Rant #2,956: Good Thing

It’s Friday, August 19.
 
Time to get up out of bed and smell the roses!
 
After a bout of sleeplessness, I have had three pretty good sleeps in a row, and in fact this morning, I even managed to oversleep!
 
So I went from insomnia to oversleep in one fell swoop.
 
This has been a rough patch for me, with so many things going wrong that I oftentimes feel helpless in trying to fix them, or at least get into my head that I did everything I could possibly do to make the situation right.
 
Thank goodness I have a strong family, and they have helped me keep strong.
 
And since it is Friday, I don’t want to end the week with any doom-and-gloom stuff, because I have had enough of that this week—and for nearly the past three years—to sink my ship many times over.
 
As you know, I have this little side job that was the only job that I did not apply for when I was considered to be officially unemployed, a job that people actually came to me--based on my years of experience and writing/editing abilities, as well as my knowledge of this field and my reputation of getting things done in a timely manner — and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing.
 
The job came to me literally at “11:59,” so to speak, as my unemployment had run out and I was just about ready to officially retire because I had no alternative.
 
The job is only a freelance one, but it still keeps me going each and every weekday just like the type of regular, 9-to-5 job that I had had for the past more than 40 years (funny, during those 40-plus years, I never worked 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., never worked those exact hours, but I think you know that I mean).
 
Anyway, I am darn lucky to have this job, and now, two years into it, I have been covering what is called “military resale”—military stores like commissaries (supermarkets) and exchanges (department stores) for a total of more than 25 years, if you add my last full-time job and this current job together.
 
With this little job, most of my work is editing existing press releases that are put out by the respective governmental agencies that run these stores, including the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)—which runs the entire military service supermarkets, or commissaries—and the exchange system-- which includes the individual services’ department stores, or exchanges—such as the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM), the Marine Corps Exchange (MCX), the Coast Guard Exchange (CGX), as well as the Veterans Canteen Service (VCS), which runs the small stores within VA hospitals.
 
I try to stay on the news side when I am editing this material, and a lot of times I have to make the stories “newsier” to fit these qualifications.
 
Every once in a while, I come across a real human interest story that the TV news and newspapers and radio and the bigger news agencies would never cover, but on my beat, the story is something that needs to be out there and needs to be told.
 
I cam across such a story the other day, and I think you might like to hear about it.
 
It is the story of 101-year-old Anthony Grant, a military veteran, The story was sourced from the above-named AAFES, the organization where I get a lot of my stories from, so I thank them for making this available. The photo attached to this Rant is also courtesy of AAFES.
 
Here goes …
 
“Anthony Grant, a 101-year-old retired Army major who fought in World War II and in the Korean War, was set to be inducted into the Quarte3rmaster Hall of Fame, but it was deemed that Grant needed an upgrade to his uniform … and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) installation’s Military Clothing Store (MCS) took care of those needs.
 
Grant kept his military uniform from 1963, wearing it to special events for nearly 60 years. As his Hall of Fame induction neared, fellow veteran Joseph Brundy, the ninth honorary sergeant major of the Quartermaster Corps, decided it was time for the retired major to upgrade.
 
“The uniform had started to show its age and wear,” Brundy said.
 
The veterans met with Fort Lee MCS Manager Geraldine Brown Weatherford; Shift Manager Zshocklene Dixon; Customer Experience Associate Miangel Newton; Customer Experience Associate Julius Freeman III, and Hee-Ja Yi of Stripes Alteration Shop — an Exchange concessionaire at Fort Lee — to begin the process.
 
After a few days, Brundy accompanied Grant back to the store to be fitted for the new uniform. “We selected everything for the uniform,” Brown Weatherford said. “He had the biggest grin on his face the entire time. He said it reminded him of his old uniform.”
 
Brown Weatherford cited the fitting as the best way to end her career with the Exchange.
 
“I retire in August and this experience was my blast going out,” Brown Weatherford said.”
 
That is a nice story, isn’t it, and it is a nice way to end the week on a high note.
 
Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.