallow-water" sailors. (I have earned the right to call them that----if you have not earned that right, I strongly suggest you not call them by those nicknames....you might end up with a united smack up alongside your head). To all my "Shipmates", this "squid", "swabbie" (or whatever) thanks you for the honor of just knowing you. God bless you all.
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