Fast forward,,,,late '86. I was stationed out of Alameda on the Enterprise and there was a group of us guys that at every opportunity headed across the Bay to SF. Our regular hang was this little Blues bar called the Grant & Green. I spent a lot of time in that joint and it's been to long since I've been back.
Ahhh....Johnny Nitro, how I love ya man! RIP.
I had our '86 deployment under my belt, been through the Suez, helped kick Gaddafi's ass and hit Med ports like Naples and Toulon (French Riviera beaches completed my worldly education)
on top of all the regular WestPac ports. I'd been down around the Horn and seen the Southern Cross. I met Neptunis Rex and lived through it. I was one Salty Fuchin Dog.
I like to think that if you walked into the G&G tonight and looked up on the wall over the bar you'd see a wooden CVN-65 Enterprise plaque that I gave the owner back in '87 or so...
I should go see if it's still there.
Pretty much across the street from the G&G is the Savoy Tivoli. A perfect little late night Cafe that one can close after closing the G&G. Nothing like finishing up a night of cocktails and Blues with a Double Espresso and maybe shooting some pool.
So, four of us guys are hanging with the last cappuccino of the evening and two tables over are three girls who are talking to a couple of College Joes. The Joes were puuulastered and obviously hitting on these three poor defenseless females.
One of the three is my wife's childhood friend. Like grew up three houses down, went to school together their whole lives kind of friend and as I'm watching the drunken shennanigans she catches my eye.
How was I to know in the moment that one gesture to catch my eye while mouthing the words "Save Us" would lead me 27 years down the road with her still as one of our best friends and to my wife of 23 years.
