Fire down below. A "Ranger tales" post.

I realize I'm slow posting on this, but time gets away somehow -- While AmeriDan was living tthrough this terrible time, his family on the other side of the world was watching with bated breath to hear who on the ship was okay and who wasn't. There were reports early that morning of a plane crash. As AmeriSis, I didn't worry a lot about AmeriDan then -- he's in the belly of the ship. Just a bit later, I heard that one of the boilers blew up and several were dead. A friend in the military assured me that if AmeriDan were among the dead, a car would be sitting at my curb 5 minuutes later. I didn't believe them. Adoptive moms/sisters don't believe anything when "their" baby is involved. I called AmeriBro who was at work and had heard about the plane crash but not the explosion. As a Navy vet himself, he assured me that a car would be at the curb, if AmeriDan were involved. However, being a "bro" he left work and came to sit with me, glued to the TV, until we could get hold of the Red Cross and find out that AmeriDan was not listed among the dead or injured. Half a world away, AmeriDan's family grieved with/and for him and the others. Today, thinking back to that point in time the grief wells again -- not only for AmeriDan, but for the list of names whose families did have a car sitting at the curb...