Sunday, March 01, 2020

My Aunt Kathryn.....

...was our classmate, Charles Mateer's mother.

I remember, when Charles and I were about 10 years old, her telling my mother about some awful nightmares she was having. They always involved a man knocking at her door.....with some terrible news.  The dreams would always stop.....just before he announced what the "news" was....
My Mom suggested that she change her supper tune  diet....or, perhaps  eat at a different time...either a bit earlier, or a bit later....and that should solve the problem.

But, no matter what she did, those dreams persisted.

They eventually stopped, however, much to my aunt's relief.

Charles and I were cousins.....AND best friends, as well.

Our families almost always vacationed well shared all of our holiday dinners together.

Frankly. he was a lot smarter, academically, than I was.

I remember protesting to my Mom, on those few occasions Charles didn't do well on some test or other....that we both flunked...."Well, Charles didn't do any better than I did."

As adults, our careers went it different directions; I went into commercial broadcasting, Charles chose the military;  he loved  flying!  especially helicopters.

The last time I saw Charles was up here in Washington, when I came up to audition for a job with WTOP TV.  I had never seen Charles so happy.

Unfortunately, a few  months later...

there was a knock on my Aunt Kathryn's door...….

(Charles was killed in Laos in 1961.  As I understand it, his helicopter, in which he was piloting, was shot down.  Details are still unclear.