Friday the 13th - What a Day!

A brief second posting is in order today because it’s Friday the 13th – my lucky day!

On Friday the 13th in February 1970, I graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Ord, California, and left “the Hill” for the last time. I never so much as glanced over my shoulder. From that most fortuitous day forward, Friday the 13th could never bring bad luck. All such silly superstition subsided into a sublime embrace of that February felicity.

Later that day I reported “under the Hill” for four weeks of “clerk” school before shipping out to Fort Harrison in Indianapolis to attend Army Finance School. The quirk in the February calendar meant I would depart Fort Ord on March 13, 1970 – yet another fantastic Friday. Only Fort Ord could turn leaving the Monterey Peninsula into a joyful occasion.

Back-to-back bliss and good fortune on Friday the 13th! In the ensuing 36 years I have never failed to thank the Powers That Be for the bounteous blessings bestowed on me on this beatific day.

The over-the-top language above is meant to convey the utter giddiness I experience in recalling those two wonderful days in early 1970. I await my next lucky day in April 2007 with great anticipation.