Richard Valdez
Registered User
It having been over a week since turning in my EA work, and still two weeks until my FC induction, I was feeling the need to do something masonic in nature. I picked up the phone around 230p and called my neighbor, the Right Honorable District 33 Deputy GM Brother Joe Fuhrman. I caught him at a good time as he was starting to overheat while doing yard work and he needed a glass of water, so the phone call brought him into the shade and probably saved him from heat stroke. I figured that was enough of a good deed that it should count as a humanitarian act of compassion, but Brother Joe said I should come with him to Columbus, where they were going to open an EA meeting and I should attend. Joe said we could leave at 530p and be there in time for supper and back home by 900p. I am philosophically against getting too dressed up on my day off, and I was considering doing some early evening yard work myself, maybe some laundry (to help out the wife who was out of town all weekend and didn't get all of it completed), but taking a shower, shaving, and leaving the homestead was not on my agenda. Joe has a very passive yet persuasive manner of influencing a person and even over the phone I could feel his insistence, so I agreed. Sure am I glad I did.
The trip was a relaxing drive through the country as Joe chose to take Hwy 90 the whole way, and with his years as a truck driver, we were right on schedule and arrived exactly at 614p, a minute before supper was to be served. Shook hands with about 5 MM's and met a new EA who was just initiated earlier this month, a 25 year old named Forrest. Can't remember his last name, but who could forget his first name? Dinner was some delicious Brookshire Brothers Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Rolls, Cake, and Tea. We ate well, and just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, some ate seconds, which were good too.
After chow, we headed upstairs into the 160+ year old Lodge and with the assistance of those in attendance, an EA lodge was properly opened and routine business conducted. This was only my 4th attendance at a meeting, so it's all still very new to me, but what stood out as special in this meeting was when the WM Joe (last name began with a Y) gave a short statement about a physical ailment which he is about to begin to fight, I realized now why I had come to this meeting. Turns out the WM is going through something that my wife and I had gone through in recent years. I was able to approach the WM after the meeting and tell him that we were at the very starting point of this disease, just as he is, and with our faith and trust in the Doctors we came out alive and so will he. The WM was sincerely appreciative of the support and said he needed to hear that and now he knew he was going to be alright, because he's known and trusted his Doctors at the VA for years and now he knew someone with a personal history with this disease and the resulting effects of treatment and surgery. I'd only just met this man, but I know he is going to survive and thrive.
Caledonia #68 also seems to have a high number of Law Enforcement persons, some active and some retired, so I felt right at home with my Brothers in Blue too. This lodge is one of the oldest in Texas and is worth a visit. They have a Cornerstone Ceremony coming up on Monday the 13th of June at 9am, the stone is part of a new county building. I plan to attend and then make the meeting in Flatonia that evening for the election of our Officers.
Hope you found this post interesting.
"that is all I have to say about that." sorry Forrest, I had to say something from the movie...
The trip was a relaxing drive through the country as Joe chose to take Hwy 90 the whole way, and with his years as a truck driver, we were right on schedule and arrived exactly at 614p, a minute before supper was to be served. Shook hands with about 5 MM's and met a new EA who was just initiated earlier this month, a 25 year old named Forrest. Can't remember his last name, but who could forget his first name? Dinner was some delicious Brookshire Brothers Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Rolls, Cake, and Tea. We ate well, and just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, some ate seconds, which were good too.
After chow, we headed upstairs into the 160+ year old Lodge and with the assistance of those in attendance, an EA lodge was properly opened and routine business conducted. This was only my 4th attendance at a meeting, so it's all still very new to me, but what stood out as special in this meeting was when the WM Joe (last name began with a Y) gave a short statement about a physical ailment which he is about to begin to fight, I realized now why I had come to this meeting. Turns out the WM is going through something that my wife and I had gone through in recent years. I was able to approach the WM after the meeting and tell him that we were at the very starting point of this disease, just as he is, and with our faith and trust in the Doctors we came out alive and so will he. The WM was sincerely appreciative of the support and said he needed to hear that and now he knew he was going to be alright, because he's known and trusted his Doctors at the VA for years and now he knew someone with a personal history with this disease and the resulting effects of treatment and surgery. I'd only just met this man, but I know he is going to survive and thrive.
Caledonia #68 also seems to have a high number of Law Enforcement persons, some active and some retired, so I felt right at home with my Brothers in Blue too. This lodge is one of the oldest in Texas and is worth a visit. They have a Cornerstone Ceremony coming up on Monday the 13th of June at 9am, the stone is part of a new county building. I plan to attend and then make the meeting in Flatonia that evening for the election of our Officers.
Hope you found this post interesting.
"that is all I have to say about that." sorry Forrest, I had to say something from the movie...
