Ordinarily on Veterans Day, I'd be out and about, graciously accepting free meals for showing proof of having been in the Navy.
My right hip precluded that random bopping 'round, but that's not to say that I didn't celebrate the day!
Good for them!
My focus, as was theirs, was on that shuttle bus.
Doug Andrews had invited me to ride that with him and others, but I abstained.
I'm glad I did, as the veterans on that bus were all declared to be 'Grand Marshals' for this year's parade!
"The Star-Spangled Banner" rang out sweet and clear!
I'm glad I knew three of those men.
Doug Andrews and John Parker looked especially military in their uniforms, unlike our evenings at the Two First Posts meeting.
As for Jimmy Ray, he's looking very, very old, but he was in good spirits.
After the band's serenade, the ten veterans got back on the shuttle to finish their ride along the parade route.
That's good; the parade lasted 1 hour, 40 minutes, and that would have been too long for those fellows to be sitting outside.
I knew it was about Jimmy Stewart's service in the Army Air Force during World War II, making it very appropriate for this day.
A veteran - me! - watching a movie about another veteran!
I also had a free pepperoni pizza, courtesy of some AMC reward points, as well as some AARP reward points.
The movie was incredibly good, revealing him to actually be the caring human he portrays on the silver screen, which made it all the more real when he mourned the loss of some of the men he led in the airships.
Then, when he returned to the United States, he had a hard time trying to find himself again, suffering through PTSD before it had a name.
Fortunately, his friend, Frank Capra, saw how lost he was and offered him a lifeline when no one else would.
And that became "It's A Wonderful Life", one of my favorite movies ever.
Wow.
Kudos to K.J. Apa and Max Casella for their roles as those two men!
Nice to see Neal McDonough putting his heart out there as Stewart's father.
Outside the cinema, I ran into Monica McDermott and we spoke briefly.
While we were chatting, a British transplant inserted himself into our conversation, then continued talking to me for about another fifteen minutes.
Hope I run into him in the cinema again!
It would be nice to have a movie buddy once more.
Tonight's $8 meal was fit for an opera singer, as I told all!
Chicken Tetrazzini it was, with broccoli and carrots, so I didn't get a salad.
Dessert was an awesome apple pie that looked like it came straight off "America's Test Kitchen"!
I would have eaten a second slice, but they were all gone.
My dinner companions were Walt and Pam again, and you can just see a smidgen of that big man in the photo.
We were serenaded by Kaye Deffley, Billy Hester, and JJ Collins when it came time for us to sing the blessing.
I guess they wanted to make up for having Jason do it solo last week!
NCG Cinema has their Naughty And Nice Holiday Film Festival going and I'd seen the 'nice' on on Sunday.
That was "Daddy's Home 2", the 2017 blended-family comedy with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, plus their 'dads', Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, respectively, all celebrating Christmas together and singing "Let Them Know It's Christmas Time" - really funny!
I had intended to watch 2022's "Violent Night" after, but saw that the cinema would be giving out free popcorn to veterans on the 11th... so I bought the ticket for this night instead!
What a wonderful way to wrap up this Veterans Day: watching another good man take out a bunch of bad guys, all while saving Christmas for a little girl!
Go, Santa, go!
(smile!)
